HMS Prince Eugene was a First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 Lord Clive-class

Lord Clive class monitor

The Lord Clive class, sometimes referred to as the General Wolfe class, of monitors were ships designed for shore bombardment and were constructed for the Royal Navy during the First World War.-Design:...

 monitor named after Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy , was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna. Born in Paris to aristocratic Italian parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV...

, an important commander of the War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

 who fought with the Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...

. She is the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the general. Her 12" main battery was stripped from the obsolete battleship HMS Hannibal

HMS Hannibal (1896)

HMS Hannibal was a Majestic class pre-dreadnought battleship and the sixth ship to bear the name HMS Hannibal.-Technical characteristics:...

.

The Lord Clive class monitors were built in 1915 to engage German shore artillery in occupied Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 during the First World War. Prince Eugene, with her sisters was regularly engaged in this service in the Dover Monitor Squadron and was present at the First Ostend Raid

First Ostend Raid

The First Ostend Raid was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War...

, providing cover for the Inshore Squadron.

In the summer of 1918, Prince Eugene was taken in for a refit in which her two 12" guns were to be replaced by a single 18" gun from HMS Furious

HMS Furious (47)

HMS Furious was a modified cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord John Fisher, they were very lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns. Furious was modified while...

 which had been converted to an aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

. This refit was not complete by the war's end in November 1918 and was immediately cancelled, Prince Eugene being put into reserve pending scrapping, as the reason for her existence ended with the liberation of Belgium. Prince Eugene was scrapped in 1921.