Royal Sovereign class battleship
Encyclopedia
The Royal Sovereign class was a class
of pre-dreadnought
battleship
s of the British Royal Navy
. The class comprised seven ships built to the same design: HMS Royal Sovereign
, , HMS Ramilles
, HMS Repulse
, HMS Resolution
, HMS Revenge
, and HMS Royal Oak
, and a half-sister built to a modified design: . They and were launched from 1889 to 1894. The class displaced nearly 2,000 long ton
s more than the preceding Trafalgars. Only one of the ships, the Revenge, saw active service in World War I
, participating in shore bombardments of the Belgian
coastline. Hood also lived on to the First World War, but was quickly sunk as a blockship
. Revenge was scrapped in 1919, while her sisters were scrapped between 1913 and 1914.
, which provided £21 million for a vast expansion programme. The Act was inspired by rumours of a possible Franco-Russian alliance and by perceived shortcomings in naval forces revealed during manoeuvres the year before. In total, ten battleships, forty-two cruisers, and eighteen other vessels were built—an enormous increase. The Act marks the adoption of the two-power standard, whereby the Royal Navy sought to be as large as the next two major naval powers combined.
At the centre of the expansion programme were the Royal Sovereigns, the largest and fastest capital ships of their time. The class would be the template of British battleship design for 15 years, until Dreadnought, being improved upon by the Majestic class
ships launched just a few years later. The Royal Sovereigns are considered the first of the type of battleship which would become known after the commissioning of Dreadnought in 1906 as pre-dreadnought
s.
The Royal Sovereigns were designed by the noted warship designer Sir William White
. They were much bigger than the Admiral
, Victoria
, and Trafalgar
classes that had preceded them, and when Royal Sovereign herself was completed she was the largest warship in the world. At 17.5 knots (34.3 km/h) they were also faster than any other battleship afloat.
Although the new 12 inches (305 mm) guns were preferred there were doubts that they could be built in time and so the 13.5 inch (343-mm) 67-ton guns used in the preceding Admiral class
were chosen. The first seven Royal Sovereigns used open barbette
s instead of turrets, allowing them to have a freeboard
of 19 feet 6 inches (about 90% of modern guidelines), much higher than in immediately previous classes, improving their performance in heavy seas.
The last ship of the class, Hood
, was equipped with old-style, heavy, circular turrets of the type that first appeared in the 1860s, and consequently had a lower freeboard of only 11 feet 3 inches. She was otherwise virtually identical to her sister ships (in terms of machinery, protection, and armament) and therefore provided a useful comparison to them in terms of which was the better design. Hood proved too wet for efficient operations in the rough waters of the Atlantic and North Sea
, while the high freeboard of her barbette-equipped near-sisters gave them the advantage in those waters. Hood was the last British battleship with the old-style turrets, and based on the experience with her and her sisters, all future British battleships were of a high-freeboard design and had their main armament in barbettes, although the adoption of armored, rotating gunhouses over the barbettes gradually led to them being called "turrets" as well, as remains the case today.
The secondary armament was an important part of the design and consisted of ten 6 inch (152-mm) quick-firing guns were provided to counter torpedo boat attacks and were widely spaced on two decks so that a single hit would not disable more than one of them. As well as the weight of the guns, accommodation had to be provided for the 31 men needed to operate each one (eight manning the gun itself, eight more in each of two magazines and seven in the shell room). The 6 inches (152 mm) guns on the upper deck had only light shields when the class was built but in 1902 and 1903 they were enclosed within casemates.
. The armour was backed by 10 feet (3 m) deep coal bunkers, the coal providing additional protection and were subdivided to continue to provide buoyancy after being hit. The deck was 3 inches thick, thinning to 2.5 inches at the ends and curving down. The intention was that if this were penetrated then the ends could be flooded with little loss of buoyancy
.
turning back to England
on one occasion in rough weather in the Bay of Biscay
in December 1893, but fitting bilge keels and carrying as heavy a coal store as possible (up to 1,400 tonnes) remedied this fault to a great degree. However, sensationalist reporting of Resolution rolling heavily during the 1893 storm gave the ships a nickname, the "Rolling Ressies", which stuck with the ships throughout their lives.
, participating in annual manoeuvres and occasional fleet reviews from their commissioning until the early 1900s. All saw service in home waters and many also served in the Mediterranean, where some saw service in the 1897–1898 blockade of Crete
. The class generally went into the commissioned reserve around 1905.
In 1906, the Royal Sovereigns, like every other battleship in the world, were made obsolete with the launch of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought
, the first all-big-gun battleship. They were consigned to less critical duties for the remainder of their service life, and began to appear on the disposal list in 1909. Only two ships survived to see the outbreak of war in 1914, one of them (Hood) quickly being sunk as a blockship. Only one, Revenge (renamed Redoubtable in 1915), saw action in World War I
, bombarding the coast of Belgium
in 1914 and 1915 before decommissioning.
HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Royal Sovereign served in the Channel Fleet
(1892–1897), Mediterranean Fleet
(1897–1902), Home Fleet (1902–1905), the new Channel Fleet (1905–1907), and the commissioned reserve (1907–1909) before going into material reserve in 1909. She was scrapped in 1913.
HMS Hood
HMS Hood served in the Mediterranean Fleet
(1893–1900) and (1901–1902), Home Fleet (1903–1904), and commissioned Reserve (1905–1907), then on subsidiary duties in home waters until decommissioned in 1911. She was sunk as a blockship at Portland harbour
in November 1914.
HMS Empress of India
HMS Empress of India (originally to have been named Renown) served in the Channel Fleet
(1893–1897), Mediterranean Fleet
(1897–1901), Home Fleet (1902–1905), Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), and the new Home Fleet (1907–1912), and was sunk as a target in 1913.
HMS Ramillies
HMS Ramilles served in the Mediterranean Fleet
(1893–1903), Reserve Fleet (1903–1907), and Home Fleet (1907–1911), and was scrapped in 1913.
HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse served in the Channel Fleet
(1894–1902), Mediterranean Fleet
(1902–1903), and Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), then in subsidiary roles until decommissioned and scrapped in 1911.
HMS Resolution
HMS Resolution served in the Channel Fleet
(1893–1901), then in various subsidiary and commissioned reserve duties until decommissioned in 1911 and scrapped in 1914.
HMS Revenge
HMS Revenge served in the Special Flying Squadron
in 1896 as its flagship
, then in the Mediterranean Fleet
(1896–1900, which included service as flagship during the blockade of Crete in 1898), then as flagship of the Home Fleet (1902–1905), in the Channel Fleet
in 1905, and on various duties in the commissioned reserve (1905–1913). Bombarded the Belgian coast in 1914 and 1915 and was renamed Redoubtable in 1915, then decommissioned and was scrapped in 1919.
HMS Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak served in the Special Flying Squadron
in 1896, Mediterranean Fleet
(1897–1902), Home Fleet (1903–1905), Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), and the new Home Fleet (1907–1911), before decommissioning in 1912 and being scrapped in 1914.
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s of the British 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...
. The class comprised seven ships built to the same design: HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Royal Sovereign (1891)
HMS Royal Sovereign was a Royal Sovereign class battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of the class, and the largest warship in the world at the time of her construction. The ships were designed by Sir William White and were the most potent battleships in the world until HMS Dreadnought...
, , HMS Ramilles
HMS Ramillies (1892)
HMS Ramillies was a pre-dreadnought battleship of Royal Navy and part of the seven ship Royal Sovereign' class.-Technical Characteristics:...
, HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse (1892)
HMS Repulse was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was the tenth ship to bear the name HMS Repulse.-Technical Characteristics:HMS Repulse was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Program of 1889...
, HMS Resolution
HMS Resolution (1892)
HMS Resolution was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893.. She was long and had a maximum cruising speed of...
, HMS Revenge
HMS Revenge (1892)
HMS Revenge was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Sovereign class of the British Royal Navy. She was renamed HMS Redoubtable in 1915. HMS Revenge notably served as the flagship of the Flying Squadron and bombarding the coast of Flanders during World War I before being refitted as an...
, and HMS Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak (1892)
HMS Royal Oak was a pre-dreadnought Royal Navy battleship of the seven-ship Royal Sovereign class.-Technical Characteristics:Royal Oak was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 7 March 1889 and built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead at a cost of £977,996. She was launched on 5 November 1892...
, and a half-sister built to a modified design: . They and were launched from 1889 to 1894. The class displaced nearly 2,000 long ton
Long ton
Long ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the United States by the short ton...
s more than the preceding Trafalgars. Only one of the ships, the Revenge, saw active service in World War I
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...
, participating in shore bombardments of the Belgian
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...
coastline. Hood also lived on to the First World War, but was quickly sunk as a blockship
Blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used.It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to...
. Revenge was scrapped in 1919, while her sisters were scrapped between 1913 and 1914.
Background
The ships of the Royal Sovereign class were built under the Naval Defence Act 1889Naval Defence Act 1889
The Naval Defence Act 1889 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, instituted on May 31, 1889 to increase the United Kingdom's naval strength and formally adopt the country’s "two-power standard." The standard called for the Royal Navy to maintain a number of battleships at least equal...
, which provided £21 million for a vast expansion programme. The Act was inspired by rumours of a possible Franco-Russian alliance and by perceived shortcomings in naval forces revealed during manoeuvres the year before. In total, ten battleships, forty-two cruisers, and eighteen other vessels were built—an enormous increase. The Act marks the adoption of the two-power standard, whereby the Royal Navy sought to be as large as the next two major naval powers combined.
At the centre of the expansion programme were the Royal Sovereigns, the largest and fastest capital ships of their time. The class would be the template of British battleship design for 15 years, until Dreadnought, being improved upon by the Majestic class
Majestic class battleship
The Majestic class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built under the Spencer Programme of 8 December 1893, that sought to counter the growing naval strength of France and the Russian Empire...
ships launched just a few years later. The Royal Sovereigns are considered the first of the type of battleship which would become known after the commissioning of Dreadnought in 1906 as pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
s.
Design
William Henry White
Sir William Henry White was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty....
. They were much bigger than the Admiral
Admiral class battleship
The British Royal Navy's pre-dreadnought Admiral class battleships of the 1880s followed the pattern of the Devastation class in having the main armament on centre-line mounts with the superstructure in between. This pattern was followed by most following British designs until in 1906...
, Victoria
Victoria class battleship
The Royal Navy's Victoria class battleships of the 1880s was the first class which used triple expansion steam engines, previous battleships having used compound engines.There were only two ships in this class...
, and Trafalgar
Trafalgar class battleship
The two Trafalgar-class battleships of the British Royal Navy were late nineteenth century ironclad warships. Both were named after naval battles won by the British during the Napoleonic wars under the command of Admiral Nelson.-Design:...
classes that had preceded them, and when Royal Sovereign herself was completed she was the largest warship in the world. At 17.5 knots (34.3 km/h) they were also faster than any other battleship afloat.
Armament
Admiral class battleship
The British Royal Navy's pre-dreadnought Admiral class battleships of the 1880s followed the pattern of the Devastation class in having the main armament on centre-line mounts with the superstructure in between. This pattern was followed by most following British designs until in 1906...
were chosen. The first seven Royal Sovereigns used open barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s instead of turrets, allowing them to have a freeboard
Freeboard (nautical)
In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
of 19 feet 6 inches (about 90% of modern guidelines), much higher than in immediately previous classes, improving their performance in heavy seas.
The last ship of the class, Hood
HMS Hood (1891)
The second warship to be named HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class battleship of the Royal Navy, and the last of the eight built. She differed from the Royal Sovereign class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes, a lower freeboard and a higher metacentric height...
, was equipped with old-style, heavy, circular turrets of the type that first appeared in the 1860s, and consequently had a lower freeboard of only 11 feet 3 inches. She was otherwise virtually identical to her sister ships (in terms of machinery, protection, and armament) and therefore provided a useful comparison to them in terms of which was the better design. Hood proved too wet for efficient operations in the rough waters of the Atlantic and North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, while the high freeboard of her barbette-equipped near-sisters gave them the advantage in those waters. Hood was the last British battleship with the old-style turrets, and based on the experience with her and her sisters, all future British battleships were of a high-freeboard design and had their main armament in barbettes, although the adoption of armored, rotating gunhouses over the barbettes gradually led to them being called "turrets" as well, as remains the case today.
The secondary armament was an important part of the design and consisted of ten 6 inch (152-mm) quick-firing guns were provided to counter torpedo boat attacks and were widely spaced on two decks so that a single hit would not disable more than one of them. As well as the weight of the guns, accommodation had to be provided for the 31 men needed to operate each one (eight manning the gun itself, eight more in each of two magazines and seven in the shell room). The 6 inches (152 mm) guns on the upper deck had only light shields when the class was built but in 1902 and 1903 they were enclosed within casemates.
Armour
The ships were heavily armoured with an 8 feet 6 inch high belt 18 inches thick, reducing to 14 inches thick at the ends past the two barbettes, and with a 4 inch thick steel armour belt above. This belt was intended to detonate any lighter shells and was the result of live firing experiments on the old battleship ResistanceHMS Resistance (1861)
HMS Resistance was the second and last ship of the Defence class to be commissioned. She served in the English Channel from 1862 to 1864, and was then posted to the Mediterranean, where she was the first British ironclad to see service...
. The armour was backed by 10 feet (3 m) deep coal bunkers, the coal providing additional protection and were subdivided to continue to provide buoyancy after being hit. The deck was 3 inches thick, thinning to 2.5 inches at the ends and curving down. The intention was that if this were penetrated then the ends could be flooded with little loss of buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
.
Seakeeping
The ships rolled excessively when first put into service, the captain of ResolutionHMS Resolution (1892)
HMS Resolution was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893.. She was long and had a maximum cruising speed of...
turning back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on one occasion in rough weather in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
in December 1893, but fitting bilge keels and carrying as heavy a coal store as possible (up to 1,400 tonnes) remedied this fault to a great degree. However, sensationalist reporting of Resolution rolling heavily during the 1893 storm gave the ships a nickname, the "Rolling Ressies", which stuck with the ships throughout their lives.
Operational history
The ships spent their lives in the routine of the Victorian Royal NavyRoyal 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...
, participating in annual manoeuvres and occasional fleet reviews from their commissioning until the early 1900s. All saw service in home waters and many also served in the Mediterranean, where some saw service in the 1897–1898 blockade of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. The class generally went into the commissioned reserve around 1905.
In 1906, the Royal Sovereigns, like every other battleship in the world, were made obsolete with the launch of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought (1906)
HMS Dreadnought was a battleship of the British Royal Navy that revolutionised naval power. Her entry into service in 1906 represented such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of...
, the first all-big-gun battleship. They were consigned to less critical duties for the remainder of their service life, and began to appear on the disposal list in 1909. Only two ships survived to see the outbreak of war in 1914, one of them (Hood) quickly being sunk as a blockship. Only one, Revenge (renamed Redoubtable in 1915), saw action in World War I
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...
, bombarding the coast of 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...
in 1914 and 1915 before decommissioning.
HMS Royal SovereignHMS Royal Sovereign (1891)HMS Royal Sovereign was a Royal Sovereign class battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of the class, and the largest warship in the world at the time of her construction. The ships were designed by Sir William White and were the most potent battleships in the world until HMS Dreadnought...
HMS Royal Sovereign served in the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
(1892–1897), Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1897–1902), Home Fleet (1902–1905), the new Channel Fleet (1905–1907), and the commissioned reserve (1907–1909) before going into material reserve in 1909. She was scrapped in 1913.
HMS HoodHMS Hood (1891)The second warship to be named HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class battleship of the Royal Navy, and the last of the eight built. She differed from the Royal Sovereign class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes, a lower freeboard and a higher metacentric height...
HMS Hood served in the Mediterranean FleetMediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1893–1900) and (1901–1902), Home Fleet (1903–1904), and commissioned Reserve (1905–1907), then on subsidiary duties in home waters until decommissioned in 1911. She was sunk as a blockship at Portland harbour
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
in November 1914.
HMS Empress of IndiaHMS Empress of India (1891)HMS Empress of India was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy and part of the eight-ship Royal Sovereign class. She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 9 July 1889 and launched by the Duchess of Connaught on 7 May 1891. Initially known as HMS Renown, her name was changed before...
HMS Empress of India (originally to have been named Renown) served in the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
(1893–1897), Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1897–1901), Home Fleet (1902–1905), Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), and the new Home Fleet (1907–1912), and was sunk as a target in 1913.
HMS RamilliesHMS Ramillies (1892)HMS Ramillies was a pre-dreadnought battleship of Royal Navy and part of the seven ship Royal Sovereign' class.-Technical Characteristics:...
HMS Ramilles served in the Mediterranean FleetMediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1893–1903), Reserve Fleet (1903–1907), and Home Fleet (1907–1911), and was scrapped in 1913.
HMS RepulseHMS Repulse (1892)HMS Repulse was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was the tenth ship to bear the name HMS Repulse.-Technical Characteristics:HMS Repulse was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Program of 1889...
HMS Repulse served in the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
(1894–1902), Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1902–1903), and Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), then in subsidiary roles until decommissioned and scrapped in 1911.
HMS ResolutionHMS Resolution (1892)HMS Resolution was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893.. She was long and had a maximum cruising speed of...
HMS Resolution served in the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
(1893–1901), then in various subsidiary and commissioned reserve duties until decommissioned in 1911 and scrapped in 1914.
HMS RevengeHMS Revenge (1892)HMS Revenge was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Sovereign class of the British Royal Navy. She was renamed HMS Redoubtable in 1915. HMS Revenge notably served as the flagship of the Flying Squadron and bombarding the coast of Flanders during World War I before being refitted as an...
HMS Revenge served in the Special Flying SquadronFlying Squadron (Royal Navy)
The Flying Squadron was a special British Royal Navy squadron that operated during 1896.Following the Jameson Raid in South Africa, the German Emperor Wilhelm II sent a telegram of support to President Kruger. This led to a war scare in Europe...
in 1896 as its flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, then in the Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1896–1900, which included service as flagship during the blockade of Crete in 1898), then as flagship of the Home Fleet (1902–1905), in the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
in 1905, and on various duties in the commissioned reserve (1905–1913). Bombarded the Belgian coast in 1914 and 1915 and was renamed Redoubtable in 1915, then decommissioned and was scrapped in 1919.
HMS Royal OakHMS Royal Oak (1892)HMS Royal Oak was a pre-dreadnought Royal Navy battleship of the seven-ship Royal Sovereign class.-Technical Characteristics:Royal Oak was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 7 March 1889 and built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead at a cost of £977,996. She was launched on 5 November 1892...
HMS Royal Oak served in the Special Flying SquadronFlying Squadron (Royal Navy)
The Flying Squadron was a special British Royal Navy squadron that operated during 1896.Following the Jameson Raid in South Africa, the German Emperor Wilhelm II sent a telegram of support to President Kruger. This led to a war scare in Europe...
in 1896, Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
(1897–1902), Home Fleet (1903–1905), Reserve Fleet (1905–1907), and the new Home Fleet (1907–1911), before decommissioning in 1912 and being scrapped in 1914.