Devonshire-class cruiser (1903)
HMS Antrim at anchor
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Class overview | |
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Name | Devonshire class |
Operators | Royal Navy |
Preceded by | Monmouth class |
Succeeded by | Duke of Edinburgh class |
Built | 1902–1905 |
In commission | 1905–1922 |
Completed | 6 |
Lost | 2 |
Scrapped | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Armoured cruiser |
Displacement | 10,850 long tons (11,020 t) (normal) |
Length | 473 ft 6 in (144.3 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 68 ft 6 in (20.9 m) |
Draught | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
Complement | 610 |
Armament |
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Armour |
The Devonshire-class cruiser was a group of six
Design and description
The Devonshire class was designed as improved versions of the preceding
The main armament of the Devonshire class consisted of four
At some point in the war, the main deck six-inch guns of the Devonshire-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve seakeeping and the four 3-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were landed.[7]
The ships' waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of six inches (152 mm) and was closed off by five-inch (127 mm) transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets was also five inches thick whilst that of their barbettes was six inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from .75–2 inches (19–51 mm) and the conning tower was protected by twelve inches (305 mm) of armour.[2]
Ships
- Antrim, launched on 8 October 1903, sold for breaking up on 19 December 1922.
- Argyll, launched on 3 March 1904, wrecked on 28 October 1915.
- Carnarvon, launched on 7 October 1903, sold for breaking up on 8 November 1921.
- Devonshire, launched on 30 April 1904, sold for breaking up on 9 May 1921.
- Hampshire, launched on 4 September 1903, sunk by a naval mine on 5 June 1916.
- Roxburgh, launched on 19 January 1904, sold on 8 November 1921.
Building Programme
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Devonshire class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The 1905 edition costs were compiled before the ships were complete.
Ship | Builder | Date of | Cost according to | |||
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Laid down
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Launch | Completion | ( BNA 1905)[8]
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( BNA 1906)[9]
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Devonshire | HM Dockyard, Chatham
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25 Mar 1902 | 30 Apr 1904 | 24 Aug 1905 | £900,792 *** | £818,167 |
Antrim | John Brown, Clydebank
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27 Aug 1902 | 8 Oct 1903 | 23 Jun 1905 | £899,050 *** | £873,625 |
Argyll | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering, Greenock | 1 Sep 1902 | 3 Mar 1904 | December 1905 | £912,588 *** | £873,598 |
Carnarvon | William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir
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1 Oct 1902 | 17 Oct 1903 | 29 May 1905 | £899,465 *** | £858,130 |
Hampshire | Elswick
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1 Sep 1902 | 24 Sep 1903 | 15 Jul 1905 | £872,327 *** | £833,817 |
Roxburgh | London & Glasgow Shipbuilding, Govan | 13 Jun 1902 | 9 Jan 1904 | 5 Sep 1905 | £866,199 *** | £829,327 |
*** = cost published by Brassey before the ship was complete, i.e. the total cost may have been more than this.
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
Bibliography
- The Naval Annual 1905
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- ISBN 0-89839-256-X.
- Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-59114-068-9.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed) Brassey's Naval Annual|The Naval Annual 1906
- ISBN 0-224-04092-8.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
External links
- The Dreadnought Project Technical details of the ships.