HMS Ocean (1898)

launched in July 1898, and commissioned

First World War in August 1914. At the start of the conflict, she was assigned to the 8th Battle Squadron and was stationed in Ireland to support a cruiser squadron, but in October she was transferred to the East Indies Station to protect troopship convoys

Dardanelles Campaign, and she took part in several attacks on the Ottoman fortifications defending the Dardanelles. On 18 March, she attempted to retrieve the battleship Irresistible after the latter had been badly damaged by a mine in Erenköy Bay, but had to abandon her salvage efforts due to heavy Ottoman gunfire. She instead evacuated the surviving crew of Irresistible but struck a mine while making for the open sea. Badly damaged, her crew and the survivors of Irresistible were taken off by destroyers and Ocean left to sink in Morto Bay

fully loaded. Her crew numbered 682 officers and ratings.^[1]

Belleville boilers. They were the first British battleships with water-tube boilers, which generated more power at less expense in weight compared with the fire-tube boilers used in previous ships. The new boilers led to the adoption of fore-and-aft funnels, rather than the side-by-side funnel arrangement used in many previous British battleships. The Canopus-class ships proved to be good steamers, with a high speed for battleships of their time—18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) from 13,500 indicated horsepower (10,100 kW)—a full two knots faster than the Majestics.^[2]

18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull, two on each broadside near the forward and aft barbette.^[1]

Harvey armour in the Majestics to Krupp armour in Ocean meant that the loss in protection was not as great as it might have been, Krupp armour having greater protective value at a given weight than its Harvey equivalent. Similarly, the other armour used to protect the ship could also be thinner; the bulkheads on either end of the belt were 6 to 10 inches (152 to 254 mm) thick. The main battery turrets were 10 in thick, atop 12-inch barbettes, and the casemate battery was protected with 6 in of Krupp steel. Her conning tower had 12 in thick sides as well. She was fitted with two armoured decks, 1 and 2 inches (25 and 51 mm) thick, respectively.^[2]

Port Lazaref (on the Korean peninsula) in October 1902,^[9] but she suffered damage in a typhoon

Madiera and then to the Azores. The threat of the German East Asia Squadron and the independent cruiser SMS Königsberg, both of which were still at large, forced the Admiralty to redirect Ocean again, to the East Indies Station, to support cruisers on convoy duty in the Middle East. She was joined by the protected cruiser Minerva.^[3][12]

Royal Marines, stormed the fortress and captured it, having encountered no resistance.^[3][13]

armed merchant cruiser Himalaya supported ground troops against an Ottoman attack on the canal in the vicinity of El Kubri. Later on the 3rd, after the Ottoman attack at El Kubri had been defeated, Ocean was sent to Deversoir to provide artillery support to the garrison there, but Ottoman attacks were insignificant. By the following day, the Ottoman assault had broken down completely.^[3][14]

Dardanelles campaign.^[3] On 28 February, she took part in an attempt to suppress the Ottoman defences in the Dardanelles led by Admiral John de Robeck; the battleships Albion and Triumph led the operation, and were tasked with neutralizing the repaired fortress at Dardanus, while Ocean and Majestic supported them by engaging batteries of mobile field guns that had proved to be troublesome in previous attempts to neutralise the Ottoman defences. Ocean initially attempted to locate guns that had been active in the vicinity of Sedd el Bahr, before moving on with Majestic and coming under fire from several Ottoman batteries, including howitzers around Erenköy. The British battleships eventually silenced the guns, but only temporarily; as soon as the ships moved on to other targets, the guns opened fire again. In the meantime, Albion and Triumph had approached Dardanus but they came under heavy fire from Ottoman guns on the European side of the straits, including the fortress at Erenköy, and were forced to circle to avoid taking hits. Unable to engage Dardanus under these conditions, the ships instead opened fire on the guns at Erenköy, which initially seemed to be effective, as the Ottoman fire slackened. Ocean and Majestic approached in an attempt to attack Dardanus, but they too came under renewed, furious fire from Erenköy, and de Robeck again ordered a withdrawal. The only success came after the four battleships withdrew from the straits and a landing party from Triumph went ashore and disabled several light guns. The inability of the British and French fleets to neutralize the mobile field guns convinced the Allied command that the only way forward would be to make a major amphibious assault to clear the guns by land.^[15]

superdreadnought battleship Queen Elizabeth while she engaged the Ottoman artillery batteries. After a day's bombardment, the British sent in minesweepers to try to clear the minefields blocking the strait, and Ocean, Majestic, and several destroyers were tasked with protecting them. Despite the heavy bombardment, the Ottoman defenses were largely intact, and even concerted firing from Ocean and other ships could not suppress the guns or their search lights. Early on 7 March, the British were forced to withdraw.^[16]

list, and heavy enemy fire. Ocean then took off the remaining members of Irresistible's crew and left the abandoned battleship to her fate; Irresistible sank unobserved by Allied forces, at around 19:30.^[18][19]

starboard. She came under fire from shore and began taking hits, which flooded her starboard engine room and prevented steering repairs. The destroyers Jed, Colne, and Chelmer came alongside and took off her crew (and the survivors from Irresistible) at around 19:30. She then drifted into Morto Bay, still under fire, and sank there unobserved by Allied forces at about 22:30. When destroyer Jed entered the bay later that evening to sink Ocean and Irresistible with torpedoes so that they could not be captured by Ottoman forces, the two battleships were nowhere to be found.^[21][22]