In 1913, the Empress of India was used as a gunnery target and finally, in 1914, the Hood was sunk as a blockship in Portland harbour.Ī catwalk runs most of the way along the side of the hull – here you can also see a porthole from the outside Most of the Royal Sovereigns were scrapped before World War One. Then, in 1906 another leap in design produced HMS Dreadnought – and 25 years of Sovereigns, Majestics and their relatives were rendered obsolete. A similar configuration was subsequently developed over another 20 RN battleships across a number of classes, and further ships were exported to Japan. Nine Majestics were built, making it the most prolific class of battleship ever constructed for the Royal Navy. Lessons learned from these ships resulted in the design being revised for the following Majestic class, where the best features of turrets and barbettes were combined into what would become recognised as the ‘modern’ battleship turret. Secondary armament on all ships consisted of ten 6in guns mounted five a side. The last ship in the class, HMS Hood ( Wreck Tour 7, September 1999), was substantially modified, with the fore and aft decks lowered to allow the guns to be mounted in fully armoured turrets. On the first seven, the main armament of four 13.5in guns was mounted on two armoured barbettes. The Empress of India was the second of eight ships in the class. At the time they were the largest warships ever built, displacing 15,585 tons, and, like HMS Warrior 20 years before, they made all other battleships obsolete. Built in the early 1890s, they were the first battleships of the Royal Navy that hinted at the shape of a modern battleship. I HAVE A BIT OF A SOFT SPOT for Royal Sovereign-class vessels.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |