- Duke of Edinburgh class cruiser
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HMS Duke of EdinburghClass overview Name: Duke of Edinburgh Preceded by: Devonshire class cruiser Succeeded by: Minotaur class cruiser Completed: Six General characteristics Type: first class armoured cruiser Length: 480 ft (150 m) between perpendiculars
505.3 ft (154.0 m) overallBeam: 73.5 ft (22.4 m) Draught: 27.5 ft (8.4 m) Propulsion: 19 Yarrow boilers
Twin 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines
two screw propellers
23,500 hp (17.5 MW)Speed: 23 knots Range: 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) Complement: about 750 Armament: - 6 × BL 9.2-inch (233.7 mm) Mk X guns (6 × 1)
- Duke of Edinburgh and Black Prince:
- 10 x BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk XI guns (10 x 1)
- Warrior subclass
- 4 × BL 7.5-inch (190.5 mm) Mk II guns (4 × 1)
- 26 × 3 pdr (26 × 1) (22 x 3 pdr in Duke of Edinburgh and Black Prince)
- 3 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged
Armour: Belt: 6 in (152 mm)
barbette: 7in (178 mm)
turret faces: 8 in (203 mm) maximumThe Duke of Edinburgh-class was a class of six armoured cruisers built around 1905 for the British Royal Navy. The later four ships were armed differently, and are sometimes considered as a separate class, the Warrior-class.
They were the first ships to come from the new Director of Naval Construction, Philip Watts.
The main armament of six 9.2 inch guns was distributed in two centreline turrets (one fore and one aft with wide angles of fire) and four turrets disposed in the corners about the funnels. The secondary was 5 single gun 6-inch barbettes either side. The remainder was some twenty 3-pounder guns concentrated around the masts – 10 fore and 10 aft.
The Warriors replaced the 6 inch barbettes with four 7.5 inch gun turrets on the same deck as the centre main armament.
Contents
Service
Natal blew up in December 1915 due to an internal explosion. Warrior, Duke of Edinburgh and Black Prince were at the Battle of Jutland having joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. Black Prince and Warrior were lost at Jutland. Cochrane and Achilles were in the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. Achilles was undergoing refit and missed Jutland. Cochrane ran aground in the River Mersey in November 1918 and was scrapped. The other survivors of the war were scrapped or sold for scrap by 1921.
Building programme
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Duke of Edinburgh class. Whilst standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores, the cost quoted in The Naval Annual for this class includes armament.
Ship Builder Engine
makerLaid down Launch date Completed Cost
according to
BNA 1914 [1]Duke of Edinburgh class Duke of Edinburgh Pembroke Dockyard Hawthorn Leslie 11 Feb 1903 14 Jun 1904 20 Jan 1906 £1,201,687 * Black Prince Thames Ironworks, Blackwall Thames Ironworks 3 Jun 1903 8 Nov 1904 17 Mar 1906 £1,193,414 * Warrior class Warrior Pembroke Dockyard Wallsend 5 Nov 1903 25 Nov 1905 12 Dec 1906 £1,186,395 * Cochrane Fairfield, Govan Fairfield 24 Mar 1904 20 May 1905 18 Feb 1907 £1,193,121 * Achilles Armstrong, Elswick Hawthorn 22 Feb 1904 17 Jun 1905 22 Apr 1907 £1,191,103 * Natal Vickers, Barrow Vickers 6 Jan 1904 30 Sep 1905 5 Mar 1907 £1,218,244 * * = estimated cost, including guns
External Links
- The Dreadnought Project Technical details of the Duke of Edinburgh class.
- The Dreadnought Project Technical details of the Warrior class.
Notes and references
- ^ Brassey's Naval Annual 1914, p192-199
Bibliography
- Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
- Hythe, Viscount (ed)The Naval Annual 1914
Duke of Edinburgh class cruiser Duke of Edinburgh group Warrior group Preceded by: Devonshire class · Followed by: Minotaur class
List of cruisers of the Royal NavyCategories:- Cruiser classes
- Duke of Edinburgh class cruisers
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