Duncan-class battleship

HMS Albemarle
Class overview
Name:	Duncan class
Builders:	Lairds, Chatham Dockyard, Devonport Dockyard, Thames Iron Works, Palmers
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	London class
Succeeded by:	King Edward VII class
Built:	1900–03
In commission:	1903–17
Planned:	6
Completed:	6
Lost:	3
Retired:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	13,270–13,745 tons (load) 14,900–15,200 tons (deep)
Length:	432 ft (132 m) overall
Beam:	75 ft 6 in (23.01 m)
Draught:	25 ft 9 in (7.85 m)
Installed power:	18,000 ihp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion:	24 Belleville water tube boilers 4-cylinder triple expansion 2 shafts
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range:	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	720
Armament:	4 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm)/40 Mark IX guns 12 × 6-inch (152 mm)/45 BL Mk VII guns 10 × 12-pounder QF guns 6 × 3-pounder QF guns 2 × machine guns 2 × 2 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armour:	Belt: 7 in (180 mm) Bulkheads: 7–11 in (180–280 mm) Decks: 1–2 in (25–51 mm) Gunhouses: 8–10 in (200–250 mm) Barbettes: 4–11 in (100–280 mm) Casemates: 6 in (150 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (300 mm)
Notes:	The Duncan class was informally known as "The Admirals".

The Duncan class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy. From 1889, Britain's “rank as a first-class power was bound up with its Mediterranean position” and these lightly armoured fast ships were intended to help meet combined Russian and French threats. Their period of maximum operational significance was short. By 1904, Britain had formed the Entente Cordiale with France whilst Russia was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tsushima the following year. The Battle of Tsushima influenced the design of HMS Dreadnought, launched 1906, which eclipsed the Duncans and all previous ships.

The Duncan-class battleships were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes, including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme; they were designed as smaller, more lightly armoured, and faster versions of the preceding Formidable class. As it turned out, the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared, and the Duncans proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed, firepower, and protection. Although they were designed before the ships of the London subclass of the Formidable class, the first two Londons were laid down before the first Duncan.

The armour layout was similar to that of London, with reduced thickness in the barbettes and belt.

The Duncans had machinery of 3,000 indicated horsepower (2,200 kW) more than the Formidables and Londons and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. They also had a modified hull form to improve speed. The ships had a reputation as good steamers, with a designed speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) and an operational speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), good steering at all speeds, and an easy roll. They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed, and the second fastest pre-dreadnoughts ever built after the Swiftsure-class Swiftsure and Triumph.

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Wikipedia