British Battleships of World War One. R. A. Burt

6in forward strake ran from the 11in belt, at the same height, to the stem of the ship; the after strake reduced to 4in and was placed higher than the main belt, but lower than the 8in run. This 4in run was approximately three feet above the 11in belt. The 8in upper main belt sat above the 11in run with the top edge being 8ft 6in above the water-line at normal displacement. The belt terminated at the same point as that of the 11in strake. The main bulkhead, which was fitted aft only, was 8in thick and ran obliquely inwards from the after extremities of the lower side armour to the outer face of the after barbette. It did not drop below the middle deck level. The ¾in-thick main deck ran from the stem of the vessel through to the lip of the 8in bulkhead aft.

       DREADNOUGHT: PARTICULARS, AS COMPLETED

       Construction

      Portsmouth DY; laid down 2 Oct 1905; launched 10 Feb 1906; completed for trials early Oct 1906.

       Displacement (tons)

      18,120 (normal), 20,730 (deep), 21,765 (extra deep).

       Dimensions

      Length: 490ft pp, 520ft wI, 527ft oa

      Beam: 82ft 1in

      Draught: 26ft 6in (normal), 29ft 7½in (deep), 31ft 1½in (extra deep)

      Freeboard: 28ft forward, 16ft 6in amidships, 18ft aft

      Height of 12in guns above lower wl: 31ft 6in forward, 22ft 6in amidships, 23ft aft (normal); 29ft forward, 20ft 6in amidships, 20ft aft (deep).

       Armament

      Ten 12in 45cal Mk X; BVIII mountings; shell stowage 80rpg

      Twenty-eight 12pdr 18cwt; PIV mountings; 300rpg

      One 12pdr 8cwt field gun

      Five MG

      Five 18in torpedo tubes; twenty-three torpedoes plus six 14in.

       Fire control

      None fitted as completed. Director control gear fitted in tower over control top in 1914/15.

Armour *

      Main belt: 11in tapering to 7in

      Upper tier: 8in

      Ends: 6in forward, 4in aft

      After bulkhead: 8in

      Barbettes: 11in–8in–4in

      Turrets: 12in–11in–3in

      Conning tower: 11in sides

      Communications tube: 8in

      Decks: middle ¾in, main 1¾in, inclines 2¾in, lower 1½in (forward), 3in–2in aft.

       Breakdown of armour weights (tons)

6in side belt forward:	427
11in side:	641
8in side:	510
4in side aft:	184
11 in screen:	47
8in screen	63
12in barbettes:
‘A’ (excluding fittings)	358
‘B’ and ‘X’	429
‘Y’	188
Conning tower:	52
Signal tower:	46

       Machinery

      Parsons direct-drive turbines working four propellers

      Eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers in three groups; normal working pressure 250psi reducing to 185psi at the turbines. Each boiler was fitted with six oil sprayers giving a total output of 960lb per boiler/hour at 150psi.

      Total heating surface: 55,400sq ft

      Grate area: 1,599sq ft

      Engines: Vickers with designed SHP of 23,000 for 21 knots

      Fuel: 900 tons coal normal; 2,900 tons maximum plus 1,120 tons oil

      Radius: 6,620nm at 10 knots (with oil fuel); 4,340nm at 10 knots (without).

      Using 2,220shp, consumption was 127 tons of coal per 24 hours. Continuous seagoing speed was 18.4 knots, giving radius of 4,910nm (520nm more than that of Lord Nelson).

       Ship’s boats

      Steam pinnaces: two 45ft, one 36ft

      Launches: one 42ft

      Cutters: three 32ft

      Whalers: four 27ft

      Gigs: one 32ft, one 30ft

      Skiff dinghies: one 16ft.

       Searchlights

      Twelve 36in: two bridge, four forward superstructure, four amidships structure, two after superstructure; one 24in signalling lamp on platform below control top.

       Anchors

      Three 125cwt stockless (bower and sheet), one 42cwt stream (close stowing), one 15cwt kedge. 475 fathoms 2 cable.

       Wireless

      Mk I type plus short-radius set.

       Complement

      685–692 (1905 Estimate); 700 (1907); 732 (1909); 798 (1910); 810 (1916).

       Cost of vessel

      £1,672,483 (guns: £113,200).

       Notes:

*All KC except decks which were non-cemented. Decks of less than 3in and the communications tube were of mild steel.

      The middle deck was protected by a total of 1¾in made up of two plates, one of 1in the other of ¾in. The inclines of that deck consisted of three plates, one of ¾in and two of 1in thickness (2¾in total). Towards the extremities of this middle deck, just before dropping to the lower deck, was an increase to 3in in the areas of the forward and after barbettes. The lower deck forward ran from the extremities of the fore barbette, sloping steeply downwards with a thickness of 4in; on the flat at lower deck level it reduced to 1½in, running to the stem of the ship. Aft, this lower deck, having left the middle deck at a steep fall, of 4in thickness, ran toward the stern at 2in for approximately 28 feet then rose slightly, increasing to 3in, and dropped again to 2in for another 25 feet or so, after which it again dropped at a thickness of 3in.

      The forward barbette was 11in on the outer face above main deck level; below, it thinned to 8in. The inner face was 8in above the main deck level and then thinned to 4in below. Beam barbettes were given 11in uniform on the faces, with the inner faces 8in above the main deck and 4in below.

      The after barbette’s face was 11in uniform, with the inner face 8in above main deck and 4in below. Turrets were reduced from that of Lord Nelson by reducing the back plates from 13in to 12in and the faces and sides to 11in from 12in. Roof plates ranged from 4in on the forward part to 3in on the crown. The forward conning tower had 11in sides and a 3in roof; the floor was 4in thick. The communications tube was 5in and ran down to behind the