|
|
|
|
|
King Edward Vii Class Battleship align="center" colspan="2"|
HMS King Edward VII | | lign ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|General Characteristics (original configuration) | align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|RN Ensign | | isplacement: | normal 16,350 tons, full draft 17,500 tons | | ength: | 453 feet 6 inches (138 m) | | eam: | 78 feet (23.7 m) | | raught: | 26 feet 9 inches (8.2 m) | | ropulsion: | Coal fired (with oil sprayers) water tube boilers, Two 4-cylinder vertical compound expansion stream engines, 2 screws, 18,000 hp | | peed: | 16.75 knots maximum | | ange: | | | omplement: | 777 | | rmament: | four 12 inch guns (2 main turrets), four 9.2 inch guns (4 secondary turrets), ten 6-inch guns, five 18 inch torpedo tubes (4 broadside, one stern), 14 12 pounder guns, fourteen 3 pounder guns, two maxim machine guns | | rmour: | 9 inch belt amidships, 12 inch barbettes, 9 inch main turrets, 7 inch secondary turrets. 2 inch armoured deck | The King Edward VII class was a class of battleships launched by the Royal Navy between 1903 and 1905 in response to the emerging navies of Japan and the USA. The navies of these two nations were smaller, but their ships possessed superior secondary armament, a key part of a ship's firepower. The King Edward VII-class ships were built as a response, with the intention of halting the gap in firepower and maintaining the dominance of the Royal Navy. The design was a direct descendant of the Majestic class, and that class, as well as the Canopus, Formidable and Duncan classes all had 6-inch secondary armament. The King Edwards though, mounted an impressed four 9.2-inch guns that could prove a formidable and potent weapon during any type of engagement, due to its heavier shells compared to the shells of the standard 6-inch guns with the additional advantage of it retaining its ability to quick-fire. Although very manoeuvrable, they were difficult to keep on a straight course which earned them the nickname "the wobbly eight". Primarily powered by coal, all of the class except New Zealand had oil sprayers installed during construction, the first time this had been done in British battleships. These allowed steam pressure to be rapidly increased, improving the acceleration of the ships. The King Edwards were made quickly obsolete by 1906, with the launch of the revolutionary battleship Dreadnought. Ships of the class All ships of the class served in World War I and those that survived the war were broken up in 1920–1921. *
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|