HMS Africa (1905)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	January 1904
Launched:	20 May 1905 at Chatham Dockyard
Commissioned:
Decommissioned:
Fate:	Sold for scrapping 30 June 1920
Struck:
General characteristics
Displacement:	normal 16,350 tons, full draft 17,500 tons
Length:	453 ft 6 in (138 m)
Beam:	78 ft (23.7 m)
Draught:	26 ft 9 in (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	Coal-fired 4 cylinder compound expansion stream engines, 2 screws, 18,000 hp (13 MW)
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h) max, 16 knots (30 km/h) cruising
Range:
Complement:	777
Armament:	4 × 12 in (305 mm) guns (2 main turrets), 4 × 9.2 in (234 mm) guns (4 secondary turrets), 10 × 6 in (152 mm) guns, 5 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes (4 broadside, one stern), 14 × 12 pounder () guns, 14 × 3 pounder () guns, 2 x Maxim machine guns
Armour:	9 in (229 mm) belt amidships, 12 in (305 mm) barbettes, 9 in (229 mm) main turrets, 7 in (178 mm) secondary turrets. 2 in (51 mm) armoured deck

The most recent HMS Africa was a pre-Dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy; the last battleship constructed at Chatham Dockyard, England (later classes of battleships were too large for the yard). She was the penultimate ship of the King Edward VII class, being commissioned in 1905.

Africa initially joined the Atlantic Fleet, subsequently becoming the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir William Henry May, commander of the 3rd and 4th divisions of the Home Fleet in August 1911. Ships in these divisions had a small permanent core crew, being brought up to full complement with reservists in time of war. However, in May 1912 she was brought back to full crew with the 3rd Battle Squadron, which was made up of the eight King Edward VII-class battleships. Although very manoeuverable, these were known as the "Wobbly Eight" on account of their difficulty in steering a straight course.

Lieutenant Charles Samson made the first British shipboard aircraft takeoff from Africa on January 10, 1912 in a Short Brothers pusher seaplane from a platform constructed on the foredeck whilst the ship was at anchor in the River Medway, England.

The 3rd Battle Squadron became part of the Grand Fleet on the outbreak of the First World War, and Africa was present at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, but she played little part as by then the faster and better-armed Dreadnoughts made ships such as Africa a liability to the fleet. In 1917, she went into refit and had the 6 inch (152 mm) guns on the main deck replaced with four 6 inch (152 mm) guns a deck higher because the original guns were awash in even slightly rough weather.

Following the war, she was briefly the depot ship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron. She was sold for scrap on June 30, 1920, having served through the whole war without ever firing her guns at an enemy ship.