Lord Nelson class battleship

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General characteristics
3-view drawing of HMS Agamemnon as she appeared in 1908
Displacement:	15,358 tons normal, 17,820 tons full load
Length:	443.6 ft (135.2 m)
Beam:	79.6 ft (24.2 m)
Draft:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion:	2 shafts vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 15 coal fired boilers, 16,750 ihp
Speed:	18 knots
Range:	9,180 nm at 10 knots, 2,170 tons coal
Armament:	Four 12 in guns (2 × 2) Ten 9.2 in guns (4 × 2, 2 × 1) Twenty-four 12 lb guns Two 3 lb guns Five 18 inch torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 12 in Upper belt: 8 in Turret: 12 in Deck: 4 in

The Lord Nelson class was a class of two battleships built by the Royal Navy between 1905 and 1908. They were made at a time when strategists felt that future battles would be fought at longer ranges. As a result, less attention was paid to secondary and tertiary armaments, which might never be put into use. Armor protection on the other hand was seriously considered since larger projectiles were anticipated in future battles. It was the last class of battleships to be designed by the United Kingdom before the "all-big-gun" Dreadnought revolutionized battleship construction.

[edit] Design

The Lord Nelson class were the first ships for which Sir Phillip Watts was responsible. These ships were a departure from previous British pre-dreadnought designs. The 6 inch secondary battery was replaced by 10 9.2 inch guns in turrets. Both ships were designed to be short because the design board responsible for the ships wanted them to be able to fit into dry docks, otherwise closed to previous classes. They were also the last British battleships to have reciprocating engines. The ships cost £1,652,000 (about £110 Million in 2005 value)

[edit] Ships

Both ships of the class were launched in 1906 and served in the Mediterranean during World War I, where they were involved in attacks on Turkish forts and support of landings in the Dardanelles Campaign. In November 1918 both ships were part of the first British squadron to pass through the Dardanelles after the Armistice.

Lord Nelson, built by Palmers, Jarrow. Laid down 1905, completed 1908. Scrapped 1920
Agamemnon, built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir, Clyde. Laid down 1905 completed 1908. Converted into a radio controlled target ship in 1921 and scrapped in 1927.