HMS Commonwealth (1903)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1903 naval programme |
| Builder: | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan |
| Laid down: | 17 June 1902 |
| Launched: | 13 May 1903 |
| Commissioned: | March 1905 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking up, 18 November 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | Standard 15,630 tons, Full draft 17,000 tons (As built) |
| Length: | 453 ft 8 in (138.3 m) |
| Beam: | 78 ft (24 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft 6 in (7.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Coal fired (with oil sprayers) water tube boilers, Two 4-cylinder vertical compound expansion stream engines, 2 screws, 18,000 hp |
| Speed: | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) |
| Range: | 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) at top speed |
| Complement: | 777 |
| Armament: | 1918 4 × 12 in guns, 4 × 9.2 in guns, 4 × 6 in guns, 8 × 12 pdr guns, 2 × 3 in AA guns, 6 × 3 pdr AA guns, 2 × 3 pdr guns, 5 x M.G. (1 landing), 4 × 18 in torpedo tubes (submerged) |
| Armor: | Belt amidships: 9 inch Barbettes: 12 in, Main turrets: 12 in, Secondary turrets: 7 inch Armoured deck: 2 inch |
HMS Commonwealth, was a member of the King Edward VII class of British Royal Navy battleships. Like all ships of the class (apart from HMS King Edward VII) she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely the Commonwealth of Australia.
The ship was built at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan and launched 13 May 1903.
Commonwealth at the start of 1915 served as part of the 3rd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. As of 1 July 1915 Commonwealth was 2nd Flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron for the rest of the year. She served with the 3BS until 1918, when alone of her class she was earmarked for extensive reconstruction. She was fitted with torpedo bulges, a tripod foremast, a director and fire control system, in effect the most advanced Pre-Dreadnought in the world. With the end of the war it was decided that Commonwealth would be a Gunnery ship to train crews in the use of all weapons used on the modern Dreadnought battleships. After three years of faithful service as a training ship, she was scrapped at the end of 1921.
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