HMS Agamemnon (1906)

Agamemnon
History
United Kingdom
NameAgamemnon
BuilderWilliam Beardmore and Company Dalmuir
Cost£1,652,347[1]
Laid down15 May 1905
Launched23 June 1906
Sponsored byCountess of Aberdeen
CompletedJune 1908
Commissioned25 June 1908
Decommissioned20 March 1919
ReclassifiedTarget ship 1921–1926
FateSold for scrap, 24 January 1927
NotesThe last surviving British predreadnought when scrapped
General characteristics
Class and typeLord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement
Length443 ft 6 in (135.2 m)
Beam79 ft 6 in (24.2 m)
Draught26 ft 9 in (8.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range9,180 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement800–817
Armament
Armour

HMS Agamemnon was one of two Lord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleships launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was the Royal Navy's second-to-last pre-dreadnought battleship to be built, followed by her sister ship, Lord Nelson. She was assigned to the Channel Fleet when the First World War began in 1914. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea with Lord Nelson in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She made a number of bombardments against Turkish fortifications and in support of British troops. Agamemnon remained in the Mediterranean after the conclusion of that campaign to prevent the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser Breslau from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Agamemnon shot down the German Zeppelin LZ-55 (LZ-85) during a bombing mission over Salonica in 1916. On 30 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on board the ship while she was anchored at Lemnos in the northern Aegean Sea. She was converted to a radio-controlled target ship following her return to the United Kingdom in March 1919 and began service in 1921. Agamemnon was the last pre-dreadnought in service with the Royal Navy; she was replaced by Centurion at the end of 1926 and sold for scrap in January 1927.

  1. ^ Burt, p. 282