HMS Ajax (1880)

Ajax at the Queen's Jubilee Naval Review 1887, Spithead
History
United Kingdom
NameAjax
NamesakeAjax
BuilderPembroke Dockyard
Laid down21 March 1876
Launched10 March 1880
Completed30 March 1883
Commissioned30 April 1885
Out of serviceNovember 1901
FateSold for scrap, March 1904
General characteristics
Class and typeAjax-class ironclad battleship
Displacement8,510 long tons (8,650 t)
Length
  • 280 ft (85.3 m) (pp)
  • 300 ft 9 in (91.7 m) (oa)
Beam66 ft (20.1 m)
Draught23 ft 6 in (7.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 compound-expansion steam engines
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range2,100 nmi (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) @ 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement345
Armament
Armour
Right elevation and plan from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1886

HMS Ajax was the name ship of her class of ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. Completed in 1883, she was immediately placed in reserve until 1885 when the ship was commissioned for the first time. Later that year, Ajax was assigned as a coast guard ship in Scotland and remained there for the next six years. She was reduced to reserve again in 1891 and was taken out of service a decade later. The ship was sold for scrap in 1904 and subsequently broken up.