HMS Argonaut (1898)

HMS Argonaut
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Argonaut
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down	23 November 1896
Launched	24 January 1898
Christened	Hersey Hope, Countess of Hopetoun
Reclassified	Hospital ship at Portsmouth 1915 Accommodation ship 1918
Fate	Sold for breaking up 18 May 1920
General characteristics
Class and type	Diadem-class cruiser
Displacement	11,000 tons
Length	435 ft (133 m) (462 ft 6 in (140.97 m) o/a)
Beam	69 ft (21 m)
Draught	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft triple expansion engines 16.500 - 18,000 hp
Speed	20–20.5 kn (37.0–38.0 km/h; 23.0–23.6 mph)
Complement	760
Armament	16 × single QF 6-inch (152 mm) guns 14 × single QF 12-pounder (76 mm) guns 3 × single QF 3-pounder (47 mm) guns 2 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes as Minelayer: 4 × 6-inch guns 1 × 12-pounder gun 354 mines
Armour	6 inch casemates 4.5-2 inch decks

HMS Argonaut was a ship of the Diadem-class of protected cruiser in the British Royal Navy. She was laid down in 1898, and commissioned for service on the China station in 1900. From 1906 she served in the Home Fleet, and during the First World War she served in the Atlantic. She was converted to hospital ship in 1915, and sold for breaking up in 1920.