HMS Defence (1907)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Defence.

Stern view of Defence
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameDefence
Ordered1904-05 Naval Programme
BuilderPembroke dockyard
Laid down25 February 1905
Launched24 April 1907
Commissioned9 February 1909
FateSunk at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
General characteristics
Class and typeMinotaur-class armoured cruiser
Displacement14,600 long tons (14,800 t)
Length
  • 490 ft (149.4 m) pp
  • 519 ft (158.2 m) overall
Beam74.5 ft (22.7 m)
Draught26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range8,150 nmi (15,090 km; 9,380 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement779
Armament
Armour

HMS Defence was a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century, the last armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. The ship was transferred to the Grand Fleet in January 1915 and remained there for the rest of her career.

Defence was sunk on 31 May 1916 during the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the war. Escorting the main body of the Grand Fleet, the ship was fired upon by one German battlecruiser and four dreadnoughts as she attempted to engage a disabled German light cruiser. She was struck by two salvoes from the German ships that detonated her rear magazine. The fire from that explosion spread to the ship's secondary magazines, which exploded in turn. The entire crew are believed to have been killed, although newspapers of the time made unverified claims of possible survivors.[1][2]


Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "The Only Survivor". Milngavie and Bearsden Herald. 18 Nov 1916. p. 9.
  2. ^ "HMS Defence - a possible survivor".