HMS Agincourt (1913)

Agincourt in 1915
History
Brazil
Name	Rio de Janeiro
Namesake	Rio de Janeiro
Builder	Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne
Cost	$14,500,000 (estimated)[1]
Yard number	792
Laid down	14 September 1911
Launched	22 January 1913
Fate	Sold December 1913 to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
Name	Sultan Osman-ı Evvel
Namesake	Sultan Osman I
Acquired	December 1913
Fate	Seized in August 1914 by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Name	Agincourt
Namesake	The Battle of Agincourt of 1415
Cost	£2,900,000 (estimated)[2]
Completed	20 August 1914
Acquired	3 August 1914
Commissioned	7 August 1914
Decommissioned	April 1921
Nickname(s)	Gin Palace
Fate	Sold for scrap, 19 December 1922
General characteristics (in British service)
Type	Dreadnought battleship
Displacement	27,850 long tons (28,300 t) (load) 30,860 long tons (31,360 t) (deep load)
Length	671 ft 6 in (204.7 m)
Beam	89 ft (27.1 m)
Draught	29 ft 10 in (9.1 m)
Installed power	22 × water-tube boilers 34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 4 × steam turbines
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	1268 (1917)
Armament	7 × twin 12 in (305 mm) guns 20 × single 6 in (152 mm) guns 10 × single 3 in (76 mm) guns 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 9 in (229 mm) Deck: 1–2.5 in (25–64 mm) Barbettes: 2–9 in (51–229 mm) Turret: 8–12 in (203–305 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Bulkheads: 2.5–6 in (64–152 mm)

HMS Agincourt was a dreadnought battleship built in the United Kingdom in the early 1910s. Originally part of Brazil's role in a South American naval arms race, she holds the distinction of mounting more heavy guns (fourteen) and more turrets (seven) than any other dreadnought battleship, in keeping with the Brazilians' requirement for an especially impressive design.

Brazil ordered the ship in 1911 as Rio de Janeiro from the British company Armstrong Whitworth. However, the collapse of Brazil's rubber boom and a warming in relations with Argentina, the country's chief rival, led to the ship's sale while under construction to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans renamed her Sultan Osman I, after the empire's founder, and the ship was nearly complete when the First World War broke out. The British government seized her for use by the Royal Navy, together with another Ottoman dreadnought being constructed in Britain. This act caused resentment in the Ottoman Empire, as the payments for both ships were complete, and contributed to the decision of the Ottoman government to join the Central Powers.

Renamed Agincourt by the Royal Navy, she joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea. During the war, the ship spent the bulk of her time on patrols and exercises, although she did participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Agincourt was put into reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.