HMS Ajax (1912)

The crew of the Ajax painting the ship, Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, 1921
History
United Kingdom
NameAjax
NamesakeAjax
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding & Engineering, Greenock
Cost£1,889,387
Laid down27 February 1911
Launched21 March 1912
CompletedMay 1913
Commissioned31 October 1913
DecommissionedApril 1924
Out of serviceOctober 1926
FateSold for scrap, 10 December 1926
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeKing George V-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement25,420 long tons (25,830 t) (normal)
Length597 ft 9 in (182.2 m) (o/a)
Beam89 ft 1 in (27.2 m)
Draught28 ft 8 in (8.7 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range6,310 nmi (11,690 km; 7,260 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement869 (1914)
Armament
Armour

HMS Ajax was the third of four King George V-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. After commissioning in 1913, she spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

After the war, Ajax was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea in 1919–1920. The ship was deployed to Turkish waters during the Chanak Crisis of September–October 1922. Ajax was placed in reserve in 1924 before being sold for scrap two years later in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.