HMS Royal Sovereign (1891)

HMS Royal Sovereign at anchor, about 1897
History
United Kingdom
Name	Royal Sovereign
Ordered	Naval Defence Act 1889
Builder	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down	30 September 1889
Launched	26 February 1891
Sponsored by	Queen Victoria
Completed	May 1892
Commissioned	31 May 1892
Decommissioned	9 September 1909
Fate	Sold for scrap, 7 October 1913
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship
Displacement	14,150 long tons (14,380 t) (normal)
Length	380 ft (115.8 m) (pp) 410.5 ft (125.1 m) (oa)
Beam	75 ft (22.9 m)
Draught	27 ft 6 in (8.4 m)
Installed power	11,000 ihp (8,200 kW) 8 cylindrical boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range	4,720 nmi (8,740 km; 5,430 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	670
Armament	2 × twin 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns 10 × single 6-inch (152 mm) guns 10 × single 6-pdr (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns 12 × single 3-pdr (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns 7 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Main belt: 14–18 in (356–457 mm) bulkheads: 14–16 in (356–406 mm) Barbettes: 11–17 in (279–432 mm) Casemates: 6 in (152 mm) Conning tower: 14 in (356 mm) Deck: 2.5–3 in (64–76 mm)

HMS Royal Sovereign was the lead ship of the seven ships in her class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. The ship was commissioned in 1892 and served as the flagship of the Channel Fleet for the next five years. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897 and returned home in 1902, and was briefly assigned as a coast guard ship before she began a lengthy refit in 1903–1904. Royal Sovereign was reduced to reserve in 1905 and was taken out of service in 1909. The ship was sold for scrap four years later and subsequently broken up in Italy.