&sq=&lang=&file=File:HMS_Venerable.jpg) HMS Venerable at Malta in 1915.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Venerable |
| Builder | Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down | 2 January 1899 |
| Launched | 2 November 1899 |
| Completed | November 1902 |
| Commissioned | 12 November 1902 |
| Decommissioned | late December 1918 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | London-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 431 ft 9 in (131.6 m) o/a |
| Beam | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement | 714 |
| Armament |
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| Armour | |
HMS Venerable (1899) was a member of the London class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy. The Londons were near repeats of the preceding Formidable-class battleships, but with modified armour protection. Venerable's main battery consisted of four 12-inch (305-mm) guns, and she had top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The ship was laid down in January 1899, was launched in November that year, and was completed in November 1902. Commissioned that month, Venerable served in the Mediterranean Fleet until 1908, and was subsequently recommissioned into the Channel Fleet. Following a major refit in 1909, she served with the Atlantic and Home Fleets.
After the outbreak of World War I, she took part in defensive and offensive operations with the Channel Fleet, shelling German positions in Belgium through May 1915. Thereafter transferred to the Mediterranean, she saw service in the Dardanelles campaign in mid-1915, and then in the Adriatic through 1916. That December, she returned to England and was refitted as a depot ship in 1918. She was sold for scrap in 1921 and was ultimately broken up in 1922.