 HMS Bulwark in 1912
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | London-class battleship |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Formidable class |
| Succeeded by | Duncan class |
| Built | 1898–1904 |
| In commission | 1902–1919 |
| Completed | 5 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Pre-dreadnought 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 |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18 knots (33.3 km/h; 20.7 mph) |
| Complement | 714 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | |
The London class was a group of five predreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The class comprised London, Bulwark, Venerable, Queen, and Prince of Wales. The ships of the London class were very similar to the preceding Formidable class, with the main differences being their armour layout. They were armed with a battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and they had top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). They are sometimes referred to as being part of the Formidable class due to their similarity, or as being a class of three ships, with the last two forming their own Queen class. The five ships were built between 1898 and 1904 at the Portsmouth, Devonport, and Chatham Dockyards.
All five ships of the class served with the Mediterranean Fleet at the start of their careers; their peacetime years were uneventful, apart from accidental collisions with other ships. Starting in 1907, the Royal Navy began transferring the ships back to home waters, where they served at various times with the Home Fleet, Channel Fleet, and Atlantic Fleet. In 1912–1913, London was used to test the use of ramp-launched airplanes from ships. By 1912, all five members of the class had been transferred to the 5th Battle Squadron, Home Fleet, where they remained through the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914. After Britain's entry into the war in August, the ships escorted the British Expeditionary Force to France. Venerable shelled German troops in October and Bulwark was destroyed in an accidental magazine explosion in November.
Beginning in March 1915, the London-class ships began to be transferred to the Mediterranean Sea to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign; London, Queen, and Prince of Wales supported the Landing at Anzac Cove in April, but they were withdrawn in May to reinforce the Italian fleet blockading the main fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea. At the same time, Venerable was transferred to the Dardanelles, where she supported Allied troops ashore in August before also being sent to the Adriatic at the end of the year. Queen was converted into a depot ship in late 1916 and London and Venerable were withdrawn to Britain, where they were decommissioned and later converted into a minelayer and depot ship, respectively. Prince of Wales became a barracks ship in 1917. All four ships were ultimately sold for scrap in 1920 and broken up between 1920 and 1922.