The ''Devonshire''-class cruiser was a group of six armoured cruisers built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

in the first decade of the 20th century. All ships of the class served in

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. ''Argyll'' was wrecked, and ''Hampshire'' was sunk by a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

. The four survivors were disposed of soon after the war.

Design and description

The ''Devonshire'' class was designed as improved versions of the preceding and were also intended for commerce protection. The armament of the new design was made more powerful by the replacement of the twin six-inch (152 mm) turrets and the forward double six-inch casemates by four 7.5-inch (190 mm) single turrets in a diamond arrangement. The ships were designed to displace . They had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of and a deep draught of . The ''Devonshire''-class ships were powered by two 4-cylinder

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up ...

s, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by seventeen

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

and six cylindrical boilers.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 71 They carried a maximum of of coal and their complement consisted of 610 officers and other ranks.Friedman 2012, p. 336 The main armament of the ''Devonshire'' class consisted of four breech-loading (BL) 7.5-inch Mk I guns mounted in four single-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and one on each side.Friedman 2012, p. 256 The guns fired their shells to a range of about . Their secondary armament of six BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in casemates amidships. Four of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather. They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells. The ships also carried 18 quick-firing (QF) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. Her two 12-pounder 8-cwt guns could be dismounted for service ashore. At some point in the war, the main deck six-inch guns of the ''Devonshire''-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve

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and the four 3-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were landed.Friedman 2012, p. 280 The ships'

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

armour belt had a maximum thickness of and was closed off by transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets was also five inches thick whilst that of their barbettes was six inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.

Ships

* ''Antrim'', launched on 8 October 1903, sold for breaking up on 19 December 1922. * ''Argyll'', launched on 3 March 1904, wrecked on 28 October 1915. * ''Carnarvon'', launched on 7 October 1903, sold for breaking up on 8 November 1921. * ''Devonshire'', launched on 30 April 1904, sold for breaking up on 9 May 1921. * ''Hampshire'', launched on 4 September 1903, sunk by a

on 5 June 1916. * ''Roxburgh'', launched on 19 January 1904, sold on 8 November 1921.

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the ''Devonshire'' class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The 1905 edition costs were compiled before the ships were complete. *** = cost published by Brassey before the ship was complete, i.e. the total cost may have been more than this.

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1905 * * * * * Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed) Brassey's Naval Annual, The Naval Annual 1906 * *

External links

The Dreadnought Project
Technical details of the ships. {{DEFAULTSORT:Devonshire Class Cruiser (1903) Cruiser classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy