Duke of Edinburgh class armoured cruisers

Duke of Edinburgh Class.  Return to larger cruisers for the Royal Navy with heavy 9.2 inch armament in single turrets makes them easy to distinguish from early British cruisers as does their shorter funnels.  Unfortunately the secondary 6 inch battery was still mounted too low and during the war many of these guns were replaced by shielded mounts on the upper deck.

HMS Duke of Edinburgh
Built Pembroke Dockyard, laid down June 1903, completed January 1906.

HMS Black Prince
Built Thames Iron Works, laid down February 1903, completed March 1906.

Average coast: £1,150,000.

Size:
Length 480 feet pp 505 feet 6 inches overall, beam 73 feet 6 inches, draught 26 feet, displacement 13,550 tons load.

Propulsion:
2 shaft triple expansion engines, 23,000 ihp, 23 knots

Trials:
Duke of Edinburgh 23,685 ihp = 22.84 knots
Black Prince 23,939 ihp = 23.66 knots

Armour:
6-3in belt, 6in barbettes, 7.5in turret faces, 1.5-0.5in decks

Armament:
6 x 9.2in Mk IX (6 x 1), 10 x 6in Mk XI (10 x 1), 22 x 3pounder (22 x 1), 3 x 18in TT

Comments:
An acknowledgement that the trade protection cruisers of the Monmouth and Devonshire classes were not powerful enough to operate with the battle fleet.  A big increase in firepower although the secondary 6 in guns were still considered too weak for the role.  Protection was also increased.  Crew 790.

World War 1 Service:
Duke of Edinburgh
1st Cruiser Squadron Mediterranean Fleet.
August 1914 involved in hunt for SMS Goeben and Breslau.
August 1914 Captured a German merchant ship Altair in the Red Sea.
November 1914 Persian Gulf including bombardment of Ottoman positions.
December 1914 onwards 1st Cruiser Squadron Grand Fleet.
31 May 1916 Present at the Battle of Jutland.
June 1916 Joined 2nd Cruiser Squadron Grand Fleet.
1917 Escorted Atlantic convoys.
August-November 1918 West Indies and North American Station.
1920 Sold for scrap.

Black Prince
1st Cruiser Squadron Mediterranean Fleet.
August 1914 involved in hunt for SMS Goeben and Breslau.
August 1914 Captured a German merchant ship in the Red Sea.
November 1914 Gibraltar.
December 1914 onwards 1st Cruiser Squadron Grand Fleet.
1 June 1916 Sunk at the Battle of Jutland.

HMS Duke of Edinburgh which has the distinction of being the only ship of her squadron to survive the Battle of Jutland.  These were the first ships for which the new Director of Naval Construction, Philip Watts was responsible.  Originally to have been a class of six, the last four were completed to a modified design as the Warrior class.