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The Royal Sovereign class was an eight-ship class of pre-Dreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy.

1 History

The ships of the Royal Sovereign class were built under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which provided £21 million for a vast expansion program. The Act was inspired by rumours of a possible Franco-Russian alliance and by perceived shortcomings in naval forces revealed during manoeuvres the year before. In total, ten battleships, forty-two cruisers, and eighteen other vessels were built—an enormous increase. The Act marks the adoption of the two-power standard , whereby the Royal Navy sought to be as large as the next two major naval powers combined.

At the center of the expansion program were the Royal Sovereigns, the largest and fastest capital ships of their time. Like HMS Dreadnought a generation later, this class made all other battleships obsolete. The class would be the template of British battleship design until Dreadnought, being improved upon by the Majestic class ships launched just a few years later.

The Royal Sovereigns were designed by the noted warship designer Sir William White . They were much bigger than the "Admiral" , Victoria , and Trafalagar classes that had preceded them. They used the same 13.5-inch guns of the Admirals, though the Royal Sovereigns used barbettes instead of turrets, allowing them to have a much higher freeboard than had been previously available, thus making them better seaboats. (One ship of the class, HMS Hood, was equipped with turrets, and consequently had a lower freeboard as well.)

In 1906, the Royal Sovereigns, like every other battleship in the world, were made obsolete with the launch of the revolutionary Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship. They were consigned to less critical duties for the remainder of their service life, only two ships surviving to see the outbreak of war in 1914.

2 Ships of the Class

• Royal Sovereign served in a number of fleets of the Royal Navy. Scrapped in 1913.
• Hood served in the Mediterranean, then with the Home Fleet. Sunk as a blockship at Portland harbour in November 1914.
• Empress of India (intended name: Renown) was sunk as a target in 1913.
• Ramillies served in Mediterranean and home waters. Scrapped in 1913.
• Repulse served in the Channel Squadron . Scrapped in 1911.
• ResolutionEleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Resolution The first Resolution was a 70-gun third-rate launched in 1667, rebuilt 1698, and foundered in 1703. The second Resolution was a 70-gun third-rate launched in 1705 but run ashore to avoid ca served in the Channel Squadron. Scrapped in 1914.
• RevengeSixteen warships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Revenge . They include the following: HMS Revenge a galleon built in 1577, fought the Spanish Armada in 1588, was captured by a Spanish fleet off Flores in the Azores in 1591 and sank while being sail was flagship during the blockade of Crete in 1898Events January 1 New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. January 13 Emile Zola's J'accus. Bombarded the Belgian coast 1914–15. Renamed Redoubtable in 1915. Scrapped in 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus.
• Royal OakSeven (or eleven, depending on how one counts) vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Royal Oak . The first Royal Oak was a 76-gun second-rate launched in 1664 and burnt by the Dutch in 1667 The second Royal Oak was a 70-gun third-rate laun was part of the Special Flying Squadron , later seeing service in home waters. Scrapped in 1914.