NAVYPEDIA

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Implacable 1901

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Formidable	50		Portsmouth DYd	21.3.1898	17.11.1898	9.1901	sunk 1.1.1915
Irresistible	64		Chatham DYd	11.4.1898	15.12.1898	2.1902	sunk 18.3.1915
Implacable	63, 72, N48		Devonport DYd	13.7.1898	11.3.1899	9.1901	sold for BU 11.1921

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	14500
Displacement full, t	15800
Length, m	121.9 pp 131.6 oa
Breadth, m	22.9
Draught, m	7.90
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 3-cyl VTE, 20 Belleville boilers
Power, h. p.	15000
Max speed, kts	18
Fuel, t	coal 2200
Endurance, nm(kts)	8000(10)
Armour, mm	belt: 229, bulkheads: 305 - 229, gun houses: 254 - 203, barbettes: 305, casemates: 152, decks: 76 - 25, CT: 356
Armament	2 x 2 - 305/40 BL Mk IX, 12 x 1 - 152/45 BL Mk VII, 16 x 1 - 76/40 12pdr 12cwt QF Mk I, 6 x 1 - 47/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 4 - 450 TT (beam)
Complement	780

Graphics

Project history

Built under the 1897-98 Estimates, these ships, although generally referred to as improved Majestics, closely resembled as enlarged Canopus design, in which the advantages of Krupp armour were used to improve protection rather than reduce size. Their designed load displacement was 15000t.

The armament disposition followed that of the earlier ships but ships of class received new models of main and secondary guns. 305mm guns could be loaded on any bearing or elevation, and the mounting was provided with a split hoist, with a working chamber beneath the guns to reduce the possibility of cordite fire spreading.

On full power trials they averaged 18.2kts with 15500hp. Handier than the Majestics due to their improved hull form and the cutting away of deadwood aft, they did not, however, manoeuvre well at slow speeds because of the inward-turning screws, which were adopted because they gave a slight improvement in speed and a reduction in fuel consumption.

Ship protection

The armour layout was similar to Canopus, except thet the belt continued to the stern as well to the bow. The belt was 229mm Krupp, 66.5m long by 4.6m deep, and continued to the stem as a 76mm belt 3.7m deep, and to the stern as a 38mm belt 2.4m deep. The barbettes reduced to 152mm behind the belt, whilst the gun houses were of Krupp steel with 254mm sides and 203mm backs. Decks were as Canopus except the middle deck, which was increased to 76mm on the slope, and the lower deck aft, to 64mm.

Modernizations

1917, Implacable: - 4 x 1 - 152/45 main deck casemate guns; + 2 x 1 - 152/45 BL Mk VII on the battery deck.

Naval service

Formidable 1.1.1915 in English Channel was torpedoed by German submarine U24 and sank quickly with the loss of 547 men. Irresistible 18.3.1915 struck a mine in Erenkui Bay (Dardanelles, mine laid by Turkish minelayer Nusret), abandoned under Turkish coastal guns and was sunk those day by gunfire. Implacable was paid off in 1919.