HMS Ajax (1912)

Ajax's crew painting ship, Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, 1921
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Ajax
Namesake:	Ajax
Builder:	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering, Greenock
Cost:	£1,889,387
Laid down:	27 February 1911
Launched:	21 March 1912
Completed:	May 1913
Commissioned:	31 October 1913
Decommissioned:	April 1924
Out of service:	October 1926
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 10 December 1926
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	King George V-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	25,420 long tons (25,830 t) (normal)
Length:	597 ft 9 in (182.2 m) (o/a)
Beam:	89 ft 1 in (27.2 m)
Draught:	28 ft 8 in (8.7 m)
Installed power:	27,000 shp (20,000 kW) 18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	6,310 nmi (11,690 km; 7,260 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	869 (1914)
Armament:	5 × twin 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns 16 × single 4-inch (102 mm) guns 3 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 12 in (305 mm) Deck: 1–4 in (25–102 mm) Turrets: 11 in (280 mm) Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm)

HMS Ajax was the third of four King George V-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. After commissioning in 1913, she spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

After the war, Ajax was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea in 1919–1920. The ship was deployed to Turkish waters during the Chanak Crisis of September–October 1922. Ajax was placed in reserve in 1924 before being sold for scrap two years later in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

The King George V-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleship. They had an overall length of 597 feet 9 inches (182.2 m), a beam of 89 feet 1 inch (27.2 m) and a draught of 28 feet 8 inches (8.7 m). They displaced 25,420 long tons (25,830 t) at normal load and 27,120 long tons (27,560 t) at deep load. Ajax's crew numbered 869 officers and ratings upon completion.