HMS Cornwallis (1901)

HMS Cornwallis
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Cornwallis
Namesake:	Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Builder:	Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Leamouth, London
Cost:	£1,096,052
Laid down:	19 July 1899
Launched:	17 July 1901
Christened:	Mrs. William L. Ainslie
Completed:	February 1904
Commissioned:	9 February 1904
Nickname(s):	The Duncan-class battleships were unofficially known as "The Admirals"
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-32, 9 January 1917
General characteristics
Class and type:	Duncan-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	14,000 tons normal 13,270 to 13,745 tons load 14,900 to 15,200 tons deep
Length:	432 ft (132 m)
Beam:	75 ft 6 in (23.01 m)
Draught:	25 ft 9 in (7.85 m)
Installed power:	18,000 ihp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion:	24 Belleville water tube boilers 4-cylinder triple expansion 2 shafts
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range:	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	720
Armament:	4 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk IX guns 12 × BL 6-inch (152 mm) 45-caliber Mk VII guns 10 × 12-pounder guns 6 × 3-pounder guns 2 × machine guns 4 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armour:	Belt: 7 in (178 mm) Bulkheads: 11–7 in (279–178 mm) Decks: 2–1 in (51–25 mm) Gun houses: 10–8 in (254–203 mm) Barbettes: 11–4 in (279–102 mm) Casemates: 6 in (152 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (300 mm)

HMS Cornwallis was a Duncan-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. After commissioning in 1904, she spent most of her pre-World War I service with the Mediterranean Fleet. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, she was part of the 6th Battle Squadron which was composed of pre-dreadnought battleships and based at Portland.

From January 1915, Cornwallis served in the Dardanelles Campaign, bombarding Ottoman Turkish forts and proving support for Allied forces landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Apart from a short period of service in the Indian Ocean, she remained in the Mediterranean and it was here that she was lost to a torpedo from a German submarine. She remained afloat long enough for most of her crew to abandon ship, although fifteen men of her complement of 720 died from as a result of the explosion of the torpedo.

HMS Cornwallis was laid down by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Leamouth, London on 19 July 1899 and launched on 17 July 1901, when she was christened by Mrs. William L. Ainslie, wife of one of the directors. The launching ceremony was subdued, due to the Court mourning, yet the launch was witnessed by a vast throng of spectators, including diplomats from the other naval powers at the time. After delays due to labour troubles, she was completed in February 1904.

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