HMS Drake (1901)

Drake at anchor in New York Harbor in 1909
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Drake
Namesake:	Sir Francis Drake
Builder:	Pembroke Dock
Cost:	approx. £800 000
Laid down:	24 April 1899
Launched:	5 March 1901
Christened:	Mrs. Lort Phillips
Completed:	13 January 1903
Fate:	Sunk by U-79, 2 October 1917
Status:	Diveable wreck
General characteristics
Class and type:	Drake-class armoured cruiser
Displacement:	14,150 long tons (14,380 t) (normal)
Length:	533 ft 6 in (162.6 m) (o/a)
Beam:	71 ft 4 in (21.7 m)
Draught:	26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power:	30,000 ihp (22,000 kW) 43 Belleville boilers
Propulsion:	2 × shafts 2 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement:	900
Armament:	2 × single BL 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk X guns 16 × single BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk VII guns 12 × single QF 12-pounder (76 mm) guns 3 × QF 3-pounder (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns 2 × single 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 2–6 in (51–152 mm) Decks: 1–2.5 in (25–64 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (152 mm) Turrets: 6 in (150 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Bulkheads: 5 in (127 mm)

HMS Drake was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to several different cruiser squadrons in home waters upon completion, sometimes as flagship, until 1911 when she became the flagship of the Australia Station. Upon her return home, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the 2nd Fleet and became the squadron's flagship when the fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet upon the outbreak of the First World War.

She remained with the Grand Fleet until refitted in late 1915, when she was transferred to the North America and West Indies Station for convoy escort duties. In 1916 she participated in the unsuccessful search for the German commerce raider SMS Möwe. In late 1917 Drake was torpedoed by a German submarine off Northern Ireland and sank in shallow water with the loss of eighteen lives. The wreck was partly salvaged, beginning in 1920; a fishing trawler collided with the remainder of the wreck in 1962 and sank the next day. The wrecks of the two ships were demolished during the 1970s, but their remnants remain a popular dive site.

The Drake-class ships were designed as faster and larger versions of the preceding Cressy class with a slightly more powerful armament. They displaced 14,100 long tons (14,300 t), over 2,000 long tons (2,032 t) more than the earlier ships. The Drakes had an overall length of 553 feet 6 inches (168.7 m), a beam of 71 feet 4 inches (21.7 m) and a deep draught of 26 feet 9 inches (8.2 m). They was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of 30,000 indicated horsepower (22,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) using steam provided by 43 Belleville boilers. On her sea trials, Drake reached a speed of 24.11 knots (44.65 km/h; 27.75 mph). She carried a maximum of 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 900 officers and ratings.