HMS Formidable (1898)
HMS Formidable
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Formidable |
| Ordered: | 1897 Programme |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 21 March 1898 |
| Launched: | 17 November 1898 |
| Completed: | September 1901 |
| Commissioned: | 10 October 1904 |
| Refit: | Chatham Dockyard (April–August 1909) |
| Fate: | Torpedoed twice by German submarine U-24 and sunk, 1 January 1915 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Formidable-class battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Draught: | 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m) |
| Installed power: | 15,500 ihp (11,560 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 18 knots (33.3 km/h; 20.7 mph) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi (10,190 km; 6,330 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 780 (810 as flagship) |
| Armament: | 4 × BL 12-inch (305-mm) Mk IX guns, 12 × BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk VII guns, 16 × QF 12-pounder guns, 6 × QF 3-pounder guns, 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns, 4 × 18-inch (450-mm) submerged torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | |
HMS Formidable, the third of four ships of that name to serve in the Royal Navy, was the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships. Commissioned in 1904, she served initially with the Mediterranean Fleet, transferring to the Channel Fleet in 1908. In 1912, she was assigned to the 5th Battle Squadron, which was stationed at Nore.
Following the outbreak of World War I, the squadron conducted operations in the English Channel, and was based at Sheerness to guard against a possible German invasion. Despite reports of submarine activity, early in the morning of 1 January 1915, whilst on exercise in the English Channel, Formidable sank after being hit by two torpedoes. She was the second British battleship to be sunk by enemy action during the First World War.
HMS Formidable was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard on 21 March 1898 and launched on 17 November 1898. She was completed in September 1901, but due to difficulties with machinery contractors her readiness for service was delayed, and she was not commissioned for another three years.
Formidable had the same-calibre armament and was similar in appearance to the Majestic and Canopus classes that preceded her. She and her sister ships are often described as improved Majestics, but in design they were effectively enlarged Canopuses. The Canopuses employed Krupp armour in their construction, which possessed greater strength for a given weight compared to that of the Majestics' Harvey armour; this allowed the Canopuses to be lighter and faster without sacrificing protection. In Formidable, however, Krupp armour was used to improve protection without reducing the size of the ship.Formidable thus was larger than the ships of the two preceding classes, and enjoyed greater protection than the Majestics and the higher speed of the Canopus class. Formidable's armour scheme was similar to that of the Canopus class, although the armour belt ran all the way to the stern being 215 ft (65.5 m) long, 15 ft (4.6 m) deep and 9 in (23 cm) thick. It tapered at the stem to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick and 12 ft (3.7 m) deep, and at the stern to 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick and 8 ft (2.4 m) deep. The main battery turrets had 10 in (25 cm) of Krupp armour on their sides and 8 in (20 cm) on their backs.
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