HMS Invincible (1907)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Invincible
Ordered:	1906 Naval Programme
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth
Laid down:	2 April 1906
Launched:	13 April 1907
Commissioned:	20 March 1909
Fate:	Sunk Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
General characteristics
Class and type:	Invincible-class battlecruiser
Displacement:	17,250 long tons (17,530 t) 20,420 long tons (20,750 t) at (deep load)
Length:	567 ft (173 m) overall
Beam:	78.5 ft (23.9 m)
Draught:	30 ft (9.1 m) deep load
Installed power:	41,000 shp (31,000 kW) 31 Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	four-shaft Parsons direct-drive steam turbines,
Speed:	25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph)
Range:	2,270 nmi (4,200 km; 2,610 mi) at 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) 3,090 nmi (5,720 km; 3,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	784 (up to 1000 in wartime)
Armament:	4 × 2 - BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk X guns 16 × 1 - QF 4-in (102mm) Mk III guns 7 × 1 - Maxim guns 5 × 1 - submerged 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 4–6 in (102–152 mm) Decks: 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm) Barbettes: 7 in (178 mm) Turrets: 7 in (178 mm) Conning tower: 6–10 in (152–254 mm) Torpedo bulkheads: 2.5 in (64 mm)

HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. In the First World War she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers present. She fired on the light cruiser Cöln, but did not hit her before Cöln was sunk by the battlecruiser Lion. During the Battle of the Falkland Islands, Invincible and her sister Inflexible sank the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau almost without loss to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships.

She was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland. The squadron had been detached from Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet a few days before the battle for gunnery practice with the Grand Fleet and acted as its heavy scouting force during the battle. She was destroyed by a magazine explosion during the battle after 'Q' turret was penetrated.

Invincible was significantly larger than her armoured cruiser predecessors of the Minotaur class. She had an overall length of 567 ft (173 m), a beam of 78.5 ft (23.9 m), and a draft of 30 ft (9.1 m) at deep load. She displaced 17,250 long tons (17,530 t) at load and 20,420 long tons (20,750 t) at deep load, nearly 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) more than the earlier ships.

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