HMS Temeraire (1907)

Temeraire at anchor, 1909
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Temeraire
Namesake:	A captured French ship of the line
Ordered:	30 October 1906
Builder:	HM Dockyard, Devonport
Laid down:	1 January 1907
Launched:	24 August 1907
Completed:	May 1909
Commissioned:	15 May 1909
Decommissioned:	1921
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 7 December 1921
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	18,596 long tons (18,894 t) (normal)
Length:	526 ft (160.3 m) (o/a)
Beam:	82 ft 6 in (25.1 m)
Draught:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Installed power:	23,000 shp (17,000 kW) 18 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	5,720 nmi (10,590 km; 6,580 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	681–729
Armament:	5 × twin 12-inch (305 mm) guns 16 × single 4-inch (102 mm) guns 3 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 8–10 inches (203–254 mm) Bulkhead: 8 inches (203 mm) Deck: .75–4 inches (19–102 mm) Turrets: 11 inches (279 mm) Barbettes: 5–10 inches (127–254 mm) Conning towers: 8 and 11 inches (203 and 279 mm)

HMS Temeraire was one of three Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent almost her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in 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.

Temeraire was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1918 and she supported Allied forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea after the war ended in November. The ship was deemed obsolete and was reduced to reserve when she returned home in early 1919 and was then used as a training ship. Temeraire was sold for scrap in 1921 and broken up the following year.

The design of the Bellerophon class was derived from that of the revolutionary battleship HMS Dreadnought, with a slight increase in size, armour and a more powerful secondary armament.Temeraire had an overall length of 526 feet (160.3 m), a beam of 82 feet 6 inches (25.1 m), and a normal draught of 27 feet (8.2 m). She displaced 18,596 long tons (18,894 t) at normal load and 22,359 long tons (22,718 t) at deep load. In 1909 her crew numbered 681 officers and ratings and 729 in 1911.