HMS Thunderer (1911)

Thunderer at anchor, shortly after completion in 1912
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Thunderer
Ordered:	1909
Builder:	Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Poplar, London
Laid down:	13 April 1910
Launched:	1 February 1911
Commissioned:	May 1912
Decommissioned:	1921
Reclassified:	As cadet training ship, 1922
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 1926
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Orion-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	21,922 long tons (22,274 t) (normal)
Length:	581 ft (177.1 m) (o/a)
Beam:	88 ft 6 in (27.0 m)
Draught:	31 ft 3 in (9.5 m)
Installed power:	27,000 shp (20,000 kW) 18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	6,730 nmi (12,460 km; 7,740 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	738–1,107 (1917)
Armament:	5 × twin 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns 16 × single 4-inch (102 mm) guns 3 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 8–12 in (203–305 mm) Deck: 1–4 inches (25–102 mm) Turrets: 11 in (279 mm) Barbettes: 10 inches (254 mm)

HMS Thunderer was the fourth and last Orion-class dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her 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.

After the Grand Fleet was dissolved in early 1919, Thunderer was transferred back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. The ship was converted into a training ship for naval cadets in 1921 and served in that role until she was sold for scrap in late 1926. While being towed to the scrapyard, Thunderer ran aground; the ship was refloated and subsequently broken up.

The Orion-class ships were designed in response to the beginnings of the Anglo-German naval arms race and were much larger than their predecessors of the Colossus-class battleship to accommodate larger, more powerful guns and heavier armour. In recognition of these improvements, the class was sometimes called "super-dreadnoughts". The ships had an overall length of 581 feet (177.1 m), a beam of 88 feet 6 inches (27.0 m) and a deep draught of 31 feet 3 inches (9.5 m). They displaced 21,922 long tons (22,274 t) at normal load and 25,596 long tons (26,007 t) at deep load as built; by 1918 Thunderer's deep displacement had increased to 27,416 long tons (27,856 t). Her crew numbered 738 officers and ratings when completed in 1912 and 1,107 in 1917.