Majestic-class battleship
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Majestic-class battleship |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: | Royal Navy |
| Preceded by: | HMS Renown |
| Succeeded by: | Canopus class |
| Built: | 1893–98 |
| In commission: | December 1895 – November 1921 |
| Completed: | 9 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 16,060 t (15,810 long tons; 17,700 short tons) |
| Length: | 421 ft (128 m) |
| Beam: | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 2 × 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, twin screws |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement: | 672 |
| Armament: | |
| Armour: |
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The Majestic class of nine pre-dreadnought battleships were built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s under the Spencer Programme, named after the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Poyntz Spencer. With nine units commissioned, they were the largest class of battleships in history in terms of the number of member ships. The nine ships, HMS Majestic, Caesar, Hannibal, Illustrious, Jupiter, Magnificent, Mars, Prince George, and Victorious, were built between 1894 and 1898 as part of a programme to strengthen the Royal Navy versus its two traditional rivals, France and Russia. This continued the naval re-armament initiatives begun by the Naval Defence Act 1889.
The Majestics introduced a number of significant improvements to British battleship design, including armoured gun shields for the barbette-mounted main battery guns. The ships were armed with a main battery of four BL 12-inch Mark VIII guns, the first large-calibre weapon in the Royal Navy to use smokeless propellant, which made it superior in almost all respects to earlier, larger guns. They were also the first British ships to incorporate Harvey armour, which allowed them to carry a much more comprehensive level of protection. The ships proved to be among the most successful designs of their day, and they were widely copied in foreign navies, including the Japanese Shikishima class and the battleship Mikasa, which were both modified versions of the Majestic design.
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