Ajax-class ironclad
{{short description|Ship class}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Agamemnon 1879.png |Ship caption=Launch of HMS Agamemnon in 1879 from The Illustrated London News }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name= |Builders=*Pembroke Dockyard
|Operators= |Class before={{HMS|Inflexible|1876|6}} |Class after={{sclass|Colossus|battleship (1882)|4}} |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range=1876–1883 |In service range= |In commission range=1884–1904 |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=2 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired= |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=Ironclad battleship |Ship displacement=8,510 tons |Ship length=*{{convert|300|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} o/a
|Ship beam= {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=*Two-shaft Penn inverted compound
|Ship speed= {{convert|13|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship complement=345 |Ship armament=*4 × RML 12.5 inch 38 ton gun |Ship armour=*Citadel: {{convert|18|in|mm|abbr=on}} tapering to {{convert|15|in|mm|abbr=on}}
|Ship notes= }} |
The Ajax class of ironclad battleships consisted of two ships, {{HMS|Ajax|1880|6}} and {{HMS|Agamemnon|1879|6}}, serving in the Victorian era Royal Navy. Their main armament was turret-mounted.
Design
These two ships were built to the same concept as Inflexible - a heavily armoured citadel carrying four heavy guns mounted 'en echelon' in turrets to achieve all-round fire - but were required to be of lighter draught, and to displace 3,000 tons less. It was therefore necessary to arm them with guns of 12.5 inch calibre, as against 16 inch in Inflexible, and to accept a maximum speed of nearly two knots less. Also, unlike the Inflexible, these ships were dependent upon the integrity of their unarmoured ends to maintain buoyancy; should the ends have been damaged enough to become waterlogged, the ships would have sunk.
This class were the last ships in the Royal Navy to be armed with muzzle-loading rifles, and the first to carry any form of secondary armament. They were designed from the start not to carry any form of sailing rig.
Ships
| class="wikitable"
!Name!!Builder!!Laid down!!Launched!!Completed |
| {{HMS|Ajax|1880|2}}
| 21 March 1876 | 10 March 1880 | 30 March 1883 |
| {{HMS|Agamemnon|1879|2}}
| 9 May 1876 | 17 September 1879 | 1883 |
References
= Bibliography =
- Oscar Parkes, British Battleships {{ISBN|0-85052-604-3}}
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|name-list-style=amp|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Ajax class battleship}}
{{British ironclads}}