Drake-class cruiser

File:Drake class cruiser diagrams Janes 1914.jpg 1914}}]]

The Drake class were enlarged and improved versions of the {{sclass|Cressy|cruiser|4}} designed by Sir William White, Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, to counter the new French armoured cruiser {{ship|French cruiser|Jeanne d'Arc|1899|2}}.Friedman 2012, pp. 243–52 The ships had an overall length of {{convert|553|ft|6|in|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|71|ft|4|in|m|1}} and a deep draught of {{convert|26|ft|9|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|14150|LT|t}} and proved to be good seaboats in service. Their crew consisted of 900 officers and other ranks.

The ships were powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by 43 Belleville boilers. The engines produced a total of {{convert|30000|ihp|lk=in}} and the Drakes easily reached their designed speed of {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 69 They carried a maximum of {{convert|2500|LT|t}} of coal.Friedman 2012, p. 336

The main armament of the Drake-class ships consisted of two breech-loading (BL) BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX - X in single gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. They fired {{convert|380|lb|adj=on}} shells to a range of {{convert|15500|yd}}.Friedman 2011, pp. 71–72 The ships' secondary armament of sixteen BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in casemates amidships. Eight of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather.Friedman 2012, pp. 243, 260–61 They had a maximum range of approximately {{convert|12200|yd}} with their {{convert|100|lb|adj=on|1}} shells.Friedman 2011, pp. 80–81 A dozen quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. Two additional 12-pounder 8 cwt guns could be dismounted for service ashore.Friedman 2012, pp. 250, 336 The ships also carried three 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged British 18 inch torpedo torpedo tubes.

The ship's waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of {{convert|6|in|0}} and was closed off by {{convert|5|in|adj=on|0}} transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets and their barbettes was 6 inches thick while the casemate armour was 5 inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from {{convert|1|-|2.5|in|mm|0}} and the conning tower was protected by {{convert|12|in|0}} of armour.

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Drake class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions. The reasons for the differences are unclear.

File:HMS Leviathan LOC ggbain 19124 (uncropped, 800 dpi).jpg

The ships served in the First World War with only two surviving it. Good Hope was sunk at the Battle of Coronel in 1914 and Drake was torpedoed in 1917. Drake was also used to ferry Russian bullion (gold) in October 1914 from Arkhangelsk. The gold (equivalent of $39 million) was security for western loans. The transfer took place at high seas, 30 miles off the coast in the dead of night.{{cite book|last=Thon |first=Eivind |title=Krig og penger |publisher=Aschehoug & Co |location=Oslo |year=1942 }}

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist}}

• Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1905
• {{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}}
• {{cite book|last=Corbett|first=Julian|authorlink=Julian Corbett|title=Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands|edition=2nd, reprint of the 1938|series=History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents|date=March 1997 |volume=I|publisher=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press|location=London and Nashville, Tennessee|isbn=0-89839-256-X}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers of the Victorian Era|year=2012|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|isbn=978-1-59114-068-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84832-100-7}}
• Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed.) The Naval Annual 1906[https://archive.org/details/rusiandbrasseys00studgoog]
• {{cite book|title=Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea |last=Massie|first=Robert K.|authorlink=Robert K. Massie|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=2004|location= London|isbn=0-224-04092-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

{{Commons category|Drake class cruiser}}

• [http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Drake_Class_Cruiser_(1901) The Dreadnought Project] Technical details of the ships.

{{Drake class cruiser}}

{{WWI British ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake Class Cruiser}}

Category:Cruiser classes

Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy