The Devonshire-class cruiser was a group of six armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. All ships of the class served in World War I. Argyll was wrecked, and Hampshire was sunk by a naval mine. The four survivors were disposed of soon after the war.

Design and description

The Devonshire class was designed as improved versions of the preceding and were also intended for commerce protection. The armament of the new design was made more powerful by the replacement of the twin six-inch (152 mm) turrets and the forward double six-inch casemates by four 7.5-inch (190 mm) single turrets in a diamond arrangement. They carried a maximum of of coal and their complement consisted of 610 officers and other ranks.

The main armament of the Devonshire class consisted of four breech-loading (BL) 7.5-inch Mk I guns mounted in four single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and one on each side. The guns fired their shells to a range of about . Their secondary armament of six BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in casemates amidships. Four of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather. They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells. The ships also carried 18 quick-firing (QF) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.

The ships' waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of and was closed off by transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets was also five inches thick whilst that of their barbettes was six inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.

! scope="col" align = center | (BNA 1906)

|-valign=top

| scope="row"|Devonshire

|align=center | HM Dockyard, Chatham

|align=right | 25 Mar 1902

|align=right | 30 Apr 1904

|align=right | 24 Aug 1905

|align=right | £900,792 ***

|align=right | £818,167

|-valign=top

| scope="row"|Antrim

|align=center | John Brown, Clydebank

|align=right | 27 Aug 1902

|align=right | 8 Oct 1903

|align=right | 23 Jun 1905

|align=right | £899,050 ***

|align=right | £873,625

|-valign=top

| scope="row"| Argyll

|align=center | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering, Greenock

|align=right | 1 Sep 1902

|align=right | 3 Mar 1904

|align=right | December 1905

|align=right | £912,588 ***

|align=right | £873,598

|-valign=top

| scope="row"| Carnarvon

|align=center | William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir

|align=right | 1 Oct 1902

|align=right | 17 Oct 1903

|align=right | 29 May 1905

|align=right | £899,465 ***

|align=right | £858,130

|-valign=top

| scope="row"| Hampshire

|align=center | Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick

|align=right | 1 Sep 1902

|align=right | 24 Sep 1903

|align=right | 15 Jul 1905

|align=right | £872,327 ***

|align=right | £833,817

|-valign=top

| scope="row"|Roxburgh

|align=center | London & Glasgow Shipbuilding, Govan

|align=right | 13 Jun 1902

|align=right | 9 Jan 1904

|align=right | 5 Sep 1905

|align=right | £866,199 ***

|align=right | £829,327

|-

|}

<nowiki>***</nowiki> = cost published by Brassey before the ship was complete, i.e. the total cost may have been more than this.

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

  • Brassey, T.A. (ed)The Naval Annual 1905
  • Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed) Brassey's Naval Annual|The Naval Annual 1906
  • The Dreadnought Project Technical details of the ships.