HMS Agamemnon (1906)

Agamemnon
History
United Kingdom
Name	Agamemnon
Builder	William Beardmore and Company Dalmuir
Cost	£1,652,347[1]
Laid down	15 May 1905
Launched	23 June 1906
Sponsored by	Countess of Aberdeen
Completed	June 1908
Commissioned	25 June 1908
Decommissioned	20 March 1919
Reclassified	Target ship 1921–1926
Fate	Sold for scrap, 24 January 1927
Notes	The last surviving British predreadnought when scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Lord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	16,500 long tons (16,800 t) 17,683 long tons (17,967 t) deep load
Length	443 ft 6 in (135.2 m)
Beam	79 ft 6 in (24.2 m)
Draught	26 ft 9 in (8.2 m)
Installed power	15 water-tube boilers 16,750 ihp (12,490 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	9,180 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	800–817
Armament	2 × twin 12 in (305 mm) guns 4 × twin, 2 × single 9.2 in (234 mm) guns 24 × single 12-pdr (3 in (76 mm)) guns 5 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 12 in (305 mm) Decks: 1–4 in (25–102 mm) Barbettes: 3–12 in (76–305 mm) Main gun turrets: 12–13.5 in (305–343 mm) Secondary gun turrets: 3–7 in (76–178 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Bulkheads: 8 in (203 mm)

HMS Agamemnon was one of two Lord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleships launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was the Royal Navy's second-to-last pre-dreadnought battleship to be built, followed by her sister ship, Lord Nelson. She was assigned to the Channel Fleet when the First World War began in 1914. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea with Lord Nelson in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She made a number of bombardments against Turkish fortifications and in support of British troops. Agamemnon remained in the Mediterranean after the conclusion of that campaign to prevent the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser Breslau from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Agamemnon shot down the German Zeppelin LZ-55 (LZ-85) during a bombing mission over Salonica in 1916. On 30 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on board the ship while she was anchored at Lemnos in the northern Aegean Sea. She was converted to a radio-controlled target ship following her return to the United Kingdom in March 1919 and began service in 1921. Agamemnon was the last pre-dreadnought in service with the Royal Navy; she was replaced by Centurion at the end of 1926 and sold for scrap in January 1927.