HMS Invincible (1907)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Invincible
Ordered	1906 Naval Programme
Builder	Armstrong Whitworth
Laid down	2 April 1906
Launched	13 April 1907
Commissioned	20 March 1909
Fate	Sunk, 31 May 1916, during the Battle of Jutland
General characteristics
Class and type	Invincible-class battlecruiser
Displacement	17,250 long tons (17,530 t) 20,420 long tons (20,750 t) at (deep load)
Length	567 ft (173 m) overall
Beam	78 ft 6 in (23.93 m)
Draught	30 ft (9.1 m) deep load
Installed power	31 × Yarrow boilers 41,000 shp (31,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 2 × Direct-drive steam turbine sets
Speed	25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph)
Range	3,090 nmi (5,720 km; 3,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	784 (up to 1000 in wartime)
Armament	4 × twin 12 in (305 mm) guns 16 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns 5 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 4–6 in (102–152 mm) Decks: 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm) Barbettes: 7 in (178 mm) Turrets: 7 in (178 mm) Conning tower: 6–10 in (152–254 mm) Torpedo bulkheads: 2.5 in (64 mm)

HMS Invincible was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the twentieth century and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. During the First World War, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role, as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers present. During the Battle of the Falkland Islands, Invincible and her sister ship Inflexible sank the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau almost without loss to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships.

She was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The squadron had been detached from Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet a few days before the battle for gunnery practice with the Grand Fleet and acted as its heavy scouting force during the battle. She was destroyed by a magazine explosion during the battle after the armour of one of her gun turrets was penetrated.