WARRIOR class

The Naval Program of 1903-04 gave place to the four Warrior class armored cruisers, (HMS Achilles, HMS Cochrane, HMS Natal and HMS Warrior). These ships had to be a copy of the Duke of Edimburgh class, but due to the problems arising with the secondary artillery in these ships, it was decided to modify the location of the same in the new Warrior class. With this modification, it was possible to convert them in the “best cruises built in Great Britain”, according to several authors. They mounted six 234/45mm guns in single turrets and the secondary battery was composed by four 191/50mm guns in single mounts too. In addition, they had twenty four 47mm QF guns, for defence against torpedo boats, and three 450mm submerged torpedo tubes. The protection consisted of an armoured belt from 1.47 meters below to 4.42 meteres above the waterline of a maximum thickness of 152mm. The main turrets had a maximum armour of 190mm and the conning tower had up to 254mm of armour on the sides. HMS Natal sank by a magazine explosion on 30 December 1915 killing around 400 crewmen. HMS Warrior and HMS Cochrane were at the Battle of Jutland, where HMS Cochrane did not intervene in combat actions but HMS Warrior was badly damaged by German battleships. The HMS Warrior received so much punishment that she had to be foundered after her crew was evacuated. HMS Achilles did not participate in Jutland for being in the shipyard receiving modifications and was scrapped in 1921.

WARRIOR class gallery and more info