HMS King Edward VII
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| Career | 
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| Ordered: | 1903 naval programme |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 23 July 1903 at Devonport Dockyard |
| Commissioned: | |
| Fate: | Mined off Cape Wrath on 6 January 1916 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | normal 16,350 tons, full draft 17,500 tons |
| Length: | 453 feet 6 inches (138 m) |
| Beam: | 78 feet (23.7 m) |
| Draught: | 26 feet 9 inches (8.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Coal fired (with oil sprayers) water tube boilers, Two 4-cylinder vertical compound expansion stream engines, 2 screws, 18,000 hp |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 777 |
| Armament: | four 12 inch guns (2 main turrets), four 9.2 inch guns (4 secondary turrets), ten 6-inch guns, five 18 inch torpedo tubes (4 broadside, one stern), 14 12 pounder guns, fourteen 3 pounder guns, two maxim machine guns |
| Armour: | 9 inch belt amidships, 12 inch barbettes, 9 inch main turrets, 7 inch secondary turrets. 2 inch armoured deck |
HMS King Edward VII, named after King Edward VII, was the lead ship of the King Edward VII class of British Royal Navy battleships.
The ship was built at Devonport Dockyard and launched 23 July 1903.
King Edward VII hit a mine whilst travelling from Rosyth to Davonport around the Northern coast of Scotland for a refit. The mine had been laid by the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Moewe off Cape Wrath on 6 January 1916. The explosion occurred under the starboard engine room and attempts to tow her were abandonded because of a heavy sea and strong winds. After about five hours, the list had become so great that the crew were taken off by destroyers. The ship capsized and sank around nine hours after the explosion. At the time it was not clear whether she had hit a mine or a torpedo, the presence of the minefield being determined from German records after the war. The wreck, in 115 metres of water, was first visited by divers in April 1997.
References
- 1997 diving expedition (http://website.lineone.net/~britannic98/prevexp/kedwexp.htm)
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