Costs of warships 1900–1918

Royal Navy's HMS Dreadnought

This list reflects the results of the first organised effort to determine the costs of warships of all nations involved in World War I.

Exchange rates in 1914

• Australian pound $4.85
• Austro-Hungarian krone ("crown") $0.197
• Belgian franc $0.193
• British pound $4.85
• Bulgarian lev ("lion") $0.193
• Canadian dollar $1.00
• Chinese yuan $1.00
• Cuban peso $1.00
• Danish krone ("crown") $0.268
• Dutch gulden $0.40
• Egyptian Lira $5.054
• Finnish markka (Russian) $0.193
• French Franc $0.192 (1914)
• German mark $0.236
• Greek Drachma $0.192 (1914).
• Indian rupee (British) $0.444
• Italian lira $0.193
• Japanese yen (silver) $1.00, (gold) $0.50
• Mexican peso (silver) $1.00
• Montenegrin perper $0.193
• Norwegian krone ("crown") $0.268
• Peruvian sol (silver) $1.00
• Romanian leu $0.193
• Russian ruble $0.507
• Serbian dinar $0.193
• Spanish peseta $0.193
• Swedish krona ("crown") $0.268
• Swiss franc $0.193

Nations

Austria-Hungary

Pre-dreadnoughts

• SMS Erzherzog Karl £912,500

Armoured Cruisers

• SMS Kaiser Karl VI £429,000
• SMS Sankt Georg £581,585

Light Cruisers

• SMS Zenta £143,780

France

Pre-dreadnoughts

• Bouvet (1893) £1,100,770
• Brennus (1891) £991,767
• Carnot (1894) £1,070,088
• Charlemagne (1895) £1,096,432
• Charles Martel (1893) £1,092,830
• Condorcet (1909) £2,165,200
• Danton (1909) £2,068,000
• Démocratie (1904) £1,173,180
• Diderot (1909) £2,167,000
• Gaulois £1,093,925
• Henri IV £801,248
• Jauréguiberry £1,069,536
• Justice £1,670,385
• Masséna £1,100,400
• Mirabeau (1909) £2,032,000
• Patrie £1,674,870
• République £1,523,136
• Saint Louis £1,080,997
• Suffren £1,195,564
• Vergniaud (1910) £2,165,200
• Vérité £1,661,409
• Voltaire £2,169,200

Dreadnoughts

• Bretagne £2,580,430
• Courbet £2,508,388
• Flandre £2,589,439
• France £2,603,920
• Gascogne £2,589,439
• Jean Bart (1911) £2,528,888
• Languedoc (1914) £2,642,439
• Lorraine £2,642,439
• Normandie (1914) £2,612,139
• Paris £2,603,920
• Provence £2,600,195

Armoured Cruisers

• Amiral Aube £973,410
• Bruix £409,622
• Amiral Charner £353,200
• Condé £863,799
• Desaix (1901) £762,759
• Dupetit-Thouars (1901) £831,839
• Dupleix £652,354
• Edgar Quinet (1907) £1,307,536
• Ernest Renan £1,410,000
• Gloire (1900) £883,269
• Gueydon £817,994
• Jeanne d'Arc (1899) £875,847
• Jules Ferry £1,169,940
• Jules Michelet £1,204,107
• Kléber £770,320
• Léon Gambetta £1,169,640
• Marseillaise (1900) £881,270
• Montcalm £902,809
• Victor Hugo £1,229,932
• Waldeck-Rousseau (1908) £1,301,380

Cruisers

• Châteaurenault (1898) £606,656
• D'Entrecasteaux (1896) £667,740
• Guichen (1897) £611,945
• Jurien de la Gravière (1899) £475,979

Light Cruisers

• Cassard (1896) £318,712
• Descartes (1894) £334,725
• Destrées £208,200
• Du Chayla (1895) £315,835
• Friant (1893) £308,750
• Lavoisier £202,024

Germany

Pre-Dreadnoughts

• SMS Brandenburg 15,832,000 Marks
• SMS Wörth 16,054,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser Friedrich III 21,472,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II 20,387,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 20,254,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse 20,385,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser Barbarossa 20,301,000 Marks
• SMS Wittelsbach 22,740,000 Marks
• SMS Wettin 22,597,000 Marks
• SMS Zähringen 22,275,000 Marks
• SMS Schwaben 21,678,000 Marks
• SMS Mecklenburg 22,329,000 Marks
• SMS Braunschweig 23,893,000 Marks
• SMS Elsass 23,983,000 Marks
• SMS Hessen 23,867,000 Marks
• SMS Preussen 23,990,000 Marks
• SMS Lothringen 23,801,000 Marks
• SMS Deutschland 24,481,000 Marks
• SMS Pommern 24,624,000 Marks
• SMS Hannover 24,253,000 Marks
• SMS Schlesien 24,920,000 Marks
• SMS Schleswig-Holstein 24,972,000 Marks

Dreadnoughts

• SMS Nassau 37,399,000 Marks
• SMS Posen 36,920,000 Marks
• SMS Rheinland 36,916,000 Marks
• SMS Westfalen 37,615,000 Marks
• SMS Helgoland 46,196,000 Marks
• SMS Ostfriesland 43,579,000 Marks
• SMS Thüringen 46,314,000 Marks
• SMS Oldenburg 45,801,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiser 44,997,000 Marks
• SMS Friedrich der Grosse 45,802,000 Marks
• SMS Kaiserin 45,173,000 Marks
• SMS König Albert 45,761,000 Marks
• SMS Prinzregent Luitpold 46,374,000 Marks
• SMS König, SMS Grosser Kurfürst, SMS Markgraf, SMS Kronprinz approx. 45,000,000 Marks average
• SMS Bayern, SMS Baden approx. 50,000,000 Marks average

Battlecruisers

• SMS Von der Tann 36,523,000 Marks
• SMS Moltke 42,603,000 Marks
• SMS Goeben 41,564,000 Marks
• SMS Seydlitz 44,685,000 Marks
• SMS Derfflinger 56,000,000 Marks
• SMS Lützow 58,000,000 Marks
• SMS Hindenburg 59,000,000 Marks

Armoured Cruisers

• SMS Kaiserin Augusta 8,697,000 Marks
• SMS Victoria Louise 10,714,000 Marks
• SMS Hertha 9,932,000 Marks
• SMS Freya 11,094,000 Marks
• SMS Vineta (1897) 10,714,000 Marks
• SMS Hansa (1898) 10,270,000 Marks
• SMS Fürst Bismarck (1897) 18,945,000 Marks
• SMS Prinz Heinrich 16,588,000 Marks
• SMS Prinz Adalbert (1901) 16,371,000 Marks
• SMS Friedrich Carl 15,665,000 Marks
• SMS Roon 15,345,000 Marks
• SMS Yorck 16,241,000 Marks
• SMS Scharnhorst 20,319,000 Marks
• SMS Gneisenau 19,243,000 Marks
• SMS Blücher 28,532,000 Marks

Light Cruisers

• SMS Gazelle (1900) 4,611,000 Marks
• SMS Niobe 4,534,000 Marks
• SMS Nymphe 4,647,000 Marks
• SMS Thetis 4,487,000 Marks
• SMS Ariadne 4,779,000 Marks
• SMS Amazone (1900) 4,858,000 Marks
• SMS Medusa 4,739,000 Marks
• SMS Frauenlob 4,596,000 Marks
• SMS Arcona 4,493,000 Marks
• SMS Undine 4,653,000 Marks
• SMS Bremen 4,746,000 Marks
• SMS Hamburg 4,706,000 Marks
• SMS Berlin 4,545,000 Marks
• SMS Lübeck 5,436,000 Marks
• SMS München 5,054,000 Marks
• SMS Leipzig 5,043,000 Marks
• SMS Danzig 4,828,000 Marks
• SMS Königsberg 5,407,000 Marks
• SMS Nürnberg 5,560,000 Marks
• SMS Stuttgart 5,488,000 Marks
• SMS Stettin 6,398,000 Marks
• SMS Dresden 7,460,000 Marks
• SMS Emden 5,960,000 Marks
• SMS Kolberg 8,118,000 Marks
• SMS Mainz 8,777,000 Marks
• SMS Cöln 8,356,000 Marks
• SMS Augsburg 7,593,000 Marks
• SMS Magdeburg 8,058,000 Marks
• SMS Breslau 7,961,000 Marks
• SMS Strassburg 7,302,000 Marks
• SMS Stralsund 7,741,000 Marks
• SMS Karlsruhe 8,126,000 Marks
• SMS Rostock 8,124,000 Marks
• SMS Graudenz 8,800,000 Marks
• SMS Regensburg 8,800,000 Marks

Great Britain

Pre-Dreadnoughts

• HMS Royal Sovereign (1891) £913,986
• HMS Ramillies (1892) £980,895
• HMS Royal Oak (1892) £977,996
• HMS Repulse (1892) £915,302
• HMS Revenge (1892) (renamed HMS Redoubtable) £954,825
• HMS Resolution (1892) £953,817
• HMS Empress of India (1891) £912,162
• HMS Majestic (1895) £986,482
• HMS Caesar (1896) £936,864
• HMS Illustrious (1896) £952,195
• HMS Jupiter (1895) £967,651
• HMS Magnificent (1894) £979,889
• HMS Mars (1896) £964,352
• HMS Prince George (1895) £965,604
• HMS Victorious (1895) £955,312
• HMS Canopus (1897) £921,316
• HMS Albion (1898) £913,545
• HMS Glory (1899) £895,814
• HMS Goliath (1898) £920,806
• HMS Ocean (1898) £938,578
• HMS Vengeance (1899) £891,417
• HMS Formidable (1898) £1,097,245
• HMS Irresistible (1898) £1,122,636
• HMS Implacable (1899) £1,063,616
• HMS Bulwark (1899) £1,056,816
• HMS London (1899) £1,103,453
• HMS Venerable (1899) £1,159,853
• HMS Duncan (1901) £1,088,897
• HMS Albemarle (1901) £1,078,395
• HMS Cornwallis (1901) £1,098,159
• HMS Exmouth (1901) £1,098,159
• HMS Russell (1901) £1,104,051
• HMS Queen (1902) £1,146,669
• HMS Prince of Wales (1902) £1,185,744
• HMS King Edward VII £1,472,075
• HMS Africa (1905) £1,420,040
• HMS Britannia (1904) £1,408,053
• HMS Commonwealth (1903) £1,471,527
• HMS Dominion (1903) £1,453,718
• HMS Hibernia (1905) £1,438,690
• HMS Hindustan (1903) £1,450,652
• HMS New Zealand £1,424,643 (renamed HMS Zealandia 1 December 1911)
• HMS Swiftsure (1903) £957,520, purchased from Chile (amount not certain)
• HMS Triumph £956,596, purchased from Chile (amount not certain)
• HMS Lord Nelson £1,651,339
• HMS Agamemnon £1,652,347

Dreadnoughts

• HMS Dreadnought (1906) £1,785,683
• HMS Bellerophon (1907) £1,763,491
• HMS Superb (1907) £1,744,287
• HMS Temeraire (1907) £1,641,114
• HMS St. Vincent (1908) £1,721,970
• HMS Collingwood (1908) £1,680,888
• HMS Vanguard (1909) £1,606,030
• HMS Neptune (1909) £1,668,916
• HMS Colossus (1910) £1,672,103
• HMS Hercules (1910) £1,661,240
• HMS Orion (1910) £1,855,917
• HMS Conqueror (1911) £1,891,164
• HMS Monarch (1911) £1,888,736
• HMS Thunderer (1911) £1,892,823
• HMS King George V (1911) £1,961,096
• HMS Centurion (1911) £1,950,671
• HMS Audacious (1912) £1,918,813
• HMS Ajax (1912) £1,889,387
• HMS Iron Duke (1912) £1,945,824
• HMS Marlborough (1912) £2,043,437
• HMS Erin (1913) £2,500,000
• HMS Agincourt £2,900,000
• HMS Queen Elizabeth - Portsmouth Dockyard - £3,014,103
• HMS Malaya (1915) £2,945,709
• HMS Valiant £2,537,037
• HMS Warspite £2,524,148
• HMS Barham £2,470,113
• HMS Canada £2,500,000
• HMS Royal Sovereign (1915) £2,570,504
• HMS Revenge (1915) £2,406,368
• HMS Resolution (1915) £2,449,680
• HMS Royal Oak £2,468,269
• HMS Ramillies (1917) £3,295,810

Battlecruisers

• HMS Invincible (1907) £1,767,515
• HMS Inflexible (1907) £1,720,739
• HMS Indomitable (1907) £1,752,337
• HMS Indefatigable (1909) £1,520,591
• HMS New Zealand (1911) £1,783,190
• HMAS Australia (1911) (Royal Australian Navy) £1,783,190
• HMS Lion (1910) £2,083,999
• HMS Princess Royal (1911) £2,076,222
• HMS Queen Mary (1912) £2,078,491
• HMS Tiger (1913) £2,100,000
• HMS Renown (1916) £3,117,204
• HMS Repulse (1916) £2,829,087

Armoured cruisers

• HMS Diadem, HMS Amphitrite, HMS Andromeda, HMS Argonaut, HMS Ariadne, HMS Europa, HMS Niobe, HMS Spartiate (1896-1898), approx. £600.000 average
• HMS Cressy, HMS Aboukir, HMS Bacchante, HMS Hogue, HMS Sutlej, HMS Euryalus (1899-1901), approx. £800,000 average
• HMS Drake (1901) £1,002,977
• HMS Good Hope (1901) £990,759
• HMS King Alfred (1901) £978,125
• HMS Leviathan (1901) £1,012,959
• HMS Monmouth, HMS Bedford, HMS Donegal, HMS Berwick, HMS Kent, HMS Cumberland, HMS Cornwall (1902), HMS Essex (1901), HMS Suffolk (1903), HMS Lancaster (1902) (1901-1903), approx. £775,000 average
• HMS Devonshire, HMS Antrim, HMS Argyll, HMS Carnarvon, HMS Hampshire, HMS Roxburgh (1903-1904), approx. £850,000 average
• HMS Duke of Edinburgh, HMS Black Prince (1904), approx. £1,150,000 average
• HMS Warrior, HMS Cochrane, HMS Natal, HMS Achilles (1905), approx. £1,180,000 average
• HMS Minotaur (1906) £1,410,356
• HMS Defence (1907) £1,362,970
• HMS Shannon (1906) £1,415,535

Light Cruisers

• HMS Courageous (1916) £2,038,225
• HMS Edgar (1890) £410,980
• HMS Hawke (1891) £400,702
• HMS Endymion (1891) £375,250
• HMS Royal Arthur (1891) £412,033
• HMS Gibraltar (1892) £373,236
• HMS Grafton (1892) £372,890
• HMS St George (1892) £388,755
• HMS Theseus (1892) £370,359
• HMS Crescent (1892) £392,453
• HMS Apollo, HMS Aeolus, HMS Andromache, HMS Brilliant, HMS Indefatigable, HMS Intrepid, HMS Iphigenia, HMS Latona, HMS Melampus, HMS Naiad, HMS Pique, HMS Rainbow, HMS Retribution, HMS Sappho, HMS Scylla, HMS Sirius, HMS Spartan, HMS Sybille, HMS Terpsichore, HMS Thetis, HMS Tribune (1890-1892) - approx. £200,000 average
• HMS Highflyer, HMS Hermes, HMS Hyacinth (1898) - approx. £300,000 average
• HMS Pelorus, HMS Pandora, HMS Pegasus, HMS Perseus, HMS Pactolus, HMS Pioneer, HMS Pomone, HMS Prometheus, HMS Proserpine, HMS Psyche, HMS Pyramus (1896-1900) = approx. £150,000 average
• HMS Topaze, HMS Amethyst, HMS Diamond, HMS Sapphire (1903-1904) - approx. £240,000 average
• HMS Sentinel, HMS Skirmisher - approx. £282,000 average
• HMS Forward, HMS Foresight (1904) - approx. £289,000 average
• HMS Pathfinder, HMS Patrol Laid down 1904 - approx. £279,000 average
• HMS Adventure, HMS Attentive (1904) - approx. £275,000 average
• HMS Boadicea, HMS Bellona (1908-1909) - approx. £330,000 average
• HMS Weymouth, HMS Dartmouth, HMS Falmouth, HMS Yarmouth (1911) (1910-1911) £396,363 average
• HMS Chatham, HMS Dublin, HMS Southampton, HMAS Sydney (RAN), HMAS Melbourne (RAN), HMAS Brisbane (RAN) - £334,053 average
• HMS Arethusa, HMS Aurora, HMS Galatea, HMS Inconstant, HMS Penelope, HMS Phaeton, HMS Royalist, HMS Undaunted - approx. £285,000 average

Monitors

• HMS Humber, HMS Mersey, HMS Severn £155,000 each. Bought from Brazil.
• HMS Gorgon, HMS Glatton £370,000 each. From Norway.
• HMS Marshal Soult, HMS Marshal Ney £270,000 each
• HMS Erebus £380,000 + used weaponry. Would have cost about £540,000 with new weaponry.
• HMS General Wolfe and other 12 inch monitors approx. £260,000 (before conversions with larger guns).

Destroyers

• HMS Acheron £88,000
• HMS Beagle £106,000
• HMS Defender £83,000
• HMS Acorn £94,000
• HMS Acasta - £100,000
• HMS Laforey - £98,000
• M-class destroyers - £100,000
• Admiralty M class with higher speeds cost £110,000, but the 'Specials' were faster and cost £127,000 each
• Template:Sclass2-s - £200,000

Minesweepers

• Template:Sclass2-s £60,000

Submarines

• D-class submarines £89,000

Greece

Pre-Dreadnoughts

• Lemnos (ex-USS Idaho (BB-24)) and Kilkis (ex-USS Mississippi (BB-23)) $6,267,638 each

Armoured Cruisers

• Georgios Averof 24 million drachmas

Destroyers

• Aetos, Ierax, Panthir, Leon, £148,000 each (bought from the Liverpool Dockyards "Camell Laird").

Italy

Pre-dreadnoughts

• Napoli and Regina Elena £1,120,000
• Re Umberto £1,058,500
• Roma £1,120,000
• Sardegna £1,057,440
• Sicilia £1,050,000
• Vittorio Emanuele £1,120,000

Armoured Cruisers

• Amalfi £880,000
• Marco Polo £344,400

Protected cruisers

• Calabria £183,120
• Elba £200,000
• Etruria £183,120
• Liguria £183,120
• Puglia £200,000

Torpedo cruisers

• Aretusa, Iride, Minerva £72,920 each

Gunboats

• Governolo £58,440

Japan

Pre-dreadnoughts

• Tango (ex-Poltava) £1,098,000

Battlecruisers

• Kongō £2,500,000

Coast Defence

• Minoshima £410,000

Armoured Cruisers

• Kasuga, Nisshin £760,000

Light cruisers

• Akashi £327,000
• Chitose, Kasagi £205,200
• Suma £237,000

Netherlands

Coast Defence

• HNLMS De Ruyter (1901), HNLMS Hertog Hendrik (1901), HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (1906), HNLMS Koningin Regentes (1900), HNLMS Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (1904) £347,500 each

Cruisers

• HNLMS Friesland (1896), HNLMS Holland (1896), HNLMS Zeeland (1897) £285,700

Norway

Coast Defence

• HNoMS Eidsvold (1899), HNoMS Norge (1899) £350,000 each
• HNoMS Harald Haarfagre (1897), HNoMS Tordenskjold (1897) £300,000 each

Portugal

Coast Defence

• Vasco da Gama (1876) £132,000

Russia

Dreadnoughts

• Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Poltava, Sevastopol (1911) approx. 29 million rubles each (extremely expensive due to design faults and state bureaucracy)

Pre-dreadnoughts

• Andrei Pervozvanny, Imperator Pavel I (Respublika) £1,170,000 each
• Sinop £900,000
• Petropavlovsk (1894) 9,225,309 rubles (Brassey says £1,098,000)
• Poltava (1894), Sevastopol (1894-1895) £1,098,000 each
• Peresvet 10.54 mil. Rub.
• Oslyabya 11.34 mil. Rub.
• Pobeda 10.05 mil. Rub.
• Ekaterina II (1886) £900,000
• Georgii Pobedonosets (1892) £431,000
• Navarin (1891) £772,995
• Imperator Nikolai I (1916) £453,000
• Sissoi Veliky £796,333

Coast Defence

• Admiral Ushakov, Admiral Seniavin £410,000 each

Cruisers

• Zhemchug 3,549,848 rubles (sister Izumrud was of comparable cost, both nearly twice as expensive as near-sister Novik, built in Germany)
• Admiral Nakhimov £572,000
• Pamiat Azova £350,000
• Admiral Kornilov £296,000

Gunboats

• Kazarskii £32,500
• Abrek £53,600
• Griden £66,600
• Posadnik, Voyevoda £111,000

Spain

Dreadnoughts

• Template:Sclass-s, approx. £1,600,000 each

Armoured Cruisers

• Cataluna, Princesa de Asturias £600,000 each
• Emperador Carlos V £734,000

Sweden

Armoured Cruisers

• HSwMS Fylgia £385,700
• HSwMS Sverige £666,000

Ottoman Empire

Pre-dreadnoughts

• Barbaros Hayreddin (ex-German SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm), Turgut Reis (ex-German SMS Weissenburg) £450,000 each

External links

• [1] Dreadnought Rising project
• [2] Extracts from Brassey's Naval Annual.

References

• Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed)The Naval Annual 1906
• [3] Costs of Warships and Aircraft (1900–1918): A forumini research project.
• Barry Slemmings, "How Much Did a Warship Cost?"
• [4] World War I Naval Combat