Monmouth-class cruiser

	HMS Monmouth, on postcard
Class overview
Name	Monmouth
Preceded by	Drake class cruiser
Succeeded by	Devonshire class cruiser
Completed	10
General characteristics
Type	armoured cruiser
Displacement	9,800 tons
Length	463 ft 6 in (141.27 m) overall
Beam	66 ft (20 m)
Draught	25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion	list error: <br /> list (help); 4-cylinder triple-extension steam engines ; two shafts; 31 Belleville (majority of class), Niclausse (Berwick and Suffolk), or Babcock (Cornwall) boilers; 22,000 hp (16,400 kW)
Speed	list error: <br /> list (help); approximately 23 knots (43.6 km/h); 24 knots (44.4 km/h) in Lancaster and 24.7 knots (45.7 km/h) in Suffolk
Complement	678
Armament	list error: <br /> list (help); 14 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk VII guns (2 x 2, 10 × 1); 10 x 12-pdr (3 inch) QF (10 x 1); 3 × 3 pdr QF (3 × 1); 2 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged
Armour	list error: <br /> list (help); 4 in (102 mm) belt; 5 in (127 mm) barbette; 5 in (127 mm) turret

The Monmouth-class was a ten-ship class of 10,000 ton armoured cruisers built around 1901 to 1903 for the Royal Navy. The ships were also referred to as County-class cruisers as they carried the names of British counties.

Design

They were armed with fourteen 6-inch guns : 4 in 2 twin turrets mounted at a good height and 10 in hull-mounted casemates, 5 on each side. The lower casemate guns were just a few feet above water, making them impossible to use in heavy seas, and leading to their quick obsolescence. Jackie Fisher commented that "Sir William White designed the County class but forgot the guns."^[1]

Building programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Monmouth class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions. The reasons for the differences are unclear.^[2]

Ship	Builder	Engine Maker	Date of			Cost according to
Ship	Builder	Engine Maker	Laid Down	Launch	Completion	( BNA 1905)^[3]	( BNA 1906)^[4]
Monmouth	London and Glasgow Shipping Company	London & Glasgow Shipping Company	29 Aug 1899	13 Nov 1901	2 Dec 1903	£709,085	£979,591
Bedford	Fairfield, Govan	Fairfield	19 Feb 1900	31 Aug 1901	11 Nov 1903	£734,330	£706,020
Essex	Pembroke Dockyard	J Brown	1 Jan 1900	29 Aug 1901	22 Mar 1903	£770,325	£736,557
Kent	Portsmouth Dockyard	Hawthorn	12 Feb 1900	6 Mar 1900	1 Oct 1903	£733,940	£700,283
Berwick	W. Beardmore & Company	Humphrys	19 Apr 1901	20 Sept 1902	9 Dec 1903	£776,868	£750,984
Cornwall	Pembroke Dockyard	Hawthorne	11 Mar 1901	29 Oct 1902	1 Dec 1905	£789,421	£756,274
Cumberland	London & Glasgow Shipping Company, Glasgow	London & Glasgow Shipping Company	19 Feb 1901	16 Dec 1902	1 Dec 1904	£751,508	£718,168
Donegal	Fairfield, Govan	Fairfield	14 Feb 1901	4 Sep 1902	5 Nov 1903	£752,964	£715,947
Lancaster	Armstrongs, Elswick	Hawthorn	4 Mar 1901	22 Mar 1903	5 Apr 1904	£763,084	£732,858
Suffolk	Portsmouth Dockyard	Humphrys	25 Mar 1901	15 Jan 1903	21 May 1904	£783,054	£722,681

Service

References

Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1905
Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1906

Notes

^ 'Castles of Steel, Robert K. Massie, 2004, Balantine Books, ISBN 0345408780
^ The 1906 figure for Monmouth is particularly high. but is as quoted in the original. The 1914 edition also quotes £979,591 as the cost of Monmouth.
^ Brassey's Naval Annual 1905, p234-243
^ Brassey's Naval Annual 1906, p208-215

[castles-1] 'Castles of Steel, Robert K. Massie, 2004, Balantine Books, ISBN 0345408780

[2] The 1906 figure for Monmouth is particularly high. but is as quoted in the original. The 1914 edition also quotes £979,591 as the cost of Monmouth.

[3] Brassey's Naval Annual 1905, p234-243

[4] Brassey's Naval Annual 1906, p208-215

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Monmouth-class cruisers
Kent Essex Bedford Monmouth Donegal Berwick Cornwall Cumberland Lancaster Suffolk
Preceded by: Drake class Followed by: Devonshire class
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy

v t e British naval ship classes of the First World War
Aircraft/Seaplane carriers	Empress^S^V Riviera^S^V Engadine^S^V Ark Royal^S Ben-my-Chree^S^V Campania^S^V Raven II^S^V Anne^S^V Vindex^S^V Manxman^S^V Furious^M Pegasus^S^V Nairana^S^V Argus^S^V Vindictive^S^V
Dreadnought battleships	Dreadnought^S Bellerophon St Vincent Neptune^S Colossus Orion King George V Erin^S Agincourt^S Iron Duke Canada^S Queen Elizabeth Revenge
Pre-dreadnought battleships	Royal Sovereign Majestic Canopus Formidable London Duncan King Edward VII Swiftsure Lord Nelson
Battlecruisers	Invincible Indefatigable Lion Queen Mary^S Tiger^S Renown Courageous Admiral^S^A
Armoured cruisers	Cressy Drake Monmouth Devonshire Duke of Edinburgh Warrior Minotaur
Heavy cruisers	Hawkins^A
Light cruisers	Town^G Arethusa C^G^C Danae^C Emerald^A
Protected cruisers	Apollo Astraea Eclipse Blake Pearl Edgar Powerful Diadem Arrogant Pelorus Highflyer Challenger Topaze
Scout cruisers	Adventure Forward Pathfinder Sentinel Boadicea Blonde Active
Destroyer flotilla leaders	Swift^S Faulknor Marksman Parker Thornycroft (or Shakespeare)^C Admiralty (or Scott)^C
Destroyers	A^G B^G C^G D^G E^G F G H I K L Admiralty M Hawthorn M Thornycroft M Yarrow M Yarrow Later M Medea Arno^S R^G S^G^C Talisman V and W^G^C
Torpedo boats	TB 81^S TB 98 TB 109 TB 114 Cricket^G
Monitors	Marshal Ney Abercrombie Lord Clive Humber Gorgon M15 M29 Erebus
Minesweepers	Racecourse Hunt Dance
Gunboats	Fly Insect
Submarines	A B C D E F G H^C J K L^C M^C R^C Swordfish^S V
Sloops	P Cadmus Flower Acacia Azalea Arabis Anchusa Aubrietia 24^C
naval trawlers	Castle Mersey
A All completed after the war C One or more completed after the war G Grouping of several classes M converted from Courageous class S Single ship of class V Conversions