British armoured cruiser HMS King Alfred 1899-1920

Laid down at the shipyard of Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness, England by the countess of Lathom on 11 August 1899, launched on 28 October 1901. Completed on 22 December 1903, torpedoed by the German submarine UB-86 north of Ireland on 11 April 1918, repaired at Liverpool, England and decommissioned again and finally sold to be broken up in the Netherlands on 30 January 1920. Building costs 978.125-1.013.772 pound sterling.

Of the Drake-class consisting of the Drake, Good Hope, King Alfred and Leviathan preceded by the Cressy-class and succeeded by the Monmouth-class. In fact was this class an enlarged and improved Cressy-class design made by chief constructor Sir William White with as potential opponent the French armoured cruiser Jeanne d’Arc.(1)

French Jeanne d'Arc

General technical specifications. Displacement 14.380/14.150 long tons (normal) and as dimensions 162,6 (over all) x 21,7 x 7,9 metres or 533.6 x 71.4 x 26 feet. The 2-4 cylinder triple expansion engines and 43 Belleville boilers supplied via  2 shafts 30.000 ihp allowing a speed of 23 knots (design). Maximum coal bunker capacity 2.500 ton. Their crew numbered 900 men. The armour consisted of a 5,1-16,2cm/2-6” thick belt ending in 12,7cm/5” thick bulkheads, 2,5-6,4cm/1-2,5” thick decks,  with the gun turrets, barbettes and conning tower all protected by  15,2cm/6” thick armour. The armament consisted of 2x1-23,4cm/9.2” breech loading Mk X guns, 16x1-15,2cm/6” breech loading Mk VII guns in barbettes, 12x1-7,6cm/3” quick firing 12 cwt guns. 3-4,7cm quick firing Hotchkiss guns and 2x1-45cm/18” submerged torpedo tubes.

Note
1. With a displacement of 11.300 tons/11.122 long tons and as dimensions 145 x 19,4 x 8,1 metres or 475.9 x 63.8 x 26.7 feet. Speed 21,8 knots. Armament consisted of 2-19,4cm/7.6” guns and 14-13,8cm5.4” guns.