COMMONWEALTH

Sister ships:  AFRICA, BRITANNIA, DOMINION, HIBERNIA, HINDUSTAN, KING EDWARD VII, NEW ZEALAND (renamed ZEALANDIA in 1911)

Notes:  The eight ships of the KING EDWARD VII class were ordered in three separate groups in the period 1901-1904.  They were the first Royal Navy battleships to mount the 9.2" gun in their secondary armaments.  As it turned out, this jump to 9.2" guns proved to be problematic in action, as the difference in splashes between the 12" guns of the main battery and the 9.2" guns of the secondary was very small, which made gunlaying corrections very difficult.  This difficulty gave impetus to the development of the "all-big-gun" type both in England and in other navies.  They were also the first class to have fire control positions on both masts, in place of the "fighting tops" found in the older ships.

The KING EDWARD VII class was over 1,000 tons heavier than the preceding DUNCAN class.  This increase in weight was not only due to increased size, but also due to an increase in the armor; the casemate protection of the 6" guns was abandoned in favor of a central battery layout.  The armor here was 7" thick, and increased the area covered by one deck higher than in the DUNCAN class.  The machinery installed in the eight ships differed greatly, as the entire class served as "test beds" for varying combinations of boilers.  However, they all exceeded their design speeds on trials.  They had very good turning circles (noted as being as little as 340 yards at 15 knots).  But their balanced rudders (the first installed in front-line ships since the 1870's) did not function as desired; it proved to be difficult to steer a steady course, and the subsequent, nearly-constant corrections that had to be made earned the class the nickname "The Wobbly Eight".  The KING EDWARD VII class were noted as being good gun platforms, but with a lower freeboard, they were noted as being wet ships in heavy weather.

COMMONWEALTH was commissioned into the Atlantic Fleet in 1906, and was transferred to the Channel Fleet in May, 1907. In April, 1909, she was sent to the 2nd Division, Home Fleet, and served briefly in the Mediterranean during 1913 before returning to home waters.  At the beginning of World War I, COMMONWEALTH was serving with the 3rd Battle Squadron, Grand Fleet. Following a three-month refit (which was begun in December, 1914), she returned to active duty.  On 1 July 1915, she became the flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron. In 1918, COMMONWEALTH was taken in for an extensive reconstruction; she was fitted with torpedo bulges; her casemated 6" guns were removed and replaced with four 6" guns mounted a deck higher, a tripod foremast, a director and fire control system. Following her return to service at the end of the war and as a result of her modernization, COMMONWEALTH served as a gunnery training ship at Invergordon. After three years in this duty, COMMONWEALTH was sold for breaking up in November, 1921.

		Navis 111 (as AFRICA)
		Navis 111
		Navis 111
		Navis 111
		Navis 111n
		Navis 111n
		Navis 111n
		Navis 111n
		Navis 111n
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		Navis 111n