Warrior Class first class armoured cruisers

The Warrior Class first class armoured cruisers were the second ships of that type designed by Phillip Watts and corrected some of the problems in the earlier Duke of Edinburgh design.

The main change came with the secondary armament. The Duke of Edinburgh class ships had carried ten 6in guns in a central armoured battery that was of little use in rough weather. On the Warrior class ships these guns were replaced by four 7.5in guns, carried in two single turrets on each side of the ship, between the side 9.2in gun turrets.

This meant that all ten of the main guns were at least at main deck level, allowing them to be used in all but the roughest of seas.

Of the four ships in this class, two were lost during the First World War and one only days after the end of the war. HMS Natal was destroyed by an internal explosion while docked at Cromarty (31 December 1915). HMS Warrior was badly damaged on the first day of the battle of Jutland (31 May 1916) and sank while under tow on the following day. Finally HMS Cochrane ran aground on the Mersey three days after the armistice.

* This was the 6in battery armour of the Duke of Edinburgh Class.

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