HMS Empress of India (1891) - Technical Characteristics

Technical Characteristics

HMS Empress of India was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889. She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 9 July 1889 and launched by the Duchess of Connaught on 7 May 1891. She was then transferred to Chatham, where she was completed in August 1893. Initially to be known as HMS Renown, her name was changed before her completion.

Empress of India displaced 14,150 tons and was 380 feet (120 m) long with a beam of 75 feet (23 m) and a draught of 27 feet 6 inches. Engined by Humphrys and Tennant she produced 13,000 horsepower (9,700 kW) and could make 18 knots (33 km/h). At full strength she carried a complement of 712. At the time of their completion, she and the other ships in her class were perhaps the best all-round battleships in the world. Their greater freeboard enhanced their sea going capabilities, enabling them to engage the enemy in rougher seas than previous designs, an important consideration in the North Sea and North Atlantic; however, they tended to develop a heavy roll in some conditions, and after HMS Resolution rolled badly in heavy seas in 1893, the class was nicknamed the "Rolling Ressies," a name which stuck even though the problem was quickly corrected by the fitting of bilge keels. The ships were also faster and better armoured than their predecessors and carried a potent secondary armament but these features inevitably increased their weight, with previous battleships seldom topping 10,000 tonnes. Her main armament consisted of four 13.5-inch (343-mm) guns in two barbettes with a secondary set of ten 6-inch (152-mm) guns. She also sported an array of smaller guns and seven 18-inch (457-mm) torpedo tubes. She had a partial belt of 18-inch- (457-mm-) thick steel.