List of Dreadnought Battleships of The Royal Navy - Agincourt Class

Agincourt Class

HMS Agincourt started life as a Brazilian warship the Rio de Janeiro and was to be built in Britain. She was initially intended to have a 12 × 14 inch main armament but a change in the Brazilian government cancelled the order. A new design was however authorised, which was to be armed with the maximum possible number of guns. The new ship was now designed to have seven turrets with two 12 inch guns each. Secondary armament consisted of twenty 6 inch, ten 3 inch, two 3 inch anti-aircraft guns and three 21 inch torpedoes. In July 1912 while she was still being built Brazil sold her to Turkey and she was renamed the Sultan Osman I. The ship had been completed just before the start of the First World War and her handover was delayed to ascertain what position Turkey would take in the war. When Turkey sided with the Germans the ship was seized and renamed HMS Agincourt. She immediately had to be refitted to bring her up to Royal Navy standards.