Background
The ships of the Royal Sovereign class were built under the Naval Defence Act 1889, which provided £21 million for a vast expansion programme. The Act was inspired by rumours of a possible Franco-Russian alliance and by perceived shortcomings in naval forces revealed during manoeuvres the year before. In total, ten battleships, forty-two cruisers, and eighteen other vessels were built—an enormous increase. The Act marks the adoption of the two-power standard, whereby the Royal Navy sought to be as large as the next two major naval powers combined.
At the centre of the expansion programme were the Royal Sovereigns, the largest and fastest capital ships of their time. The class would be the template of British battleship design for 15 years, until Dreadnought, being improved upon by the Majestic class ships launched just a few years later. The Royal Sovereigns are considered the first of the type of battleship which would become known after the commissioning of Dreadnought in 1906 as pre-dreadnoughts.
Read more about this topic: Royal Sovereign Class Battleship
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