HMS Implacable

The British Royal Navy's Formidable class of battleships were an eight-ship class of pre-dreadnoughts built in the late 1890s. They were similar in appearance and boasted the same amount of armament as the Majestic and Canopus classes, though the Formidables were smaller than them, indeed they were 30 feet smaller than the Canopus class. They, unlike the other two battleship classes, had no deck or barbette armour, but the class did have belt and turret armour, with the latter being increased from the 6-inches that the other two classes had, to 9-inches.

The last two ships of the class, Prince of Wales and Queen, were not commissioned until 1904), and were soon to become completely obsolete with the launching of the Dreadnought, the first all big gun battleship. The Formidables became relics, consigned to menial jobs for much of World War I.

Ships

• Bulwark - Suffered an internal explosion in November 1914 at Sheerness. Just 12 out of her 750 crew survived.
• Formidable - Torpedoed by U-24 off Portland Hill while on patrol. Tragically, 547 of her 750 crew perished.
• Implacable - Served in WWI, in which she survived to be sold for scrap in 1921.
• Irresistible - Served in WWI. She hit a mine during the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915, and subsequently sank three hours later.
• London - Served in WWI and took part in the Dardanelles Campaign. She was later converted to a minelayer.
• Prince of Wales - Served in WWI, taking part in the Dardanelles Campaign. She was scrapped in 1921.
• Queen - Served in WW1, and like other ships of the class took part in the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915. She was broken up in 1920.
• Venerable - Served in WWI, being broken up 1920.