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HMS ''Cornwallis'' was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. After commissioning in 1904, she spent most of her pre-World War I service with the Mediterranean Fleet. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, she was part of the 6th Battle Squadron which was composed of pre-dreadnought battleships and based at Portland. From January 1915, ''Cornwallis'' served in the Dardanelles Campaign, bombarding Ottoman Turkish forts and proving support for Allied forces landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Apart from a short period of service in the Indian Ocean, she remained in the Mediterranean and it was here that she was lost to a torpedo from a German submarine. She remained afloat long enough for most of her crew to abandon ship, although fifteen men of her complement of 720 died from as a result of the explosion of the torpedo. ==Technical Description== HMS ''Cornwallis'' was laid down by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Leamouth, London on 19 July 1899 and launched on 17 July 1901, when she was christened by Mrs. William L. Ainslie, wife of one of the directors. The launching ceremony was subdued, due to the Court mourning, yet the launch was witnessed by a vast throng of spectators, including diplomats from the other naval powers at the time. After delays due to labour troubles, she was completed in February 1904. ''Cornwallis'' and her five sisters of the ''Duncan'' class were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes,〔''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905'', p. 37.〕 including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme;〔Gibbons, p. 159〕 they were designed as smaller, more lightly armoured, and faster versions of the preceding .〔 As it turned out, the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared, and the ''Duncan''s proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed, firepower, and protection.〔 Armour layout was similar to that of , with reduced thickness in the barbettes and belt.〔 ''Cornwallis'' and her sisters had machinery capable of more than the ''Formidable''s and ''London''s and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. They also had a modified hull form to improve speed. The ships had a reputation as good steamers, with a designed speed of and an operational speed of ,〔 good steering at all speeds, and an easy roll. They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed, and the fastest pre-dreadnoughts ever built other than the and .〔Burt, p. 202〕 ''Cornwallis'' herself was the fastest of the ''Duncan'' class on trials, achieving , although her sister was viewed as the best steamer of the class in everyday operations.〔 ''Cornwallis'' and her sisters had the same armament as and a smaller displacement than the ''Formidable''s and ''London''s.〔 Like all pre-dreadnoughts, ''Cornwallis'' was outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906, but she nonetheless continued to perform front-line duties up through the early part of World War I. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Cornwallis (1901)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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