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HMS ''Donegal'' was one of 10 armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron upon completion in 1903 and ran aground en route to the China Station in 1906. She was briefly placed in reserve after repairs before she was assigned to the Home Fleet in 1907. She joined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1909 before returning home for an assignment with the Training Squadron in 1912. ''Donegal'' was reduced to reserve before World War I began in August 1914 as part of the Third Fleet Refitting at the beginning of the war, she was then assigned to Sierra Leone for convoy protection duties as part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron. She was transferred to several different cruiser squadrons of the Grand Fleet in 1915 where she escorted convoys to Archangelsk, Russia. In mid-1916 she was assigned to convoy escort duties in the Atlantic. ''Donegal'' rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on North America and West Indies Station in 1917 and continued with convoy duties until the end of the war. ''Donegal'' was sold for scrap in 1920. ==Design and description== ''Donegal'' was designed to displace . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a deep draught of . She was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 31 Belleville boilers.〔Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 70〕 She carried a maximum of of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and enlisted men.〔Friedman 2012, p. 336〕 Her main armament consisted of fourteen breech-loading (BL) 6-inch Mk VII guns.〔Friedman 2011, p. 81〕 Four of these guns were mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and the others positioned in casemates amidships. Six of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather.〔Friedman 2012, pp. 251–52, 260–61〕 They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells.〔Friedman 2011, pp. 80–81〕 Ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats.〔 ''Donegal'' also carried three 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes.〔 Beginning in 1915, the main deck six-inch guns of the ''Monmouth''-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve seakeeping. The twelve-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were repositioned elsewhere. At some point in the war, a pair of three-pounder anti-aircraft guns were installed on the upper deck.〔Friedman 2012, pp. 280, 286〕 The ship's waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of and was closed off by transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets and their barbettes was four inches thick while the casemate armour was five inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.〔 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 Donegal (1902)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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