Bellerophon Class Battleship (1907)

The Bellerophon class of three dreadnoughts was designed as a follow-up to the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought.

Dreadnought's secondary armament was deemed insufficient to fight close quarter battle with enemy Torpedo Boat Destroyers, and the three ships were given heavier guns. Their internal sub-division was improved to decrease the possibility of sinking from mine or torpedo attack. Unlike Dreadnought the Bellerophon class were given two tripod masts, with two control tops. This was ostensibly to improve sea-keeping capability, but with the main mast just forward of the second funnel, it was frequently inundated with smoke and proved nearly useless in bad weather.

The three ships of the class performed service with the Grand Fleet for much of the First World War, and in 1918 HMS Superb and HMS Temeraire were dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean for service against the Ottoman Empire. Due to their inferior main armament, all three ships were immediately relegated to non-active duties following the Armistice, and were scrapped during the course of the 1920s.

Name	Built at.	Machinery by.	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Boilers	Cost
Bellerophon	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth	Fairfield	06 December, 1906	27 July, 1907	20 February, 1909	Babcock	£1,763,491
Temeraire	HM Dockyard, Devonport	Hawthorn Leslie	01 January, 1907	24 August, 1907	01 May, 1909	Yarrow	£1,641,114
Superb	Armstrong, Whitworth & Co.	Wallsend Company.	06 February, 1907	07 November, 1907	29 May, 1909	Babcock	£1,744,287