RN Armoured Cruisers: Drake Class 1901

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Armoured Cruiser HMS Drake pictured entering Montreal in 1905.

[jbryce1437]

Lead Ship,Armoured Cruiser HMS Drake pictured entering Montreal in 1905.

Many thanks Brian. As well as Drake, others in the Class were Good Hope, King Alfred and Leviathan.
Some photos of the Class:

Drake

DRAKE Armoured Cruiser 1904-05 03a.jpg

Drake[2].jpg

HMS Drake New York Harbour 1909.jpg

Good Hope

1333029_HMS-Goodhope[1].jpg

good hope.jpg

hms goodhope-03.JPG

King Alfred

hms king alfred.JPG

king alfred torpedoed.jpg

king-alfred-(1890's.)-pt.qt ply.jpg

Leviathan

HMS%20LEVIATHAN%202[1].jpg

leviathan-cruiser-malta-190.jpg

leviathan card.jpg

[Brian James]

Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Leviathan pictured at Portsmouth in 1910.Built at John Brown & Company Shipyards, Clydebank in 1901 and completed on June 16th 1903.
She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. Leviathan was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913.
Recommissioned in mid-1914, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet at the beginning of World War I. She spent most of the rest of the year searching for German commerce raiders and escorting convoys before she became flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. In early 1915, she was reassigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron before she became flagship of the North America and West Indies Station in March. Leviathan retained that position for the next three years until she was relieved as flagship in early 1918 and began escorting convoys from North America to Britain. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in early 1920.

[Brian James]

Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Good Hope pictured c1904.
She was one of four Drake Class Cruisers,built at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Shipyards, Govan,Glasgow in 1902 ; she was originally named Africa, but was renamed before she was launched. She became flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in 1906, and was the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1908. She was reduced to reserve in 1913, but was recommissioned in mid-1914.
When war was declared in August 1914, Good Hope was ordered to reinforce the 4th Cruiser Squadron and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock. Cradock moved the available ships of his squadron later that month to the coast of South America to search for German commerce raiders. He was then ordered further south to the Strait of Magellan to block any attempt of the German East Asia Squadron to penetrate into the South Atlantic. He found the German squadron on November 1st off the coast of Chile. The German squadron outnumbered Cradock's force and were individually more powerful; they sank Cradock's two Armoured Cruisers in the Battle of Coronel. Good Hope was lost with all 926 officers and enlisted men.Four of the midshipmen aboard the ship were the first casualties of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Australia Station flagship,Armoured Cruiser HMS Drake pictured in Sutherland Drydock,Cockatoo Island Dockyard,Sydney in 1912.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Armoured Cruiser HMS Drake pictured in 1906.

[Brian James]

Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Leviathon pictured at Portsmouth c1904.She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. She was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913.
Recommissioned in mid-1914, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet at the beginning of World War I. She spent most of the rest of the year searching for German Commerce Raiders and escorting convoys before she became flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. In early 1915, she was reassigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron before she became flagship of the North American and West Indies Station in March. Leviathon retained that position for the next three years until she was relieved as flagship in early 1918 and began escorting convoys from North America to Britain. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in early 1920.

[Brian James]

Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Good Hope...Built at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Shipyards at Govan on the Clyde in 1901, she was originally named Africa, but was renamed before she was launched. She became flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in 1906, and was the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1908. She was reduced to reserve in 1913, but was recommissioned in mid-1914....When war was declared in August 1914, Good Hope was ordered to reinforce the 4th Cruiser Squadron and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock......Cradock moved the available ships of his squadron later that month to the coast of South America to search for German commerce raiders. He was then ordered further south to the Strait of Magellan to block any attempt of the German East Asia Squadron to penetrate into the South Atlantic. He found the German squadron on November 1st off the coast of Chile. The German squadron outnumbered Cradock's force and were individually more powerful; they sank Cradock's two Armoured Cruisers in the Battle of Coronel. Good Hope was lost with all hands, a total of 926 officers and ratings. Four of the midshipmen aboard her were the first casualties of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Armoured Cruiser HMS Drake pictured in the Hudson River in 1909...She was built at Pembroke Dock and launched on March 5th 1901. She was assigned to several different Cruiser squadrons in home waters upon completion, sometimes as flagship, until 1911 when she became the flagship of the Australia Station. Upon her return home, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the 2nd Fleet and became the squadron's flagship when the fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet upon the outbreak of the First World War...She remained with the Grand Fleet until refitted in late 1915, when she was transferred to the North America and West Indies Station for convoy escort duties. In 1916 she participated in the unsuccessful search for the German commerce raider SMS Möwe. On October 2nd 1917 Drake was torpedoed by German Submarine SMS U-79 off Northern Ireland and sank in shallow water with the loss of eighteen lives near Rathlin Island. The wreck was partly salvaged, beginning in 1920; a fishing trawler collided with the remainder of the wreck in 1962 and sank the next day. The wrecks of the two ships were demolished during the 1970s, but their remnants remain a popular dive site. Since June 2017, Drake's wreck has been a scheduled historic monument.

[Brian James]

Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS King Alfred pictured under construction on the ways at Vickers Ltd Shipyards, Barrow-in-Furness in October 1901.