 {|    |} hms princess royal was the second of two s built for the royal navy before world war i. designed in response to the s of the german navy, the ships significantly improved on the speed, armament, and armour of the preceding . the ship was named for the princess royal, a title occasionally granted to the monarch's eldest daughter. laid down in 1912 and commissioned in 1913, princess royal served in the battle of heligoland bight a month after the war began. she was then sent to the caribbean to prevent the german east asia squadron from using the panama canal. after the east asia squadron was sunk at the battle of the falkland islands in december 1914, ''
1911_ships Barrow-built_ships Lion-class_battlecruisers World_War_I_battlecruisers_of_the_United_Kingdom