page_title: HMS Marlborough (1912)
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Marlborough (1912) / Design
caption_attribution_description: Iron Duke class battleship - credited to Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919
context_page_description: HMS Marlborough was an Iron Duke-class battleship of the Royal Navy, named in honour of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard between January 1912 and June 1914, entering service just before the outbreak of the First World War. She was armed with a main battery of ten 13.5-inch guns and was capable of a top speed of 21.25 knots.
  Marlborough served with the Grand Fleet for the duration of the war, primarily patrolling the northern end of the North Sea to enforce the blockade of Germany. She saw action at the Battle of Jutland, where she administered the coup de grâce to the badly damaged German cruiser SMS Wiesbaden. During the engagement, Wiesbaden hit Marlborough with a torpedo that eventually forced her to withdraw. The damage to Marlborough was repaired by early August, though the last two years of the war were uneventful, as the British and German fleets adopted more cautious strategies due to the threat of underwater weapons.
context_section_description: The four Iron Duke-class battleships were ordered in the 1911 building programme, and were an incremental improvement over the preceding King George V class. The primary change between the two designs was the substitution of a heavier secondary battery in the newer vessels. Marlborough was 622 feet 9 inches (190 m) long overall and had a beam of 90 ft (27 m) and an average draught of 29 ft 6 in (9 m). She displaced 25,000 long tons (25,401 t) as designed and up to 29,560 long tons (30,034 t) at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of four Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The engines were rated at 29,000 shaft horsepower (21,625 kW) and produced a top speed of 21.25 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph). Marlborough's cruising radius was 7,800 nautical miles (14,446 km; 8,976 mi) at a more economical 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 995 officers and enlisted men; during wartime this increased to up to 1,022.
  The ship was armed with a main battery of ten BL 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mk V naval guns mounted in five twin gun turrets. They were arranged in two superfiring pairs, one forward and one aft; the fifth turret was located amidships, between the funnels and the rear superstructure. Close-range defence against torpedo boats was provided by a secondary armament of twelve BL 6-inch Mk VII guns. Marlborough was also fitted with a pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft guns and four 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder guns. As was typical for capital ships of the period, she was equipped with four 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes submerged on the broadside.
  Marlborough was protected by a main armoured belt that was 12 in (305 mm) thick over the ship's ammunition magazines and engine and boiler rooms, and reduced to 4 in (102 mm) toward the bow and stern. Her deck was 2.5 in (64 mm) thick in the central portion of the ship, and reduced to 1 in (25 mm) elsewhere. The main battery turret faces were 11 in (279 mm) thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in (254 mm) thick barbettes.
caption: Plan and profile of the Iron Duke class
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