HMS Duke of Edinburgh HMS " Duke of Edinburgh " was the lead ship of the armoured cruiser s built for the Royal Navy in the mid - 1900s . She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser and light cruiser . After the German ships reached Ottoman waters , the ship was sent to the Red Sea in mid - August to protect troop convoys arriving from India . " Duke of Edinburgh " was transferred to the Grand Fleet in December 1914 and participated in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 . She was not damaged during the battle and was the only ship of her squadron to survive . She was eventually transferred to the Atlantic Ocean in August 1917 for convoy escort duties . The ship was sold for scrap in 1920 . Description . " Duke of Edinburgh " displaced as built and fully loaded . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by four - cylinder triple - expansion steam engines , driving two shafts , which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 20 Babcock & Wilcox water - tube boilers and six cylindrical boilers . The ship carried a maximum of of coal and an additional of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate . At full capacity , she could steam for at a speed of . The ship ' s complement was 789 officers and enlisted men . Armament . Her main armament consisted of six BL Mark X guns in single turret s . The guns were distributed in two centerline turrets ( one each fore and one aft ) and four turrets disposed in the corners about the funnels . Her secondary armament of ten BL 6 - inch Mk XI guns was arranged in single casemates . They were mounted amidships on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather . Twenty Vickers quick - firing ( QF ) three - pounders were fitted , six on turret roofs and fourteen in the superstructure . The ship also mounted three submerged torpedo tube s . History . " Duke of Edinburgh " was ordered under the 1902 / 1903 naval construction programme as the lead ship of her class . She was laid down on 11 February 1903 at Pembroke Royal Dockyard in Wales . She was launched on 14 June 1904 and completed on 20 January 1906 at a cost of £1 , 193 , 414 . " Duke of Edinburgh " was named after Alfred , Duke of Edinburgh , one of Queen Victoria ' s sons . The ship was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron from 1906 to 1908 and was then transferred to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet . When the Royal Navy ' s cruiser squadrons were reorganized in 1909 , " Duke of Edinburgh " rejoined the 5th Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet . She helped to rescue the survivors of the SS " Delhi " which ran aground off the coast of Morocco in December 1911 . From 1913 to 1914 she served with the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet . When the British began to prepare for war in July 1914 , the ship was refitting at Malta . Her refit was cut short and she joined the rest of her squadron in the southern approaches to the Adriatic . She was involved in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser " Goeben " and light cruiser " Breslau " at the outbreak of World War I , but was ordered not to engage them . On 10 August " Duke of Edinburgh " and her sister ship were ordered to the Red Sea to protect troop convoys arriving from India . While on that duty the ship captured the German merchantman " Altair " of 3 , 200 tons GRT on 15 August . While escorting a troop convoy from India to France in November 1914 , " Duke of Edinburgh " provided cover to three battalions of infantry that seized the Turkish fort at Cheikh Saïd at the entrance to the Red Sea . The ship then landed a demolition party , which blew the fort up on 10 November ; she then rejoined the convoy . " Duke of Edinburgh " rejoined the 1st Cruiser Squadron , which had been transferred to the Grand Fleet in the meantime , in December 1914 . In March 1916 the ship had her main deck 6 - inch guns removed and the openings plated over . Six of the guns were remounted on the upper deck , three on each side , between the wing turret s , protected by gun shield s . At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 , the 1st Cruiser Squadron was in front of the Grand Fleet , on the right side . At 5 : 47 p . m . The two leading ships of the squadron , the flagship , , and , spotted the German II Scouting Group and opened fire . Their shells felt short and the two ships turned to port in pursuit , cutting in front of the battlecruiser , which was forced to turn away to avoid a collision . " Duke of Edinburgh " could not follow the first two ships and turned to port ( northeast ) . The ship spotted the disabled German light cruiser at 6 : 08 and fired twenty rounds at her . By about 6 : 30 she had steamed to a position off the starboard bow of , the leading ship of the 2nd Battle Squadron , where her funnel smoke obscured the German ships from the foremost dreadnoughts of the 2nd Battle Squadron . A torpedo attack by German destroyers on Admiral Beatty ' s battlecruiser s , failed , but forced " Duke of Edinburgh " to evade one torpedo at 6 : 47 . The ship reported a submarine sighting at 7 : 01 , although no German submarines were operating in the area . She fired at another imaginary submarine contact between 7 : 45 and 8 : 15 . After the battle , " Duke of Edinburgh " was attached to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron and remained at sea until 2 June , searching for disabled ships . She arrived in Scapa Flow on the afternoon of 3 June . On the evening of 18 August 1916 , the Grand Fleet , including " Duke of Edinburgh " , put to sea in response to a deciphered message that the High Seas Fleet , minus the II Battle Squadron , would be leaving harbour that night . The Germans planned to bombard the port of Sunderland on 19 August , with extensive reconnaissance provided by airships and submarines . The Germans broke off their planned attack to pursue a lone British battle squadron reported by an airship , which was in fact the Harwich Force under Commodore Tyrwhitt . Realising their mistake , the Germans then set course for home . After Jutland the 2nd Cruiser Squadron , now including " Duke of Edinburgh " , was ordered to reinforce the patrols north of the Shetland Islands against German blockade runner s and commerce raiders . The ship ' s foremast was converted to a tripod to support the weight of a fire - control director in May 1917 , but when the director was actually fitted is not known . Two more 6 - inch guns were added in embrasures on the forecastle deck during that same refit . She was transferred to the North America and West Indies Station in August 1917 for convoy escort duties , where she remained for the duration of the war . Upon her return , " Duke of Edinburgh " was stationed in the Humber , before she was sold for scrap on 12 April 1920 and broken up at Blyth in Northumberland .