HMS Magnificent ( 1894 ) HMS " Magnificent " was one of the nine " Majestic " - class battleship s of the Royal Navy . She entered service in late 1895 with the Channel Fleet , remaining with the fleet through its subsequent reorganisation into the Atlantic Fleet . In 1905 , an explosion caused the deaths of 18 men but she remained in service until 1906 , after which she underwent a refit . She served with the Home Fleet for most of her pre - war service . Among the oldest of Britain ' s battleships at the time , " Magnificent " was a guard ship on the Humber when World War I broke out . She was then , together with her sister ship HMS " Hannibal " , assigned to Scapa Flow as a guard ship . In 1915 , she was stripped of her main armament , and later in that year was converted to a troopship for use in the Dardanelles Campaign . Returning to England in 1916 , she was inactive until late 1917 , at which time she was converted to an ammunition ship . She continued to serve in this role until 1921 , at which time she was decommissioned before being scrapped the following year . Design . " Magnificent " was laid down at the Chatham Dockyard on 18 December 1893 . She was launched a year and a day later , on 19 December 1894 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the Royal Navy another year later , in December 1895 . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced up to at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two 3 - cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eight coal - fired cylindrical boilers . By 1907 – 1908 , she was re - boilered with oil - fired models . Her engines provided a top speed of at . The " Majestic " s were considered good seaboats with an easy roll and good steamers , although they suffered from high fuel consumption . She had a crew of 672 officers and enlisted men . The ship was armed with four BL 12 - inch Mk VIII guns in twin turrets , one forward and one aft . The turrets were placed on pear - shaped barbettes ; six of her sisters had the same arrangement , but her sisters and and all future British battleship classes had circular barbettes . " Magnificent " also carried twelve QF 6 - inch / 40 guns . They were mounted in casemate s in two gun decks amidships . She also carried sixteen QF 12 - pounder guns and twelve QF 2 - pounder guns . She was also equipped with five torpedo tube s , four of which were submerged in the ship ' s hull , with the last in a deck - mounted launcher . " Magnificent " and the other " Majestic " - class ships had 9 inches ( 229 mm ) of Harvey armour , which allowed equal protection with less cost in weight compared to previous types of armour . This allowed " Magnificent " and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection . The barbettes for the main battery were protected with of armor , and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides . The ship ' s armored deck was thick . Service history . HMS " Magnificent " was commissioned at Chatham Dockyard on 12 December 1895 to relieve the battleship as second flagship of the Channel Fleet . On 26 June 1897 , she was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria . By January 1904 , the ship had become the flagship of the Channel Fleet . On receiving word of the death of Queen Victoria on 21 January while stationed in Portsmouth , " Magnificent " flew the Royal Standard at half mast . As a result of a reorganization in January 1905 , the Channel Fleet became the Atlantic Fleet , and " Magnificent " accordingly became a part of the Atlantic Fleet . A gun explosion aboard " Magnificent " on 14 June 1905 resulted in 18 casualties . The explosion was caused by a faulty shell in one of the 6 - inch guns ; it failed to fire , and when the loader opened the breech , contact with the fresh air detonated the shell . On 15 November 1906 , she ended her Atlantic Fleet service and was paid off at Devonport . " Magnificent " was commissioned into reserve on 16 November 1906 , based at Chatham . During her reserve service , she was attached to the Gunnery School at Sheerness as a gunnery training ship in December 1906 . " Magnificent " left Chatham in March 1907 and was assigned to the Nore Division of the Home Fleet at the Nore . During this service , she temporarily was flagship of the Commander - in - Chief in November 1907 and underwent a refit at Chatham in 1908 during which she had new fire control systems installed and was converted to burn fuel oil . She served as the second flagship of the Home Fleet from August 1908 to January 1909 . " Magnificent " was reduced to a nucleus crew in February 1909 as part of the commissioned reserve . On 24 March 1909 , she became the flagship of the Vice Admiral , 3rd and 4th Divisions , Home Fleet , at the Nore . She was relieved as flagship on 1 March 1910 by the battleship . On 27 September 1910 , " Magnificent " was recommissioned into the Home Fleet to serve as a turret drill ship and stokers ' training ship at Devonport . Her sternwalk was damaged in a collision in December 1910 . She became tender to the turret drill ship in February 1911 and a seagoing gunnery training ship at Devonport on 14 May 1912 . She was slightly damaged on 16 June 1913 when she ran aground in fog near Cawsand Bay . She recommissioned for 3rd Fleet service on 1 July 1913 . World War I . During a precautionary mobilization of the fleet immediately prior to the outbreak of World War I , " Magnificent " and her sister ships , , and on 27 July 1914 formed the 9th Battle Squadron , subordinate to the Admiral of Patrols and stationed at the Humber . " Magnificent " served as guard ship at the Humber . World War I began while she was stationed there . On 7 August 1914 , the 9th Battle Squadron was dissolved , and " Magnificent " and " Hannibal " transferred to Scapa Flow to reinforce the defences of the anchorage of the Grand Fleet there , becoming a guard ship at Scapa Flow . The " Majestic " - class ships were by then the oldest and least effective battleships in service in the Royal Navy . The first - class protected cruiser relieved " Magnificent " of guard ship duty on 16 February 1915 , at which point " Magnificent " was paid off . Later in February 1915 , " Magnificent " arrived at Belfast to be disarmed . In March and April 1915 , all of her 12 - inch guns and all except for four of her 6 - inch guns were removed . Her 12 - inch guns were taken to arm the new " Lord Clive " - class monitors and . After she was disarmed , " Magnificent " was laid up at Loch Goil in April 1915 . On 9 September 1915 , " Magnificent " was recommissioned to serve along with her similarly disarmed sister ships " Hannibal " and " Mars " as a troopship for the Dardanelles campaign . The three former battleships departed the United Kingdom on this duty on 22 September 1915 , arriving at Mudros on 7 October 1915 . On 18 December 1915 and 19 December 1915 , " Magnificent " took part in the evacuation of Allied troops from Suvla Bay . She departed the Dardanelles in February 1916 after the conclusion of the campaign and returned to England , where she was paid off at Devonport on 3 March 1916 . " Magnificent " remained at Devonport until August 1917 , serving as an overflow ship . In August 1917 , she began a refit at Harland & Wolff in Belfast for conversion to an ammunition ship . When her refit was completed in October 1918 , she was transferred to Rosyth for service as an ammunition store ship . " Magnificent " was placed on the disposal list on 4 February 1920 , but continued to serve as an ammunition store ship at Rosyth until April 1921 . She was sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921 . Scrapping began at Inverkeithing the following year .