Duncan - class battleship The " Duncan " class was a class of pre - dreadnought battleship s built for the Royal Navy . From 1889 , Britain ' s “ rank as a first - class power was bound up with its Mediterranean position ” and these lightly armoured fast ships were intended to help meet combined Russian and French threats . Their period of maximum operational significance was short . By 1904 , Britain had formed the Entente cordiale with France whilst Russia was decisively defeated at the Tsushima the following year . This battle led to the design of HMS " Dreadnought " launched 1906 which eclipsed the " Duncan " s and all previous ships . Technical Description . The " Duncan " - class battleships were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes , including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme ; they were designed as smaller , more lightly armoured , and faster versions of the preceding " Formidable " class . As it turned out , the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared , and the " Duncan " s proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed , firepower , and protection . Although they were designed before the ships of the " London " subclass of the " Formidable " class , the first two " London " s were laid down before the first " Duncan " . The armour layout was similar to that of " London " , with reduced thickness in the barbette s and belt . The " Duncan " s had machinery of 3 , 000 more indicated horsepower than the " Formidable " s and " London " s and were the first British battleships with 4 - cylinder triple - expansion engines . They also had a modified hull form to improve speed . The ships had a reputation as good steamers , with a designed speed of and an operational speed of , good steering at all speeds , and an easy roll . They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed , and the second fastest predreadnought s ever built after the " Swiftsure " - class " Swiftsure " and . They had the same armament as and a smaller displacement than the " Formidable " s and " London " s . The ships of the class were named after famous admiral s of the Royal Navy and were informally known as " the Admirals " . Like all pre - dreadnought s , they were outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906 , but they nonetheless continued to perform frontline duties up through the early part of World War I . Operational history . All six ships were launched in 1901 ; all were completed in 1903 except " Cornwallis " , which was completed in 1904 . Before World War I , the ships served in the Mediterranean Fleet , Channel Fleet , Atlantic Fleet , and Home Fleet ; " Montagu " , was lost prematurely when she was wrecked in 1906 . During World War I , the ships saw early service in the Grand Fleet and Channel Fleet . Later , " Albemarle " continued to serve in the Grand Fleet and in North Russia , while the others all were involved in service in the Mediterranean , where some saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign and members of the class served in the Atlantic Ocean , Adriatic Sea , Aegean Sea , and Indian Ocean . " Russell " and " Cornwallis " were lost off Malta ; the survivors went into reserve in 1917 and were scrapped in 1919 – 1920 . Ships in class . HMS " Albemarle " . ( after George Monck , 1st Duke of Albemarle ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1903 – 1905 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1907 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1907 – 1910 ) , and Home Fleet ( 1910 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet ( 1914 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , and Grand Fleet again ( 1915 – 1916 ) , where she was badly damaged in November 1915 in heavy weather while in the Pentland Firth . She then served at Murmansk in North Russia ( 1916 ) , including duty as an icebreaker at Arkhangelsk . She was in reserve 1916 – 1919 and was scrapped in 1919 . HMS " Cornwallis " . ( after Charles Cornwallis , 1st Marquess Cornwallis ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1904 – 1905 ) , the Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1907 ) , the British Atlantic Fleet ( 1907 – 1909 ) , the Mediterranean Fleet again ( 1909 – 1912 ) , and the Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet ( 1914 ) ; in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 ) ; and in the West Ireland area ( 1914 – 1915 ) . She took part in the Dardanelles Campaign ( 1915 ) , during which she was the first ship to fire her guns during the campaign and took part in all operations including the Gallipoli evacuation , being the last large ship to leave the Suvla Bay area . She then served on the Suez Canal Patrol and East Indies Station ( 1915 – 1917 ) , including duty in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean . She was sunk with the loss of fifteen lives off Malta , on 9 January 1917 by two or three torpedoes from " U - 32 " . HMS " Duncan " . ( after Adam Duncan , 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1903 – 1905 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1907 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1907 – 1908 ) , Mediterranean Fleet again ( 1908 – 1912 ) , and Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet ( 1914 ) , in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , on the Finisterre - Azores - Madeira Station ( 1915 ) , in the Adriatic Sea ( 1915 – 1916 ) , in the Aegean Sea ( 1916 – 1917 ) , and in the Adriatic again ( 1917 ) . She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920 . HMS " Exmouth " . ( after Edward Pellew , 1st Viscount Exmouth ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1903 – 1904 ) , Home Fleet ( 1904 – 1905 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1907 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1907 – 1908 ) , Mediterranean Fleet again ( 1908 – 1912 ) , and Home Fleet again ( 1912 – 1914 ) , during which she was a gunnery tender at Portsmouth in 1913 , then joined the 6th Battle Squadron and was later allocated to the 3rd Battle Squadron . Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet ( 1914 ) ; in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , during which she was in action during the Zeebrugge bombardment in 1915 ; in the Dardanelles Campaign ( 1915 ) ; in the Aegean Sea ( 1915 – 1917 ) ; and in the Indian Ocean ( 1917 ) . She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920 . HMS " Montagu " . ( after Ralph Montagu , 3rd Baron Montagu of Boughton , 1st Earl of Montagu ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1903 – 1905 ) and Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1906 ) . She was wrecked on Lundy Island on 30 May 1906 . HMS " Russell " . HMS " Russell " ( after Edward Russell , 1st Earl of Orford ) served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1903 – 1904 ) , Home Fleet ( 1904 – 1905 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1905 – 1907 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1907 – 1909 ) , Mediterranean Fleet again ( 1909 – 1912 ) , and Home Fleet again ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet ( 1914 ) ; Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , during which she took part in the bombardment of Zeebrugge ; Grand Fleet again ( 1915 ) ; and Dardanelles Campaign ( 1915 – 1916 ) , taking part later on in the evacuation of Gallipoli , being the last British battleship to leave the Cape Helles area . She continued to serve in the eastern Mediterranean Sea until , on 27 April 1916 , she struck two mines off the coast of Malta and sank with the loss of 125 lives .