Formidable - class battleship The Royal Navy ' s Formidable " - class battleship s were an eight - ship class of pre - dreadnought s designed by Sir William White and built in the late 1890s . The class is often further divided into a separate London " class , and the " London " class sometimes is divided further into a separate " Queen " class . Technical characteristics . " Formidable " class . The " Formidable " s were similar in appearance to and had the same armament as the " Majestic " and " Canopus " classes that preceded them . The " Formidable " s are often described as improved " Majestic " s , but in design they really were enlarged " Canopus " es ; while the " Canopus " class took advantage of the greater strength of the Krupp armour employed in their construction to allow the ships to remain the same size as the " Majestic " s with increased tonnage devoted to higher speed and less to armour without sacrificing protection , in the " Formidable " s Krupp armour was used to improve protection without reducing the size of the ships . The " Formidable " s thus were larger than the two preceding classes , and enjoyed both greater protection than the " Majestic " s and the higher speed of the " Canopus " class . The " Formidable " s ' armour scheme was similar to that of the " Canopus " es , although , unlike in the " Canopus " es , the armour belt ran all the way to the stern ; it was long and deep and thick , tapering at the stem to thick and deep and at the stern to thick and deep . The main battery turrets had Krupp armour , on their sides and on their backs . The " Formidable " s improved on the main and secondary armament of previous classes , being upgunned from 35 - calibre to 40 - calibre 12 inch ( 305 mm ) guns and from 40 - calibre to 45 - calibre 6 inch ( 152 mm ) guns . The 12 inch guns could be loaded at any bearing and elevation , and beneath the turrets the ships had a split hoist with a working chamber beneath the guns that reduced the chance of a cordite fire spreading from the turret to the shell and powder handling rooms and to the magazines . The " Formidable " s had an improved hull form that made them handier at high speeds than the " Majestic " s . They also had inward - turning screws , which allowed reduced fuel consumption and slightly higher speeds than in previous classes but at the expense of less manoeuvrability at low speeds . " London " subclass . After the first three " Formidable " s , there was a change in design for the last five ships , starting with ; as a result they are often considered to constitute the " London " class , but also can be viewed as in effect a sub - class of the " Formidable " class . The main difference in the " London " s was thinner deck armour and some other detail changes to the armor scheme . and the consequent lower displacement . " Queen " subclass . The last two " London " class ships to be built , and , were identical to the other " London " s except that they had open 12 - pounder gun batteries mounted in the open on the upper deck amidships and had a lower displacement . " Queen " and " Prince of Wales " were laid down after the " Duncan " - class battleship s that succeeded the " Formidable " s and " London " s , and were completed after the " Duncan " s as well . They are generally considered part of the " Formidable " or " London " class , but the difference in the mounting of their 12 - pounder guns , their lower displacement , and their later construction than the " Duncan " s lead some authors to view them as constituting a " Queen " class separate from the " Formidable " and " London " classes . The last of the ships to commission , " Prince of Wales " , was the last battleship for which Director of Naval Construction Sir William Henry White had sole design responsibility . She also was the last of the 29 battleships of the " Majestic " , " Canopus " , " Formidable " , " London " , " Duncan " , and " Queen " classes , commissioned between 1895 and 1904 , which had all been based on the single , standard " Majestic " design and reached their final development in " Queen " and " Prince of Wales " . Like all pre - dreadnought s , the " Formidable " s , " London " s , and " Queen " s were outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906 . However , they continued in front - line duties through the early part of World War I . Operational history . The ships saw peacetime service in the Mediterranean , Atlantic , and home waters . With the appearance of the new dreadnought - type battleships and battlecruiser s beginning in 1906 , predreadnoughts such as the " Formidable " s , " London " s , and " Queen " s were consigned to less demanding roles for much of the First World War , during which two were lost in action and a third was destroyed by an accidental explosion . Early war service in home waters was followed by duty in the Mediterranean including the Dardanelles campaign . The survivors were discarded soon after the war ended . " Formidable " class . HMS " Formidable " . HMS " Formidable " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1904 – 08 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1908 ) , Home Fleet ( 1909 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1909 – 14 ) , and Home Fleet again ( 1912 – 14 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 15 ) . She was torpedoed by German submarine " U - 24 " off Portland Bill while on patrol in the English Channel on 1 January 1915 with the loss of 547 of her 750 complement . HMS " Irresistible " . HMS " Irresistible " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1902 – 1908 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1908 – 1910 ) , and Home Fleet ( 1911 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , and at the Dardanelles in 1915 . She hit a mine on 18 March 1915 during the Dardanelles campaign and sank three hours later . HMS " Implacable " . HMS " Implacable " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1901 – 1909 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1909 – 1912 ) , and Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , the Dardanelles campaign ( 1915 ) , the Adriatic ( 1915 ) , and the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean ( 1915 – 1917 ) , and then in subsidiary duties in home waters . She was sold for scrap in 1921 . " London " subclass . HMS " London " . HMS " London " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1902 – 1907 ) , Home Fleet ( 1907 – 1908 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1908 – 1909 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1910 – 1912 ) , and Second Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , Dardanelles campaign ( 1915 ) , and Adriatic ( 1915 – 1916 ) . She then was converted into a minelayer , serving as such in laying the Northern Mine Barrage in 1918 , and was sold for scrapping in 1920 . HMS " Bulwark " . HMS " Bulwark " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1902 – 1907 ) , Home Fleet ( 1907 – 1908 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1908 – 1909 ) , and Home Fleet again ( 1909 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 ) . She was destroyed by an internal explosion on 26 November 1914 while at anchor at Sheerness that killed all but 12 out of her 750 crew . HMS " Venerable " . HMS " Venerable " served in Mediterranean Fleet ( 1902 – 1908 ) , Channel Fleet ( 1908 – 1909 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1909 – 1912 ) , and Second Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , the Dardanelles campaign ( 1915 ) , and the Adriatic ( 1915 – 1916 ) . She then served in subsidiary duties in home waters and was sold for scrapping in 1920 . " Queen " subclass . HMS " Queen " . HMS " Queen " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1904 – 1908 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1908 – 1912 ) , and Second Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , Dardanelles campaign ( 1915 ) , and Adriatic ( 1915 – 1916 ) . She then was disarmed and continued in the Adriatic in subsidiary roles ( 1917 – 1919 ) . She was sold for scrapping in 1920 . HMS " Prince of Wales " . HMS " Prince of Wales " served in the Mediterranean Fleet ( 1904 – 1909 ) , Atlantic Fleet ( 1909 – 1912 ) , and Home Fleet ( 1912 – 1914 ) . Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet ( 1914 – 1915 ) , Dardanelles campaign ( 1915 ) , and Adriatic ( 1915 – 1917 ) . She then was decommissioned and was sold for scrapping in 1920 .