HMS Donegal (1902)
HMS "Donegal" was one of 10 armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron upon completion in 1903 and ran aground en route to the China Station in 1906. She was briefly placed in reserve after repairs before she was assigned to the Home Fleet in 1907. She joined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1909 before returning home for an assignment with the Training Squadron in 1912. "Donegal" was reduced to reserve before  World War I began in August 1914 as part of the Third Fleet Refitting at the beginning of the war, she was then assigned to Sierra Leone for convoy protection duties as part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron. She was transferred to several different cruiser squadrons of the Grand Fleet in 1915 where she escorted convoys to Archangelsk, Russia. In mid-1916 she was assigned to convoy escort duties in the Atlantic. "Donegal" rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on North America and West Indies Station in 1917 and continued with convoy duties until the end of the war. "Donegal" was sold  for scrap in 1920. Design and description. "Donegal" was designed to displace . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a deep draught of . She was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 31 Belleville boilers. She carried a maximum of of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and ratings. Her main armament consisted of fourteen breech-loading (BL) 6-inch Mk VII guns. Four of these guns were mounted in two twin -gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and the others positioned in casemates amidships. Six of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather. They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells. Ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. "Donegal" also carried three 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes. Beginning in 1915, the main deck six-inch guns of the "Monmouth"-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were  plated over to improve seakeeping. The twelve-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were repositioned elsewhere. At some point in the war, a pair of three-pounder anti-aircraft guns were installed on the upper deck. The ship's waterline armour belt was thick amidships and forward. The armour of the gun turrets, their barbettes and the casemates was four inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour. Construction and service. "Donegal", named to commemorate County Donegal, was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering at their Govan shipyard on  14 February 1901 and launched on 4 September 1902, when she was named by the Duchess of Abercorn, wife of the Lord-Lieutenant of County Donegal (James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn). She was completed on 5 November 1903 and was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet. Whilst en route to the China Station, she ran aground at Suez, Egypt on 2 March 1906 and had to return to Chatham Dockyard for repairs. The ship was briefly placed in reserve before she was assigned to the Home Fleet in 1907. "Donegal" was transferred to the  4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1909 and collided with the merchant ship at Gibraltar on 8 December. She returned home in 1912 for service with the Training Squadron of Home Fleet and sank the derelict merchantman with gunfire in October 1913. The ship was assigned to the reserve Third Fleet before the beginning of World War I in August 1914. Refitting when the war began, "Donegal" was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron at Sierra Leone for convoy protection duties when her refit was completed. She was transferred to the 6th Cruiser Squadron  of the Grand Fleet in January 1915 and then to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in November to escort convoys to Archangelsk. In March she was reassigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron until she was transferred to the 9th Cruiser Squadron in the mid-Atlantic for convoy escort. "Donegal" rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on North America and West Indies Station in 1917 and continued with convoy duties until the end of the war. She was sold for scrap on 1 July 1920.