Centurion-class battleship

Barfleur, 1895
Class overview
Name	Centurion-class battleship
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Royal Sovereign class
Succeeded by	HMS Renown
Built	1890–1894
In commission	1894–1909
Completed	2
Scrapped	2
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	10,634 long tons (10,805 t)
Length	390 ft 9 in (119.1 m) (o/a)
Beam	70 ft (21.3 m)
Draught	25 ft 8 in (7.82 m)
Installed power	9,000 shp (6,700 kW) 8 Cylindrical boilers
Propulsion	2 Shafts 2 Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Range	5,230 nmi (9,690 km; 6,020 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	606–620
Armament	2 × twin 10 in (254 mm) guns 10 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) guns 8 × single 6-pdr (2.2 in (57 mm)) guns 12 × single 3-pdr (1.9 in (47 mm)) guns 7 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 9–12 in (229–305 mm) Bulkheads: 8 in (203 mm) Decks: 2–2.5 in (51–64 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Barbettes: 5–9 in (127–229 mm) Gunhouses: 6 in (152 mm) Casemates: 2–4 in (51–102 mm)

The Centurion-class battleships were a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. They were rated as second-class battleships because they were less heavily armed and armoured than the first-class battleships. They were designed for service abroad and were given higher speed and longer range to counter the armoured cruisers then being built as commerce raiders.

Completed in 1894, Centurion and Barfleur spent most of their careers assigned to the China Station or the Mediterranean Fleet, with Centurion usually serving as the flagship of the former. The sister ships participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in mid-1900. They were rebuilt from 1901 to 1905 and assigned to the Reserve Fleet in 1905 as increasing cruiser speeds made them obsolete. Barfleur served as the flagship of the Portsmouth Division of the Reserve Fleet for several years. They were decommissioned in 1909 and sold for scrap the following year.