HMS Bulwark (1899)

Bulwark at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Name	Bulwark
Ordered	27 June 1898
Builder	HM Dockyard, Devonport
Cost	£997,846
Laid down	20 March 1899
Launched	18 October 1899
Christened	By Lady Harriet Fairfax
Completed	March 1902
Commissioned	18 March 1902
Fate	Destroyed by internal explosion, 26 November 1914
General characteristics
Class and type	London-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	15,366 long tons (15,613 t) (normal) 15,955 long tons (16,211 t) (deep load)
Length	431 ft 9 in (131.6 m) (o/a)
Beam	75 ft (22.9 m)
Draught	28 ft 2 in (8.59 m) (deep load)
Installed power	20 × Belleville boilers 15,000 ihp (11,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Triple-expansion steam engines 2 × Propellers
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	5,550 nmi (10,280 km; 6,390 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	738; 789 as flagship
Armament	4 × BL 12 in (305 mm) guns 12 × BL 6 in (152 mm) guns 16 × QF 12-pdr (3 in (76 mm)) guns 6 × QF 3-pdr 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 4 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 9 in (229 mm) Bulkhead: 9–12 in (229–305 mm) Barbettes: 12 in (305 mm) Turrets: 8 in (203 mm) Casemates: 6 in (152 mm) Conning tower: 14 in (356 mm) Deck: 1–2.5 in (25–64 mm)

HMS Bulwark was one of five London-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 19th century. The Londons were a sub-class of the Formidable-class pre-dreadnoughts. Completed in 1902 she was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as its flagship. The ship then served with the Channel and Home Fleets from 1907 to 1910, usually as a flagship. From 1910 to 1914, she was in reserve in the Home Fleet.

Following the start of the First World War in August 1914, Bulwark, along with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the reformed Channel Fleet to protect the British Expeditionary Force as it moved across the English Channel to France. On 26 November 1914 she was destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness; only a dozen men survived the detonation. It was probably caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler-room bulkhead. Little of the ship survived to be salvaged and her remains were designated a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.