HMS Mars (1896)

HMS Mars at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Namesake	Mars, the Roman god of war
Builder	Laird Brothers, Birkenhead
Laid down	2 June 1894
Launched	30 March 1896
Completed	June 1897
Commissioned	8 June 1897
Decommissioned	7 July 1920
Fate	Sold for scrapping 9 May 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	16,060 long tons (16,320 t)
Length	421 ft (128 m)
Beam	75 ft (23 m)
Draught	27 ft (8.2 m)
Installed power	8 × Scotch marine boilers 10,000 ihp (7,500 kW)
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion steam engines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	672
Armament	4 × BL 12 in (305 mm) guns 12 × QF 6 in (152 mm) guns 16 × 12 pounder (76 mm) guns 12 × 3 pounder (47 mm) quick-firing guns 5 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt armour: 9 in (229 mm) Deck: 2.5 to 4.5 in (64 to 114 mm) Barbettes: 14 in (356 mm) Conning tower: 14 inches

HMS Mars was a Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleship of the Majestic class, the seventh member of a class of nine ships. The ship was laid down in the Laird Brothers shipyard in June 1894, she was launched in March 1896, and she was commissioned into the fleet in June 1897. She was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (152 mm) guns. The ship had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

Mars served in the Channel Fleet after her commissioning and was present at the Coronation Fleet Review for Edward VII in 1902. She was reduced temporarily to the Reserve in March 1906 before returning to service with the Channel Fleet in October. The following March she was reassigned to the Home Fleet. As tensions in Europe rose dramatically in late July 1914, Mars was mobilized with her sister ships into the 9th Battle Squadron, based as a guard ship in the Humber. In December, she was transferred to the Dover Patrol, though in February 1915, she was decommissioned in Belfast and disarmed. Mars served as a troop ship during the Dardanelles Campaign before being converted into a depot ship. She remained in service until July 1920; the old ship was sold for scrap in May 1921 and broken up in November.