HMS ''Lord Nelson'' was a

pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appl ...

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's last pre-dreadnought. The ship was

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...

when the First World War began in 1914. ''Lord Nelson'' was transferred to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She remained there, becoming flagship of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was later redesignated the Aegean Squadron. After the Ottoman surrender in 1918 the ship moved to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

where she remained as flagship before returning to the United Kingdom in May 1919. ''Lord Nelson'' was placed into reserve upon her arrival and sold for scrap in June 1920.

Construction and description

HMS ''Lord Nelson'' was laid down by

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. The company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern ...

at Jarrow on 18 May 1905 and launched on 4 September 1906. Her completion was greatly delayed by the diversion of her 12-inch (305 mm) guns and turrets to expedite completion of , and she was not fully completed until October 1908.McBride, p. 72 Although she was not the last pre-dreadnought laid down for the Royal Navy, she was the last one commissioned. On 8 January 1908, while navigating at

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, the ship collided with barquentine ''Emma Cook'', anchored at Mill Dam and damaged her.London Standard, January 9, 1908, p.3 ''Lord Nelson'' displaced at deep load as built, with a length of , a beam of , and a draft of . She was powered by two four-cylinder inverted vertical triple-expansion steam engines, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . She was armed with four 12-inch guns arranged in two twin

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

s, one turret each fore and aft. Her secondary armament consisted of ten 9.2-inch (234 mm) guns, eight in twin gun turrets on each corner of the superstructure, and a single gun turret between them. For defence against

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s, ''Lord Nelson'' carried twenty-four QF 12-pounder 18 cwt guns and two 3-pounder guns. She also mounted five submerged 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes for which 23 torpedoes were stowed aboard.

Service history

Pre-First World War

''Lord Nelson'' was first commissioned in reserve on 1 December 1908 at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

, being attached to the Nore Division of the Home Fleet with a nucleus crew. She first went into full commission on 5 January 1909 to relieve the battleship as

of the Nore Division, Home Fleet, and in April became part of the First Division, Home Fleet. She was transferred in January 1911 to the Second Division of the Home Fleet, and in May 1912 to the

2nd Battle Squadron The 2nd Battle Squadron was a Squadron (naval), naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 2nd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to i ...

. She was temporarily attached in September 1913 to the 4th Battle Squadron. In April 1914, she relieved the battleship as Flagship,

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

.Burt, p. 297

First World War

At the outbreak of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in August 1914, ''Lord Nelson'' became flagship of the

and was based at Portland. With other ships, she covered the safe transport of the British Expeditionary Force, under the command of Sir John French, to France. On 14 November, she transferred to

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

to guard the English coast against the possibility of a German invasion. The ship returned to

Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains ...

on 30 December and patrolled the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

until February 1915.

Dardanelles campaign, 1915–1916

In February 1915, ''Lord Nelson'' was ordered to the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She departed Portland on 18 February and joined the British Dardanelles Squadron at

Mudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula o ...

eight days later. She took part in the bombardment of the inner forts and supported the initial landings in early March. The

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

forts engaged her heavily on 7 March and hit her several times, including by a stone cannonball which landed on the deck and was kept as a souvenir by the Flag Officer, Arthur Baker, at Longcross Church; she suffered damage to her

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and rigging and was holed by one hit below the waterline which flooded two coal bunkers. After repairs at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, the ship returned to take part in the main attack on the Narrows forts on 18 March. Later she bombarded Ottoman field batteries on 6 May prior to the Second Battle of Krithia. ''Lord Nelson'' relieved the battleship as flagship of the British Dardanelles Squadron on 12 May, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss. On 20 June, she bombarded docks and shipping at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, aided by the spotting of a kite balloon, and inflicted significant damage. Lord Kitchener made his headquarters aboard her in November and, on 22 December,Gardiner & Gray, p. 10 ''Lord Nelson'' hoisted the flag of Vice-Admiral John de Robeck when he succeeded Wemyss.

Mediterranean operations, 1916–1918

With the end of the Dardanelles Campaign in January 1916, during which ''Lord Nelson'' had suffered no casualties, British naval forces in the area were reorganized and ''Lord Nelson'' became flagship of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was redesignated the Aegean Squadron in August 1917; under either name, the squadron was dispersed throughout the area to protect Allied-held islands, support the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, and guard against any attempted breakout from the Dardanelles by the German

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

and

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

. ''Lord Nelson'' spent the remainder of the war based at Salonika and

, alternating between the two bases with her sister ship ; the ship was based mostly at Salonika, with ''Agamemnon'' mostly at Mudros.Burt, p. 298 According to naval historian Ian Buxton, the most important role of the Royal Navy was to blockade the Dardanelles and thus guard the Eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

against a breakout by ''Goeben''. On 12 January 1918,

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Arthur Hayes-Sadler hoisted his flag aboard ''Lord Nelson'' at Mudros as the new commander of the Aegean Squadron. Needing transportation to Salonika for a conference with the

commander there, and finding his personal

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

unavailable, Hayes-Sadler opted to have ''Lord Nelson'' take him there,van der Vat, p. 227 and thus she was not present when ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' finally made their breakout attempt on 20 January. The ship could not get back to the Dardanelles in time to participate in the resulting Battle of Imbros or intercept ''Goeben'' before she gained shelter in the Dardanelles. ''Lord Nelson'' was later given a short refit at

in October.

Post-war

''Lord Nelson'' was part of the British squadron that went to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in November 1918 following the armistice with the Ottoman Empire, after which she served as flagship in the

. In April 1919, she conveyed Grand Duke Nicholas and Grand Duke Peter of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

from the Black Sea to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. ''Lord Nelson'' returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in May 1919 and was placed in reserve until August 1919, when she was placed on the sale list. On 4 June 1920, she was sold to Stanlee Shipbreaking Company of

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. She was resold to Slough Trading Company on 8 November, then again to German scrappers. She was towed to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for scrapping in January 1922.

Notes

References

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External links

Maritimequest HMS Lord Nelson Photo Gallery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord Nelson (1906) Lord Nelson-class battleships Ships built on the River Tyne 1906 ships World War I battleships of the United Kingdom