HMS ''Talbot'' was an

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

built for 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 ...

in the mid-1890s.

Early career

HMS ''Talbot'' was laid down 5 March 1894 and launched 25 April 1895. She commissioned on 15 September 1896 for service on the

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956, with main bases at the Imperial fortresses of Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ...

, but was back in the United Kingdom a couple of years later. In 1899 she brought back, from the United States, the body of Lord Herschell to London. In April 1901 she was commissioned at Devonport by Captain Frederick George Stopford, with a crew of 437, to serve at the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

. She arrived at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 10 December 1901. In June 1902 she visited

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Captain

Lewis Bayly Lewis Bayly (died 26 October 1631) was a bishop of the Church of England. Life Bayly is thought to have been born in either Carmarthen or Biggar, Scotland, the curate of Carmarthen, Thomas Bayly, may have been his father. He was educated at ...

was appointed in command on 11 July 1902. She was present at Chemulpo Bay in 1904, during the historical naval battle between two Russian ships, the cruiser ''Varyag'' and the gunboat ''Korietz'' against a fleet of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

. Future

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

explorers and members of

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...

's ill-fated

Terra Nova Expedition The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...

Patrick Keohane Patrick Keohane (2 June 1879 – 31 August 1950) was an Irish member of Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic expedition of 1910–1913, the Terra Nova expedition, ''Terra Nova'' expedition. Biography Patrick Keohane was born in Courtmac ...

and Edward Evans served aboard her.

First World War

During the

First World War 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 ...

she was assigned to Cruiser Force G and the 12 Cruiser Squadron operating in 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 ...

. In September 1914 she captured a German merchant ship. On 27 March 1915 she arrived at the island of Tenedos for 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 ...

and participated in the Battle of Gallipoli. ''Talbot'' was initially attached to the First Battle Squadron of the fleet and supported the landings at the tip of the Peninsula. On 26 April she supported the

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 ...

HMS ''Goliath'' during attempts to support the landing on "Y Beach". In June she was the Senior Naval Officers' ship at Gaba Tepe, and during the

Suvla View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as par ...

landings she was the flagship of the 3rd Squadron. She remained at Gallipoli throughout the campaign, and covered the evacuation of Anzac beach in December 1915 and of Helles in January 1916. In May 1916 ''Talbot'' was operating off the East African coast as part of the Cape Command. In January 1917 she was at Kiswere (

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

), when the second period of German commerce raids began and in 1918 she was off the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

Fate

She was laid up at Haulbowline, Cork Harbour from 1919-1921. She was sold for scrap on 6 December 1921.

Footnotes

References

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External links

Eclipse Class Cruisers on World War 1 Naval Combat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot (1895) Eclipse-class cruisers World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom 1895 ships