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HMS Agincourt, a 27,500-ton battleship, was built at Elswick, England. Begun for the Brazilian Navy, she was launched in January 1913 as Rio de Janeiro. However, financial difficulties caused her to be sold to Turkey in February 1914, while she was fitting out. Renamed Sultan Osman I by her new owners, the battleship was nearly complete when the First World War began in early August 1914. She was then seized by the British, much to the disgust of the Turkish Government and people, who had raised her purchase price by public subscription.
As HMS Agincourt, she was commissioned for Royal Navy service soon after being taken over. The ship was of unique design, reflecting the ambitions of her original owners, with fourteen twelve-inch guns mounted in seven twin turrets (each named for a day of the week). This was the largest number of main-battery gun turrets ever fitted on a battleship's centerline and, when all were fired together, the effect was described as "awe inspiring". Agincourt served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea for nearly the entire four years of World War I and, at the end of May 1916, took part in the Battle of Jutland. She was taken out of service in 1919, but recommissioned for "experimental purposes" in 1921. Doomed by the terms of the 1923 Naval limitations treaty, Agincourt was scrapped beginning in late 1924.
This page features all the views we have concerning the British battleship Agincourt of 1914.
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: NH 89142 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) Photographed in 1918. Collection of Lieutenant Commander P.W. Yeatman, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63198 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) Photographed in 1918 U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 103515 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) Steaming in heavy seas, circa 1918. This is a composite photograph. The aircraft in the foreground appears to be an Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, a type that did not see service until the later 1920s. The original letterpress print, entitled "War", was published circa the 1930s. It credits the photograph to Captain Alfred G. Buckham, "the ace of aerial photography". Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. Donation of Bert Sheldon, 1964. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 88KB; 605 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41763 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) Operating at sea in 1918, with all fourteen of her twelve-inch guns trained out to port. She is following astern of HMS Erin, which is completing a turn to starboard. Several other battleships are visible in the distance. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 58KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 89131 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) -- nearest to the camera With other Grand Fleet battleships in Scapa Flow, 1918. HMS Erin is the next ship. The other three are, in no order: HMS King George V, HMS Centurian and HMS Ajax. Note the kite balloon over one of the more distant battleships. Collection of Lieutenant Commander P.W. Yeatman, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 103738 HMS Agincourt (British Battleship, 1914) Drawing prepared by the Office of Naval Intelligence to show the ship's general arrangement in 1914-1916, after removal of boat stowage structure spanning the amidships gun turrets and before elimination of her tripod mainmast. It features a waterline outboard profile, topside plan and interior plans showing arrangement of armor plating. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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In the following photograph, HMS Agincourt is seen the the background:
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Photo #: NH 2712 British Fourth Battle Squadron Steaming in line abreast formation in the North Sea, 1915. The ship nearest the camera is of the "Iron Duke" class (probably either HMS Benbow or HMS Emperor of India). The second ship is HMS Agincourt. The two ships in the distance are (in no order): HMS Bellerophon and HMS Temeraire. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Historical Center home page.Page made 28 February 2006
New image added 9 May 2006