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HMS Irresistible (1898)
HMS ''Irresistible'' listing and sinking in the Dardanelles, 18 March 1915 (photograph taken from HMS ''Lord Nelson'')
Career	Royal Navy ensign
Ordered:	1897 Programme
Builders:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	11 April 1898
Launched:	15 December 1898
Commissioned:	4 February 1902
Fate:	Sunk by mine
Struck:	In Battle of the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915
General Characteristics
Displacement:	14,685 tons load 15,805 tons deep
Length:	411 ft (126 m) waterline 431 ft 9 in (131 m) overall
Beam:	75 ft (23 m)
Draught:	26 ft 9 in (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	Water tube boilers, 2x vertical triple expansion engines, 2 shafts, 15,500 ihp (11.6 megawatts)
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h)
Range:	5,500 nautical miles (approx) at 10 knots (18 km/h)
Complement:	780
Armament:	four Mk IX 12 inch guns twelve Mk VII 6 inch guns sixteen 12 pounder (5.4 kg) guns six 3 pounder (1.4 kg) guns two machine guns four 18 in submerged torpedo tubes
Aircraft:	None
Motto:

'HMS ''Irresistible''' was a ''Formidable''-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, built at the Chatham shipyards that served in the First World War before it was sunk in an attempt to capture the Dardanelles, a narrow strait in the north-western Turkey at 18 March, 1915. HMS ''Irresistible'' has been the name of four Royal Navy ships.

Contents

History

External links

History

''Irresistible's first assignment was with the 5th Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet, and on 25 August 1914 she took part in the transportation of the Portsmouth Marine Battalion to Ostend. Between October and November the same year, she was attached to the Dover Patrol to assist with attacks on the Belgian coast, and then during February 1915 was sent to join the Dardanelles squadron.
During the Dardanelles Campaign HMS Irresistible struck a Turkish mine at about 4:16 PM local time on 18 March 1915 while participating in the final attempt to force the Dardanelles straits, and sank about four hours later.
All the crew, except for the captain and a few volunteers, were transferred to HMS ''Wear'' which then transferred them to HMS ''Queen Elizabeth''. HMS ''Ocean'' was sent to bring the ''Irresistible'' under tow, but the water was shallow and ''Irresistible'' continued to drift nearer the shore. The ''Ocean'' rescued the remaining men from ''Irresistible'' as her fate became clearer.
Whilst under fire from on-shore forts and just after she began to withdraw about 6.05pm, the ''Ocean'' struck a mine and moments later received a shell strike. All on board the ''Ocean'' were rescued by Royal Navy ships in the vicinity before she sank about one and a half hours later.
The Royal Navy sent HMS ''Jed'' back into the Dardenelles to torpedo the abandoned Pre-dreadnoughts if they remained afloat; however, they were not found.

External links

★ http://www.worldwar1.co.uk

★ History on the Imperial War Museum website (Accessed Nov 2006)