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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # NH 89142:  HMS Agincourt in 1918

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the BRITISH NAVY --

HMS Agincourt (Battleship, 1914-1924)

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.


Photo #: NH 89142

HMS Agincourt
(British Battleship, 1914)

Photographed in 1918.

Collection of Lieutenant Commander P.W. Yeatman, USN (Retired).

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 535 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 63198

HMS Agincourt
(British Battleship, 1914)

Photographed in 1918

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
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 History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 605 x 765 pixels

 


High-Resolution JPG
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 History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 58KB; 740 x 465 pixels

 
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 History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 540 pixels

 
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 History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 565 pixels

 


In the following photograph, HMS Agincourt is seen the the background:

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 History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 465 pixels

 


NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 28 February 2006
    High resolution image link added 5 May 2010