AGINCOURT – 1914 – IMO 0000000
AGINCOURT - Photo collection: Peter Schliefke (Photo credit: P.A. Vicary)
Photo released into the public domain.
The image, which was published as a postcard, depicts the ship in its original configuration, prior to the flying-off platform between the funnels was removed and the middle mast’s replacement.
Built by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Elswick, Yard-No. 792 - 27500 GT, 30250 dwt – 192.6 x 27.1 m - Keel: 14-09-191. Launch Date: 22-01-1913. Date of completion: 20-08-1914.
Laid down as RIO DE JANEIRO. Launched as SULTAN OSMAN I
1914 AGINCOURT
19-12-1922 sold and broken up at Rosyth
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HMS Agincourt was a dreadnought built in the early 1910s. The ship was originally ordered by Brazil, but the collapse of the rubber boom plus a lessening of the rivalry with Argentina led to her resale while still under construction to the Ottoman Empire who renamed her as Sultan Osman I. Then, with completion just as World War I began, she was seized for use by the Royal Navy, an act which contributed to the decision of the Ottoman Empire to support Germany in the war.
Agincourt held the distinction of mounting more heavy guns (fourteen) and more turrets (seven) than any other battleship ever constructed; this was in response to the Brazilians’ requirement for an especially impressive design.
Renamed Agincourt by the British, she joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea. The ship spent the bulk of her time during the war on patrols and exercises, although she did participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Agincourt was put into reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
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