HMS Donegal (1902)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

HMS Donegal was a Monmouth-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy. Named after County Donegal, she was built at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering in Govan. She was laid down on 14 February 1901, launched on 4 September 1902, and completed on 5 November 1903. After finishing trials, she served with the Channel Fleet’s 1st Cruiser Squadron.

In 1906 she ran aground while on the way to the China Station and had to return to Chatham for repairs. After a spell in reserve, she joined the Home Fleet in 1907, then the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1909. She went back to the Home Fleet in 1912 for training duties and in October 1913 helped sink the derelict SS Volturno by gunfire.

When World War I began, Donegal was in reserve for refitting but soon joined convoy protection duties at Sierra Leone with the 5th Cruiser Squadron. In 1915 she moved among Grand Fleet squadrons, escorting convoys to Arkhangelsk, Russia. In 1916 she continued convoy escort work in the Atlantic, and in 1917 she rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station for more convoys until the war ended. She was sold for scrap on 1 July 1920.

Design and armament (brief): The Monmouth class ships were meant to protect British merchant shipping from fast enemy cruisers. Donegal displaced about 9,800 tons, was about 463 feet long and 66 feet wide, and could reach around 23 knots. She carried fourteen 6-inch guns, ten 12-pounders, three 3-pounders, and two submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes. The armour included a belt up to 4 inches thick, gun turrets with 4 inches of armour, and a 10-inch armour protecting the conning tower. The crew numbered about 678.