Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893. She was 410 feet (120 m) long and had a maximum cruising speed of 17 knots (31 km/h). Her armament included four 67-ton 13.5-inch (343-mm) guns and several smaller calibre guns.
The Royal Sovereign class battleships were designed by Sir William White and were the most potent battleships in the world until HMS Dreadnought rendered them obsolete overnight in 1906. In their day the Royal Sovereigns had also embodied revolutionary improvements in firepower, armour and speed. The main armament of four 13.5-inch (343-mm) guns was housed in two barbettes, rather than turrets, at either end of the ship which allowed a high freeboard, greatly increasing their capacity for fighting in rough weather; however, they tended to roll heavily in certain conditions, and after Resolution rolled badly in heavy seas in 1893, the Royal Sovereign class was nicknamed the "Rolling Ressies," a name which stuck even though the problem quickly was corrected by the installation of bilge keels. The secondary armament was designed to provide potent, quick firing support for the main battery. Despite their greatly increased weight, thanks to a main armour belt which ran for two thirds of their length, they were the fastest capital ships in the world in their time.
In 1906, the Royal Sovereigns, like every other battleship in the world, were made obsolete with the launch of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship.
Operational History
HMS Resolution was commissioned at Portsmouth, United Kingdom, on 5 December 1893 for service in the Channel Squadron. She left Plymouth on 18 December 1893 to join the squadron at Gibraltar. On 19 December 1893 and 20 December 1893 she encountered very heavy weather, including 42-foot (12.8 m) seas with up to 300-foot (91.5 m) lengths. She rolled very heavily, and at least two seas broke over her upper deck and caused slight damage. Sensationalist press reporting claimed that Resolution had rolled as much as 40 degrees and, although the fitting of bilge keels to the Royal Sovereign-class battleships soon corrected the problem, the ships of the class were nicknamed the "Rolling Ressies" based on the experience of Resolution in the 1893 storm.
From 2 August 1894 to 5 August 1894, Resolution was a unit of "Fleet Red" in annual maneuvers held in the Southwest Approaches. She recommissioned for further Channel Fleet service on 9 April 1895. On 18 July 1896, she collided with her sister ship HMS Repulse, suffering slight plating and keel damage. She again took part in annual maneuvers from 24 July 1896 to 30 July 1896, this time off the southwest coasts of England and Ireland as part of "Fleet A."
On 26 June 1897, Resolution was part of the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
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