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,',4n<br />
T}oe Edgars, as reduced Blakes, also<br />
lacked freeboard. Here Grafton or<br />
Thesetn can be seen fitting out at<br />
Thames Ironworks. still without her<br />
armament. CPZ<br />
ammunition tubes weighed 62 tons. A<br />
final set of changes involved the<br />
elimination of the after above-water tube<br />
and iLs rnantlet, as in the Highflyers<br />
thereby doing away with a serious action<br />
risk; the addition of a sixteenth 6in aft;<br />
the fitting of torpedo nets and the deletion<br />
of the fighting tops, each with their three<br />
3-pounders. A long argument raged over<br />
this. The fire from top guns was regarded<br />
as valuable, but it was argued that they<br />
would disclose the ships' characters at<br />
long range, thereby losing the chance<br />
of creeping up on an unsusPecting<br />
opponent.<br />
To suit them for their long-range role,<br />
the Diadems carried 13 weeks provisions<br />
and their copper sheathing reduced the<br />
need for dry-docking. Ammunition sup<br />
ply was the usual 200 rpg for the 6in,<br />
made up of 128 common and,24 shrapnel<br />
shells, and ten armour piercing (AP) and<br />
38 Palliser shot per gun. The twelve 12<br />
cwt l2-pounders had 162 common, 30<br />
iron, 36 shrapnel and, interestingly, T2<br />
AP apiece. The outfit for the two 8cwt<br />
landing guns was 120 common, 30 iron,<br />
75 shrapnel and 75 case rounds per gun.<br />
In view of the criticism of British ships<br />
after Jutland, it is interesting that a lot of<br />
care was taken over lhe Diadems' am'<br />
munition supply arrangements. The<br />
main magazines were fore and aft with<br />
ammunition passages along each side,<br />
below the armoured deck and inboard of<br />
the bunkers. Overhead rails were provided<br />
for ammunition transport. Each<br />
6in gun had its own hoist and there were<br />
six for the l2-pounders. Originally, there<br />
was to have been one inside each mast for<br />
the 3-pounders in the fighting tops.<br />
The second batch had an additional<br />
1,000iph for an extra quarter-knot, which<br />
hardly seems worth it. They could be<br />
recognized by an additional bulwark<br />
abreast of the after 6 in guns. Tenders for<br />
the building of the originai batch were<br />
called for by 1 November 1895 and most<br />
were completed by the end of 1900,<br />
though Spartiate was delayed till 1902.<br />
The class had a uniformly bad press,<br />
being regarded as much too big and too<br />
2t5
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