HMS Emperor of India

Emperor of India in October 1920
History
United Kingdom
Name	Emperor of India
Namesake	Title of Emperor of India
Ordered	1911
Builder	Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down	31 May 1912
Launched	27 November 1913
Commissioned	10 November 1914
Decommissioned	1931
Fate	Sunk as target ship 1931, raised & scrapped 1932
General characteristics
Type	Iron Duke-class battleship
Displacement	Normal: 25,000 long tons (25,401 t) Full load: 29,560 long tons (30,030 t)
Length	622 ft 9 in (189.81 m) o/a
Beam	90 ft (27.4 m)
Draught	29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)
Installed power	18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 29,000 shp (22,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × Parsons turbines 4 × propellers
Speed	21.25 kn (24.5 mph; 39.4 km/h)
Range	7,800 nmi (8,976 mi; 14,446 km) at 10 kn (11.5 mph; 18.5 km/h)
Complement	995–1,022
Armament	10 × BL 13.5 in (343 mm)/45 cal Mk V guns 12 × 6 in (152 mm)/45 cal Mk VII guns 2 × QF 3 in (76 mm) 20 cwt AA guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) submerged beam torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 12 in (305 mm) Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm) Turrets: 11 in (279 mm)

HMS Emperor of India was an Iron Duke-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. She was originally to have been named Delhi but was renamed before she was completed, to honour King George V, who was also Emperor of India at the time. The ship was laid down on 31 May 1912 at the Vickers shipyard, and was launched on 27 November 1913. The finished ship was commissioned a year later in November 1914, shortly after the start of the First World War. She was armed with a main battery of ten 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns and was capable of a top speed of 21.25 knots (39.36 km/h; 24.45 mph).

Upon commissioning, Emperor of India joined the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow. She took part in numerous sorties into the northern North Sea to enforce the blockade of Germany, along with frequent training exercises and gunnery drills. Emperor of India was in dock for a refit in late May 1916, so she was unavailable for the Battle of Jutland. The increased danger from submarines led both the Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet to pursue more cautious strategies after Jutland, which led to a less eventful war.

After the war, Emperor of India was sent to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she became involved in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea from 1919–1921. She remained in the Mediterranean until 1926, when she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. The London Naval Treaty of 1930 mandated that Emperor of India and her three sister ships be dismantled. In 1931, she and Marlborough underwent a series of weapons tests that proved to be highly beneficial for future British battleship designs. Emperor of India was ultimately sold for scrap in February 1932, and was broken up shortly thereafter.