Scrapped 1927
Launched on the 4th of September 1906, she took part in the Bombardment of the Turkish positions during the Dardanelle's Campaign along with her Sister ship HMS Lord Nelson, and the HMS Agamemnon had the distinction of being the ship the Turkish delegation signed the armistice on in November 1918. After the first world war HMS Agamemnon was used as a remote controlled target ship until 1926 and finally scrapped in 1927.
Displacement 18,100 tons. Speed 18 knots. Range 9,180 miles. Compliment 820. Armament Four 12 - inch Guns, Ten 9.2 - inch Guns
Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign,15/3/1915:
The British plan for March 18, 1915 was to silence the defences guarding the first five lines of mines which would be cleared overnight by the minesweepers. The next day the remaining defences around the Narrows would be defeated and the last five minefields would be cleared.
The battleships were arranged in three lines, two British and one French, with supporting ships on the flanks and two ships in reserve
The first British line opened fire from Eren Keui Bay around 11am. Shortly after noon, de Robeck ordered the French line to pass through and close on the Narrows forts. The Turkish fire began to take its toll with Gaulois, Suffren, Agamemnon and Inflexible all suffering hits. While the naval fire had not destroyed the Turkish batteries, it had succeeded in temporarily reducing their fire. By 1.25pm the Turkish defences were mostly silent so de Robeck decided to withdraw the French line and bring forward the second British line as well as Swiftsure and HMS Majestic.
At 1.54pm Bouvet, having made a turn to starboard into Eren Keui Bay, struck a mine, capsized and sank within a couple of minutes, killing 600 men. The initial British reaction was that a shell had struck her magazine or she had been torpedoed. They remained unaware of the minefield.
The British pressed on with the attack. Around 4pm Inflexible began to withdraw and struck a mine near where Bouvet went down, killing 30 men. The battlecruiser remained afloat and eventually beached on the island of Tenedos.
HMS Irresistable was the next to be mined. As she began to drift helplessly, the crew were taken off. De Robeck told HMS Ocean to take Irresistible under tow but the water was deemed to shallow to make an approach. Finally at 6.05pm Ocean struck a mine which jammed the stearing gear leaving her likewise helpless. The abandoned battleships were still floating when the British withdrew. A destroyer returned later to torpedo the stricken vessels but despite searching for four hours, there was no sign of them.
