The 1900 Balkan War showed the shortcomings of the Admiral Byrd design. Other navies had got the drop on Antarctica. While Antarctica had not lost the war, the Admiralty felt there had been unacceptable losses where the Antarctican ships had been forced to fight in places where the advantage went to their enemies. Something had to be done. The Admiral Byrd design was changed with the aft 9.5" disappearing, being replaced with another twin 14". The extra weight of the 14" turret necessitated enlarged dimensions.



The need to have guns to ward off cruiser sized vessels meant the single 4" were replaced with 6" in casemates, at the same level. An extra 21 feet of length provided a much better design. That the ships now conformed with the ships from other navies did not trouble the Antarctican Admiralty as the ships were still armed, with the 14" gun, but now they had four of them. These were powerful ships for all of about 4-5 years. Advances in technology were happening so fast that the ships had become virtually obsolete, and they were only five years old.

It was the reciprocating engines that put these ships on the scrap heap. 23 years old and they went to the breakers yard.

 

Displacement	15,100 tons standard, 18,500 tons full load
Length	465 ft
Breadth	79 ft
Draught	26 ft
Machinery	2 shaft, reciprocating engines, 24,000shp
Speed	21 knots
Range	5000 miles at 10 knots
Armour	11" side, 2" deck, 11"/7"/5" turrets
Armament	As completed 4 x 14" (2x2) 14 x 6" (1x2, 12x1) 2 x 3" AA (2x1) added 1916 4 x 2pd AA (4x1) added 1917
Torpedoes	1 x 18" submerged in the bow
Complement	870-895 as Flagship
Notes	Captain Ross Captain Annesen Captain Fiennes Captain Scoresby