HMS Havelock (Mon-1936)

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First monitors built since the completion of Gorgon in 1922. The decommissioning of the Marshal class gave 2 spare 15" turrets while one of the spare R class turrets was also made available to produce a class of three ships. Since the ships would be working in coastal waters close to enemy aircraft range it was decided that AA protection was to be as strong as possible including the armoured deck. Speed was to be increased over earlier ships.

It may be surprising but the monitors actually would have outperformed the earlier pre-dreadnoughts with their 2 twin 12". The size and destructive power of the 15" guns on these ships made them formidable shore bombardment vessels.  It was also possible to get funding more easily for three monitors of this size than it would have been to get the funds passed for a 30,000 ton ship with 6x15".

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