The Hamilcar class were under construction when the British stole a march on everyone else with the speed of construction of the Dreadnought. The Hamilcar was to be an improved Kothar-Wa-Khasis type with a third triple 12" turret fitted in a superfiring position above 'A' turret. Extra length was needed for the extra turret and the enlarged machinery rooms to get the ships to 24 knots. The five knot speed increase was the Greenland Navies advance in the class. Most other navies advanced their armour protection, Greenland went its own way.
The two ships had a very quiet war, mostly swinging to their anchors in Taranto Harbour with the Italian dreadnoughts, guarding the Strait of Otranto to bottle up the Austro-Hungarian Fleet in the Adriatic. Though both ships were in peak condition they were deemed excess by the Washington Treaty and they would have to be reduced to ancillary duties. Both had their rear turrets removed and became trials and training ships. The Hamilcar had the new triple 8" turret fitted for 18 months then in 1925 a series of trials with 4" to 5" weapons were undertaken to see what would suit best as a dual purpose gun for the new battleships that Greenland would be able to build from 1930. During the same period changes to the ships took place to make them better suited as training ships. The 6" casemate guns were all removed and plated in. The area created provided extra accommodation for cadets.
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1930 and their replacements were under construction. A decision had to be made as to what to do with these old ships. Parts of Greenland were very rugged with large fissures (fjords) that went many miles into the land. These areas were still very valuable and required some form of protection. The Royal Navy was just completing conversions of some of its old battleships, armoured cruisers and other ships to the Area Defence Vessels. These types of ships were exactly what Greenland was looking for. The old ships could gain a new lease of life. Rebuilt with cruiser style bridges and a large hangar aft. The tall pre-war (WW1) masts disappeared as wireless transmission improved. Their main peace time activity was still as training ships. In war, added to their Area Defence role, they were used as convoy escorts for the valuable oil tankers until enough escort carriers became available.
