Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, and the inconclusive action of 19 August several months later, their service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

The Admiralty's 1905 draft building plan envisioned four battleships in the 1906–1907 Naval Programme, but the new Liberal government cut one of these ships in mid-1906.

The Bellerophon-class design was a slightly larger and improved version of the revolutionary[Note 1] preceding HMS Dreadnought, with better underwater protection and a more powerful secondary armament.

[3] The Bellerophons were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each of which was housed in a separate engine room.

They were rated at 23,000 shaft horsepower (17,000 kW) and were intended to give the ships a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).

Refinements to the hull shape allowed the larger Bellerophon class to match Dreadnought's speed despite the same horsepower rating.

This gave them a range of 5,720 nautical miles (10,590 km; 6,580 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

They fired 850-pound (390 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,746 ft/s (837 m/s); at +13.5°, this provided a maximum range of 16,500 yd (15,100 m) with armour-piercing (AP) 2 crh shells.

Using the more aerodynamic, but slightly heavier, 4 crh AP shells at the same elevation, the range was extended to 18,850 yd (17,240 m).

An 8-inch oblique bulkhead connected the thickest parts of the waterline and upper armour belts to the rear barbette; there was no forward equivalent.

[12] Dreadnought's tripod foremast was positioned behind the forward funnel to allow the vertical leg to serve as a support for the boat-handling derrick.

This meant that the hot funnel gases could render the spotting top uninhabitable in conditions of little or no wind.

[13] The control positions for the main armament were located in the spotting tops at the head of the fore and mainmasts.

By April 1917, the sisters mounted single 4-inch and 3-inch AA guns and the stern torpedo tube had been removed.

In 1918, a high-angle rangefinder was fitted on the forward spotting top and flying-off platforms were installed on the roofs of the fore and aft turrets of Bellerophon.

[20] Upon commissioning, all three ships were assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet and were reviewed by King Edward VII and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia during Cowes Week on 31 July 1909.

This grand battle was slow to happen, however, because of the Germans' reluctance to commit their battleships against the superior British force.

[25] Once Jellicoe's ships had rendezvoused with the 2nd Battle Squadron, coming from Cromarty, Scotland, on the morning of 31 May, he organised the main body of the Grand Fleet in parallel columns of divisions of four dreadnoughts each.

The ship led an Allied squadron that entered the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, on 13 November, following the Armistice of Mudros.

[32] Bellerophon was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the German fleet surrendered on 21 November and she became a gunnery training ship in March 1919 at the Nore as the class was obsolescent.

[29] Superb and Temeraire returned home the following month after supporting Allied operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea and were placed into reserve.