HMS St Vincent was the lead ship of her class of three dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, during which she damaged a German battlecruiser, and the inconclusive action of 19 August several months later, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

The turbines were rated at 24,500 shaft horsepower (18,300 kW) and were intended to give the ship a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).

St Vincent carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6,900 nautical miles (12,800 km; 7,900 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The secondary, or anti-torpedo boat armament, comprised twenty BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk VII guns.

[4] The St Vincent-class ships were protected by a waterline 10-inch (254 mm) armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes.

Their decks ranged in thickness between 0.75 to 3 inches (19 to 76 mm) with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern.

She was commanded by Captain Douglas Nicholson and was present in Torbay when King George V visited the fleet in late July.

The ship participated in the Parliamentary Naval Review on 9 July at Spithead before beginning a lengthy refit late in the year.

On 21 April 1914, she was recommissioned and resumed her role as the flagship of the second-in-command of the 1st Battle Squadron,[12] Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas.

[15] On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; St Vincent stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.

[17] Jellicoe's ships, including St Vincent, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

[19] King George V inspected all of the personnel of the 2nd Division aboard St Vincent during his visit to Scapa on 8 July[12] and the Grand Fleet conducted training off Shetland beginning three days later.

On the night of 25 March, St Vincent and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern.

On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea.

During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship began firing a few salvos from her main guns at the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden at 18:33, although the number of hits made, if any, is unknown.

From 19:10 St Vincent began firing at what was initially identified as a German battleship, but proved to be the battlecruiser SMS Moltke, hitting her target twice before she disappeared into the mist.

Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation; Jellicoe decided not to risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the threat from submarines and mines.

St Vincent then became flagship of the Reserve Fleet in June and was relieved as gunnery training ship in December when she was transferred to Rosyth.