The London class was a group of five predreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

By 1912, all five members of the class had been transferred to the 5th Battle Squadron, Home Fleet, where they remained through the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914.

Venerable shelled German troops in October and Bulwark was destroyed in an accidental magazine explosion in November.

Beginning in March 1915, the London-class ships began to be transferred to the Mediterranean Sea to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign; London, Queen, and Prince of Wales supported the Landing at Anzac Cove in April, but they were withdrawn in May to reinforce the Italian fleet blockading the main fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea.

At the same time, Venerable was transferred to the Dardanelles, where she supported Allied troops ashore in August before also being sent to the Adriatic at the end of the year.

Queen and Prince of Wales were laid down after the Duncan-class battleships that succeeded the Formidables and Londons, and were completed after the Duncans as well.

[6] The last of the ships to commission, Prince of Wales, was the last battleship for which Director of Naval Construction Sir William Henry White had sole design responsibility.

The ships' hulls were divided with longitudinal bulkheads that should have allowed for counter-flooding to offset underwater damage, but the equipment necessary to quickly flood a compartment was insufficient, as was typical to many British pre-dreadnought designs.

They carried 900 long tons (910 t) of coal for the boilers, though their maximum capacity was 2,000 long tons (2,000 t); this provided them a cruising radius of 5,550 nautical miles (10,280 km; 6,390 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), though Prince of Wales's boilers were less efficient than those of her sisters, and her cruising range was correspondingly slightly lower, at 5,400 nmi (10,000 km; 6,200 mi).

[1][9] The ships of the London class had four 12-inch (305 mm) 40-calibre Mark IX guns mounted in twin-gun turrets fore and aft.

As was customary for battleships of the period, they were also equipped with four 18-inch (457.2 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull; these were placed on the broadside, two abreast of each barbette.

Unlike previous British battleships, the forward part of the central citadel was not capped with a transverse bulkhead; instead, this was omitted to save weight that was used to extend the belt armour all the way along the side of the ship, albeit at reduced thicknesses.

London and Queen were involved in collisions with merchant ships in 1912 and 1909, respectively, and Prince of Wales was accidentally rammed by the submarine HMS C32, but none of the battleships were significantly damaged.

Throughout their peacetime careers, the ships were repeatedly overhauled and had minor modifications carried out, including alterations to their light armament, addition of searchlights, and installation of improved fire-control and wireless systems.

Bulwark instead transferred back to the 5th Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet in 1909, where she remained until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

At the same time, London, Queen, and Prince of Wales were ordered to the Dardanelles, where they were to join the Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

[19] The three battleships joined the British and French fleet for the landings at Cape Helles and at Anzac Cove, conducted on 25 April.

Over the course of the landing, London, Queen, and Prince of Wales provided covering fire as the ANZAC troops advanced inland and helped to suppress Ottoman artillery.

[24] In late 1916, Queen was converted into a depot ship to support the Otranto Barrage; she was gradually disarmed over the following year, with the guns being sent ashore to strengthen Italian artillery fighting in northern Italy.

London remained in service until January 1920 and in March was also placed for sale; she and Venerable were sold in June that year, ultimately being scrapped in Germany in 1922.

[26] The only extant British-built pre-dreadnought remaining today, the Japanese battleship Mikasa was also built to a modified Formidable design, the chief difference being the addition of another pair of 6-inch guns.