The design was based on that of the preceding Queen Elizabeth class, but with reductions in size and speed to make them more economical to build.

Two of the ships, Revenge and Royal Oak, were completed in time to see action at the Battle of Jutland during the First World War, where they engaged German battlecruisers.

The other three ships were completed after the battle, by which time the British and German fleets had adopted more cautious strategies, and as a result, the class saw no further substantial action.

The ships saw extensive action during the Second World War, though they were no longer front-line units by this time and thus were frequently relegated to secondary duties such as convoy escort and naval gunfire support.

Royal Sovereign ended the war in service with the Soviet Navy as Arkhangelsk, but she was returned in 1949, by which time her three surviving sister ships had been broken up for scrap.

In the early 1900s, Germany challenged Britain in a naval arms race under the direction of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz that was exacerbated by the dreadnought revolution.

The design staff, led by Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, the Director of Naval Construction, had been charged by the Board of Admiralty with developing a version of the earlier Iron Duke class armed with the same battery of 15-inch (380 mm) guns used in the Queen Elizabeths, albeit with the same number as the Iron Dukes—ten rather than the eight of the Queen Elizabeth design.

Still under construction, the ships were redesigned to employ oil-fired boilers that increased the power of the engines by 9,000 shaft horsepower (6,700 kW) over the original specification.

[4] The initial design completed by d'Eyncourt's team mounted only eight 15 in guns, despite the request from the Board, since he could not fit the fifth twin-gun turret in the specified displacement limit.

The Board suggested triple turrets to solve the weight problem, but d'Eyncourt pointed out that no suitable design existed, which would significantly delay construction.

[11] The Revenge class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381 mm) Mk I guns in four twin-gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear.

[18] The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they began to be fitted in March 1917.

Transverse bulkheads 4 to 6 inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes.

Based on the preceding form, the upper compartment was enlarged so that it extended above the waterline and crush tubes replaced the concrete and wood mixture.

Ramillies's bulges were modified during her 1926–1927 to a form much like those of Royal Oak; all of her crush tubes were removed, except those abreast of the magazines.

But during the lengthy period of repairs and fitting-out, the navy decided to experiment with the installation of anti-torpedo bulges to improve her ability to resist underwater damage.

The bulges proved to be a success, not only increasing her defensive characteristics but also improving stability, while not having a significant negative impact on her speed; as a result, they were later added to the other members of the class during refits after the war.

The Revenges and Queen Elizabeths again traded places in 1935, and the five Revenge-class ships were present for the Coronation Review for George VI on 20 May 1937.

[47] The Royal Sovereigns did not, however, receive the same extensive reconstructions that some of the Queen Elizabeth-class ships underwent, as the modernization program was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

[49] With the start of war in August 1939, Revenge and Resolution were assigned to the Channel Force, based in Portland, while Royal Sovereign served with the Home Fleet.

Ramillies was by this time at Alexandria, Egypt, where she remained until early October, when she was sent to search for the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean.

In October, Revenge bombarded the port of Cherbourg in occupied France to destroy German supplies being assembled for the planned invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion.

Each ship received a pair of quadruple two-pounder mounts and anywhere from 10 (Revenge and Resolution) to 42 (Royal Sovereign) 20-millimetre (0.8 in) Oerlikon guns.

Armour plates 2 inches (51 mm) thick were added over the magazines on Resolution, Royal Sovereign and, partially, in Ramillies in 1941–1942.

[57] In late 1940, Revenge and Royal Sovereign returned to convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic, and Ramillies joined them in January 1941 after completing a refit.

Revenge and Ramillies were at sea during Operation Rheinübung, the sortie of the German battleship Bismarck in May and they joined the hunt for the ship, but did not locate her.

[56] Late in the year, the Admiralty decided to deploy the four Revenge-class ships to the Far East as the 3rd Battle Squadron in anticipation of war with Japan.

The ships fled in advance of the Japanese Indian Ocean raid, as they were no match for the aircraft carriers of the powerful 1st Air Fleet.

[61] In late 1943, Revenge and Resolution were recalled to Britain, owing to their poor condition; the former carried Prime Minister Winston Churchill part of the way to the Tehran Conference in November and December while the latter underwent a refit.

Both ships were then decommissioned and assigned to the Portsmouth Command; Resolution joined the training establishment HMS Imperieuse, while Revenge remained out of service.