Ajax-class ironclad

	Launch of HMS Agamemnon in 1879 from The Illustrated London News
Class overview
Builders	Pembroke Dockyard; Chatham Dockyard;
Preceded by	HMS Inflexible
Succeeded by	Colossus class
Built	1876–1883
In commission	1884–1904
Completed	2
General characteristics
Type	Ironclad battleship
Displacement	8,510 tons
Length	300 ft 9 in (91.67 m) o/a; 280 ft (85 m) p/p;
Beam	66 ft (20 m)
Draught	23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Propulsion	Two-shaft Penn inverted compound; 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW);
Speed	13 kn (24 km/h)
Endurance	2,100 nmi (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	345
Armament	4 × 12.5-inch (317 mm) muzzle-loading rifles; 2 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk II guns;
Armour	Citadel: 18 in (460 mm) to 15 in (380 mm); Turret: 14 in (360 mm), 16 in (410 mm) faces; Conning tower: 12 in (300 mm); Bulkheads: 16.5 in (420 mm) to 13.5 in (340 mm); Deck: 3 in (76 mm);

The Ajax class, also known as the Agamemnon class was a class of ironclad battleships that served in the Royal Navy during the Victorian era. The class consisted of two ships, HMS Ajax and HMS Agamemnon that had a turret-mounted main armament. They were the first ships in the Royal Navy to be fitted with a secondary armament and the last to be armed with muzzle-loading rifles. They were hard to control due to their wide beam, shallow draught and flat bottom, and were heavily criticised in service. Launched in 1879, Agamemnon grounded in the Suez Canal while transiting in 1884 and, in 1889, participated in the Royal Navy blockade of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in the fight against the Indian Ocean slave trade. Ajax remained in the UK to serve as a coastguard ship in Greenock and collided with the battleship Devastation off the coast of the Isle of Portland in 1887. They were sold to be broken up in 1903 and 1904 respectively.