HMS Lancaster

[tynebuoy]

[magoonigal]

Armoured Cruiser.
Armstong Whitworth, Elswick. Launched 22nd March 1902 by Mrs Douglas and completed 5th April 1904.
9,800 Tons. 440 x 66 feet.
14 x 6" Guns and 10 x 12 pdr.
Sold 3rd March 1920 to Ward's of Birkenhead and Preston but that's not the end of the story............

Lancaster, named for the English county, was laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at their shipyard in Elswick on 4 March 1901 and launched on 22 March 1902, when she was christened by Mrs. Douglas, wife of Vice-Admiral A. L. Douglas, Second Naval Lord. She was completed on 5 April 1904 and was initially assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. She remained with the squadron after it was redesignated as the 6th Cruiser Squadron, not returning home until 1912 when she was assigned to the reserve 5th Cruiser Squadron. The following year Lancaster was recommissioned and assigned to the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station.

After the beginning of World War I in August 1914, she searched for German commerce raiders and protected convoys until she returned home to join the 7th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in 1915. She was transferred to the Pacific in April 1916 and became flagship of the Eastern Squadron in 1918. Lancaster was partially dismantled in Birkenhead before she was sold for scrap on 3 March 1920 and subsequently broken up in Blyth.