Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 19:12-19:27

Why can Royal Sovereign identify two different battleship generations?

Two Royal Navy battleships carried the name Royal Sovereign: one led an early pre-dreadnought class and a later ship belonged to the Revenge class.

Pre-Dreadnought BattleshipsRevenge Class BattleshipsRoyal NavyShip Names
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Question

How can HMS Royal Sovereign be described as both a Revenge-class ship and a pre-dreadnought?

Short answer

They were different namesakes: the later HMS Royal Sovereign was Revenge class, while an earlier HMS Royal Sovereign led a class commonly treated as early pre-dreadnoughts.

Notes

Two generations of battleship carried the name HMS Royal Sovereign. The later vessel belonged to the Revenge class, while the earlier ship gave its name to a class commonly treated as early pre-dreadnoughts. Reusing the name therefore does not place the two ships in the same class. Class identification distinguishes which namesake a reference concerns.