Lot Essay
Built at Portsmouth and launched in September 1887, H.M.S. Trafalgar displaced 11,940 tons and was very distinctive in appearance due to her twin funnels being placed side by side instead of the usual arrangement of one abaft the other. Powerfully armed with four massive 13½in. 67-ton guns, she - along with her sister Nile - was the first British battleship to carry a quick-firing secondary armament and proved a highly successful fighting ship. Best suited to the Mediterranean due to her low freeboard, she passed all of her active service there until returning home in 1897. Relegated to secondary duties for the rest of her career, she was sold for breaking in 1911.