The cruiser H.M.S. Hawke in the Mediterranean off Naples

One of the seven 'Edgar' class cruisers ordered in 1889, H.M.S. Hawke was built at Chatham in 1890-91 and completed in May 1893. Displacing 7,350 tons, she measured 387½ feet in length, could make 20 knots at full steam and carried a main armament of 2-9.2in. guns in addition to other smaller calibre weaponry. After a varied career, during which she collided with the White Star liner Olympic (20th September 1911) and was badly damaged, she joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron's Northern Patrol on the outbreak of War in August 1914. Barely two months later, she was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea on 15th October with the loss of 524 lives, almost her total complement.