Drake-class cruiser

The Drake-class was a four-ship class of armoured cruisers built around 1900 for the Royal Navy.

Design
The class were enlarged versions of the Cressy class.

History
The ships served in the First World War with only two surviving it. Good Hope was sunk at the Battle of Coronel in 1914 and Drake was torpedoed in 1917. Drake was also used to ferry Russian bullion (gold) in October 1914 from Archangels. The gold (equivalent of 39 million $) was security for western loans. The transfer took place at high seas, 30 miles off the coast in the dead of night.(Translated quote form "Krig og penger" by Eivind Thon, published by Aschehoug & Co, Oslo, 1942)

Ships of the Class

 * HMS Drake
 * HMS Good Hope (originally to be HMS Africa)
 * HMS King Alfred
 * HMS Leviathan

Building Programme
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Drake class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions. The reasons for the differences are unclear.