HMS Emperor of India 7 October 1920

HMS Emperor of India British Battleship

HMS Emperor of India

The Iron Duke-Class battleship HMS Emperor of India was originally named Delhi. This was changed before she was completed in honour of King George V, who was also the Emperor of India. Launched on 27 November 1913, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 10 November 1914.

Apart from enforcing the naval blockade of Germany and training exercises, HMS Emperor of India had an uneventful First World War. She was unavailable for the Battle of Jutland, as she was in dock undergoing a refit.

After the war, Emperor of India was sent to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she became involved in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea from 1919–1921. She remained in the Mediterranean until 1926, when she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. The London Naval Treaty of 1930 mandated that Emperor of India and her three sister ships be dismantled. In 1931, she and Marlborough underwent a series of weapons tests that proved to be highly beneficial for future British battleship designs. Emperor of India was ultimately sold for scrap in February 1932, and was broken up shortly thereafter.