Editing Duncan-class battleship (section)

==Service history==
[[File:HMS Montagu wreck.png|thumb|''Montagu'' after having run aground in 1906]]
From their commissioning in 1903–1904, all six ships served with the [[Mediterranean Fleet]], though their tenure in the unit was relatively short lived, with all of the vessels being reassigned to the [[Channel Fleet]] in 1905. ''Exmouth'' and ''Russell'' had already left the Mediterranean Fleet by that point, doing a brief stint in the [[Home Fleet]] in 1904 before joining their sisters in the Channel Fleet. On 30 May 1906, ''Montagu'' ran aground on [[Lundy Island]]. After lengthy attempts to repair and refloat the ship failed, she was abandoned and broken up in situ. The five surviving ships moved to the [[British Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] in 1907, though ''Duncan'' and ''Exmouth'' left for another tour with the Mediterranean Fleet in 1908.{{sfn|Burt|pp=242–247}} ''Cornwallis'' and ''Russell'' joined them there the following year. In July 1908, ''Russell'', ''Albemarle'', ''Duncan'', and ''Exmouth'' visited Canada during the Quebec Tercentenary.{{sfn|"The Tercentenary Celebrations"|p=445}} ''Albemarle'' remained in the Atlantic until 1910, when she was reassigned to the Home Fleet. The other four ships joined her there in 1912, and together they formed first the [[4th Battle Squadron]] and later the [[6th Battle Squadron]]. They remained in the 6th Squadron until the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.{{sfn|Burt|pp=242–247}}

[[File:Tir du vaisseau anglais Cornwallis sur Gallipoli en 1915.jpg|thumb|''Cornwallis'' firing during operations off the Dardanelles]]

With the onset of hostilities, Admiral [[John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe|John Jellicoe]], the commander of the [[Grand Fleet]], requested that the 6th Squadron ships be sent to strengthen the main British fleet in accordance with pre-war plans. The five ''Duncan''s were used to reinforce the [[cruiser]]s on the [[Northern Patrol]], maintaining the distant blockade of Germany. While serving with the Grand Fleet, the ships were assigned to the [[3rd Battle Squadron]]{{sfn|Burt|p=245}}{{sfn|Corbett 1920|pp=39–40, 75, 214, 254}}{{sfn|Jellicoe|p=93}} On 2 November, they were transferred to the Channel Fleet owing to increased German naval activity in the southern [[North Sea]]; there, they reconstituted the 6th Squadron on 14 November. ''Russell'' and ''Exmouth'' bombarded German-occupied [[Zeebrugge]], which was being used as an advance naval base for [[U-boat]]s, in late November, though they inflicted little damage and the Germans quickly resumed operations there.{{sfn|Corbett 1921|pp=9–10, 12–13, 19}} The ships were used to guard the southern British coast against German attacks through the end of the year, and in the first half of 1915, the 6th Squadron was gradually dispersed.{{sfn|Burt|pp=242–247}}

''Cornwallis'' was the first to leave, in January 1915, when she was sent to join the [[Dardanelles campaign]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. She participated in numerous attacks on the coastal fortresses guarding the [[Dardanelles]], all of which failed to break through, leading to the [[Gallipoli Campaign]], which ''Cornwallis'' also supported.{{sfn|Corbett 1921|pp=144–377}} ''Albemarle'' was recalled to the Grand Fleet for further duty on the Northern Patrol in April. In May, ''Exmouth'' was also sent to reinforce the Dardanelles squadron. Fitted with heavy anti-torpedo nets, she was the only battleship stationed forward at [[Kephalo]] just outside the straits, owing to the increased threat of German U-boats in the area. ''Duncan'' was reassigned to the [[Cape Finisterre|Finisterre]]-[[Azores]]-[[Madeira]] Station in July 1915, thereafter joining the Italian fleet in the [[Adriatic]], where she saw little activity. ''Russell'' was transferred to the Dardanelles campaign in November 1915; ''Albemarle'' was to have gone at the same time, but she was badly damaged in a storm and was unable to make the voyage. ''Russell'' saw little activity there, apart from supporting the evacuation of [[Cape Helles]] in January 1916.{{sfn|Burt|pp=243–247}}{{sfn|Preston|p=9}}{{sfn|Corbett 1923|pp=24, 37, 248–252, 260}}

''Albemarle'' remained with the Grand Fleet through January 1916, when she was assigned as a [[guard ship]] for the Russian port of [[Murmansk]]. While cruising off [[Malta]] on 27 April 1916, ''Russell'' struck a pair of [[naval mine]]s that had been laid by the U-boat {{ship|SM|U-73||2}}. She quickly caught fire, exploded, and then capsized and sank with the loss of 125 of her crew. ''Cornwallis'' met a similar fate on 9 January 1917, when she was torpedoed and sunk by {{ship|SM|U-32|Germany|2}}, though she remained afloat long enough for most of her crew to be evacuated by escorting [[destroyer]]s; only fifteen men were killed in the sinking.{{sfn|Burt|p=246}} ''Exmouth'' and ''Duncan'' were stationed in [[Salonika]], Greece, during the Allied intervention in the ''[[Noemvriana]]'' coup in 1916. Both ships sent men ashore as part of the intervention.{{sfn|Burt|pp=243–247}}{{sfn|Preston|p=383}} ''Albemarle'' returned to Britain in September 1916 and was laid up for the rest of her existence. She, ''Exmouth'', and ''Duncan'' survived the war and all three were eventually broken up for scrap in 1920.{{sfn|Burt|pp=243–247}}