This is my try at the Minotaur Class Armored Cruiser.
They were the last first class armored cruisers built for the Royal Navy in 1908. They mounted two twin BL 9.2-inch Mark X guns and 10 BL 7.5-inch Mark II guns in single mounts. They also had reduced armor compared with the previous Warrior class.
All three of the class, Minotaur, Shannon and Defence were present at Jutland. Poor old Defence exploded under heavy fire from German battlecruisers with the loss of all hands. She was also involved in the hunt for the Goeben at the start of the war as well as being sent to join Admiral Craddock's squadron that was hunting for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. News of Craddock's destruction at Coronel came when the ship was in Montevideo. Apparently, there was a boast on the Defence that if ever they got into a fire fight with Scharnhorst, they wouldn't fire the 7.5 inch guns to make it a fair fight!
A note about the drawing: I used the outline from Brassy's and photo's for the detail. The main deck is rather sparse of detail due to the lack of close ups of that area. If any one has some extra sources, I'd be grateful. Oh, and I should probably leave the coat of arms to Kim!
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51326970/AC%20Minotaur%20Class%20HMS%20Minotaur%201908.png)
![[ img ]](http://i.ebayimg.com/t/H-M-S-MINOTAUR-BRITISH-NAVAL-CRESTS-1915-B-D-V-Silk-Card-/00/s/MTMyOVg5Mzg=/$%28KGrHqFHJF!FCRy,k5puBQ%29j70N+lw~~60_12.JPG)
I never thought of looking for cigarette cards for the source of unofficial badges. Sorry to high jack your thread Charybdis.
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