During her sea trials on, the ship reached a top speed of only 22 knots (41 km/h 25 mph) from 40,360 shp (30,100 kW). The turbines were rated at 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW) and intended to reach a maximum speed of 23 knots (42.6 km/h 26.5 mph). She was powered by two sets of Parsons steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from 18 Yarrow boilers. She had a designed displacement of 27,790 long tons (28,240 t) and displaced 31,130 long tons (31,630 t) at deep load. Royal Oak had a length overall of 620 feet 7 inches (189.2 m), a beam of 88 feet 6 inches (27 m) and a deep draught of 33 feet 7 inches (10.2 m). Illustration of HMS Revenge, the sister ship of Royal Oak, as she appeared in 1916 While under construction the ships were redesigned to employ oil-fired boilers that increased the power of the engines by 9,000 shaft horsepower (6,700 kW) over the original specification. As an economy measure they were intended to revert to the previous practice of using both fuel oil and coal, but First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher rescinded the decision for coal in October 1914. The Revenge-class ships were designed as slightly smaller, slower, and more heavily protected versions of the preceding Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. Unauthorised divers are prohibited from approaching the wreck under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. In an annual ceremony marking the loss of the ship, Royal Navy divers place a White Ensign underwater at her stern. The wreck of Royal Oak, a designated war grave, lies almost upside down in 100 feet (30 m) of water with her hull 16 feet (4.9 m) beneath the surface. The shock resulted in rapid changes to dockland security and the construction of the Churchill Barriers around Scapa Flow, with the added advantage of being topped by roads running between the islands. Before the sinking of Royal Oak, the Royal Navy had considered the naval base at Scapa Flow impregnable to submarine attack, but U-47 's raid demonstrated that the German navy was capable of bringing the war to British home waters. The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero of the U-boat commander, Günther Prien, who became the first German submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The loss of the outdated ship-the first of five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World War-did little to affect the numerical superiority enjoyed by the British navy and its Allies, but it had a considerable effect on wartime morale. Of Royal Oak 's complement of 1,234 men and boys, 835 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. On 14 October 1939, Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-47. Attempts to modernise Royal Oak throughout her 25-year career could not fix her fundamental lack of speed and, by the start of the Second World War, she was no longer suitable for front-line duty. Royal Oak drew worldwide attention in 1928 when her senior officers were controversially court-martialled, an event that brought considerable embarrassment to what was then the world's largest navy. In peacetime, she served in the Atlantic, Home and Mediterranean fleets, more than once coming under accidental attack. Completed in 1916, the ship first saw combat at the Battle of Jutland as part of the Grand Fleet. HMS Royal Oak was one of five Revenge-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the First World War.
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