range of at a speed of . The main battery of the London class consisted of four BL 12-inch (305 mm) Mk IX guns mounted in twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their secondary armament consisted of a dozen BL Mk VII guns mounted in casemates mounted in the sides of the hull. Defence against torpedo boats was provided by sixteen quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder () 12 cwt guns, eight of which were mounted in the central superstructure and the remaining eight guns were positioned on the main deck fore and aft and fired through unarmoured embrasures in the hull. Each of the two fighting tops were provided with three QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns. As was customary for battleships of the period, they were also equipped with four submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the hull, two on each broadside. The Londons had an armoured belt that was thick; the transverse bulkheads on the aft end of the belt were thick. Their main-gun turret faces were protected by armour plates thick, atop 12-inch barbettes, and the casemate guns were protected with 6 inches of Krupp steel. The conning tower had thick sides. The ships were fitted with three armoured decks, ranging in thickness between each. Construction and career Bulwark, named for "the solid part of a ship's side extending above deck", was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was one of the three battleships ordered as part of the 1898–1899 Naval Estimates. She was laid down at HM Dockyard, Devonport, on 20 March 1899 and launched on 18 October 1899 by Lady Harriet Fairfax, wife of Admiral Sir Henry Fairfax, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. The ship was completed in March 1902, at a cost of £997,846 plus £167,970 for her armament. Bulwark was commissioned by Captain Frederick Hamilton on 18 March for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Admiral Sir Compton Domvile hoisted his flag on board on 1 May as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. 1902–1909 She left Plymouth five days later, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 10th, then proceeded to Malta. In August, she was the flagship of a squadron visiting the Aegean Sea for combined manoeuvres and visits to Lemnos and Nauplia, and was slightly damaged during an exercise where the battleship misjudged the distance while attempting to tow Bulwark and collided with her. The following month, the annual