Exmouth and her five sisters of the Duncan class were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes,[REF] including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme;[REF] they were designed as smaller, more lightly armoured, and faster versions of the preceding [REF].
The Duncans had machinery of more than the Formidables and Londons and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines.