HMS 'Hindustan' (1903)

Scale: not calculated. The model is one of a group of six that were made by the marine artist Alma Claude Burlton Cull. Cull is today well known for his brooding seascapes and canvases of regimented lines of ironclads from the period around the First World War and the NMM has three of his paintings. It is an excellent model, well researched and meticulously detailed, and looks very much as though the hull and superstructure has been forged from iron and steel rather than the glued wood, card and paper materials actually used in its construction. It was once housed in a very dilapidated display case, but the Museum set it into its present scenic sea base when it was displayed in the gallery 'Seapower in the Twentieth Century.

HMS 'Hindustan' (1903) was a 'King Edward VII'-class first-class battleship, of which there were eight in total, launched between 1903 and 1905. They were the first British battleships since the 1870s that were fitted with balanced rudders, and proved very handy as they had a tight turning circle. But they were difficult to keep on a steady course which earned them the title of 'The Wobbly Eights'.

She was built by John Brown & Company, Clydebank, and was assigned to the Third Battle Squadron, Grand Fleet. Her largely uneventful First World War career culminated in February-May 1918 when she was used as a depot ship for the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids. In May of that year she accidentally collided with the destroyer HMS 'Wrestler' following which she was paid off into reserve. In 1921 she was sold for scrap.
Alma Claude Burlton Cull