Information request
Picture postcard sent by Bray To a Petty Officer on board the above (HMS Devastation) now at Gibraltar on 4th October 1900.
The card travelled to Gibraltar where it was redirected to Malta due the Devastation having sailed. It was received in Malta on 2nd December and sent back to Bray on the 6th. At some point a 3d. charge was imposed, presumably for being insufficiently addressed, but this was later rescinded and a "Charge Cancelled" instructional mark applied.
HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-class mastless turret ships built for the Royal Navy. This was the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it.
