The ship carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 5,720 nautical miles (10,590 km 6,580 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h 12 mph). The turbines were rated at 23,000 shaft horsepower (17,000 kW) and intended to give the ship a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h 24 mph). The Bellerophons were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from eighteen Yarrow boilers. Right elevation and plan of the first generation of British dreadnoughts from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1912 In 1914 her crew numbered 840 officers and ratings. She displaced 18,596 long tons (18,894 t) at normal load and 22,359 long tons (22,718 t) at deep load. Superb had an overall length of 526 feet (160.3 m), a beam of 82 feet 6 inches (25.1 m), and a normal draught of 27 feet (8.2 m). The design of the Bellerophon class was derived from that of the revolutionary battleship HMS Dreadnought, with a slight increase in size, armour and a more powerful secondary armament. The ship was sold for scrap late that year and broken up in 1923. Superb was used for gunnery experiments in 1920 and then became a target ship in 1922.
The ship was deemed obsolete and was reduced to reserve when she returned home in early 1919 and was then used as a training ship. She supported Allied forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea after the war ended in November. Superb was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1918 and became its flagship.
Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
She spent almost her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. HMS Superb was one of three Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
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