As noted in the Agave page, the three Euryale class ships were part of the Squadron seconded to the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. Even though these ships were better armed than over half the British Dreadnoughts, they were kept at the end of the line. The Amazonian Admirals, After Action, report (on Jutland) was scathing of the British handling of the forces available to them. In her mind, if the Amazons had been in charge, complete victory over the German forces would have been achieved. It was no wonder that relations between the Amazons and the rest degenerated so badly after Jutland.
The three ships were still almost like brand new when they were slated for rebuilding in 1935. The South American countries that had previously attacked the Empire had bought new warships from the Allied Reparations Commission, battleships, battlecruisers and support vessels. Ships that the Empire may have discarded were retained and upgraded to keep the Empires Navy at a level that would still keep it safe from foreign intrusions.
Being the first ships of the Empire to go through a rebuilding process, many lessons were learned. The amount of space between 'B' and 'X' turrets meant that all the modern equipment that would be required was crammed in. One of the big jobs was to fit a new upswept bow to aid in sea keeping and attaining better speed. While the space between B and X turrets was clear, the chance was taken to raise the deck armour, replace the machinery then fit a new thicker armoured deck. The dual purpose AA weaponry was lighter than might have been wished for. It proved, in the end, to be satisfactory and was never used against surface targets only in the AA mode. The two octuple 2pd pom pom units were replaced in 1942 by two quad 40mm with predictor radar. The quad 0.5" mg's were replaced in 1940 with twin 20mm. Radar of all kinds were added to directors, top of masts and wherever it could be placed for the type of radar being fitted. The final versions were refitted to the end of 1943 at which stage it was decided, the remaining two ships, would fight through to the end of the war with what they had. Spending more money on them was deemed unnecessary.
