HMS Defence was a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1900s. She was the last armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. Defence was transferred to the Grand Fleet in January 1915 and remained there for the rest of her career.