Lion class (1910)
| Lion class | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Type: | Battle cruiser |
| Units: | 3, 1 more canceled |
| Predecessor class: | Indefatigable class |
| Successor class: | HMS Tiger |
| Technical specifications | |
| Displacement: | Normal: 26,270 tons |
| Length: | over everything: 213.4 m |
| Width: | 27 m |
| Draft: | Testing: 8.4 m |
| Speed: | 26.5 kn |
| Range: | 5600 nautical miles at 10 knots |
| Drive: | 4 screws over 4 shafts |
The Lion-class was a class of three battle cruisers of the Royal Navy , in the First World War were used. Only two ships, the Lion and the Princess Royal , were largely identical, while the Queen Mary was modified in such a way that it is no longer included in the Lion class in some publications. The class was created as a direct result of the German-British naval competition and was specially designed to outperform the German Moltke class .
planning
The class was planned to be able to carry the new, heavier 34.3 cm caliber for the main guns, which was first used in the construction of the Orion-class battleships from 1909, and at the same time to reach a speed of 27 knots in order to the German Moltke-class battlecruisers, which were thought to run 25 knots, to be able to overtake. The 34.3 cm caliber of the main guns was also only introduced in the Orion class in order to surpass a German ship class, the Kaiser class .
However, the technical possibilities did not allow an Orion-class battleship to be made so light simply by reducing the armor that it went from 21 knots top speed to 27 knots. The designers saved weight for the Lion class by removing one of the Orions' five 34.3 cm twin turrets and reducing the number of water-tube boilers that powered the turbines from 18 on the Orion class to 42 on the Lion -Class elevated. The installation of so many bulky boilers, however, forced an extension of the hulls from 177.1 meters for the Orions to 213.4 meters for the Lions. Such a large ship length forced the weight available for the armor to be distributed over a larger area, which made the ships more vulnerable.
As a result of the heavy artillery, the concept of the wing turrets was finally abandoned , in which the previous battlecruisers had a main gun turret placed in the middle of the ship on the left and right sides of the ship, so that they face the bow or the stern, together with those there erected towers. The heavy 34.3 cm caliber twin towers with the barbettes underneath were too bulky for that. So you put all the towers on a line above the keel.
It is unclear why a turret of the main artillery was placed in the middle of the ship and not, as was customary later, grouped together with the rear turret, which would have given it a better field of fire and thus save weight on armor protection. In Battleships of the 20th Century , the author Bernard Ireland speculated that the tower with its substructures in the middle of the ship should stiffen the ship and thus increase the stability of the ship's hull, because because of the great length of the ship, one was not sure whether the hull was stable enough . The possibility is also addressed that the middle tower should divide the large boiler rooms into two groups in order to prevent them all failing in the event of a hit.
Armament
Fire control
The observation devices and range finders , with which the gunfire was coordinated, were distributed in the Lion class on the four main turrets and two elevated observation positions. The main observation post was mounted on a platform on the main mast, and a second was on the rear structure. The observer in the main mast was, however, between the first and third chimneys , which not only made observations difficult, but also made it almost impossible to stay there in certain wind conditions.
Main artillery
The Lion class carried four main turrets, each with two BL 13.5-inch Mk V (34.3-cm-L / 45) guns. The weapons were first installed in the Orion class and could fire a 567 kg, armor-piercing grenade at targets up to 21 kilometers away. The rate of fire was up to 2 rounds per minute and about 80 shells per gun were carried. Two towers stood on the foredeck, with tower "B" in an elevated position, one tower stood amidships and one on the stern.
Middle artillery
The middle artillery of the Lion class was housed in the two deck superstructures of the ships. Of sixteen 10.2 cm guns, eight were installed in casemates below the bridge , the remaining eight were in casemates in the rear structure, four each on port and four on starboard . The BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VII (10.2 cm L / 50) could fire a 14 kg high explosive grenade about 10 kilometers away.
Further on, the ships were armed with only five machine guns.
Torpedoes
As was common at that time, the Lion-class battlecruisers were also equipped with torpedo tubes that were built into the hull, one on port and the other on starboard. The tubes could fire 21 inch (53.3 cm) torpedoes from openings below the waterline. 18 torpedoes could be carried on board.
Armor protection
The sides of the Lion class were provided with belt armor made of KC armor steel, 102 mm thick, which grew up to 229 mm thick over the particularly endangered areas of the ships. At its strongest point, it extended about a meter below the waterline and almost three meters above it. The barbeds under the turrets were armored down to the armored deck with 229-mm, the turrets of the main artillery themselves were armored at the front and sides with 229-mm and on the top with about 70-mm.
As usual with battle cruisers, the horizontal armored deck was less armored than that of a battleship and only 64 mm thick. The upper deck above had armor protection of up to 25 mm.
The best protected position was the armored battle bridge, 254-mm thick on the sides and a roof about 70-mm thick.
machinery
The Lion class was powered by 42 Yarrow water tube boilers, in which coal was burned to evaporate water. The steam then drove four Parsons steam turbines, which transmitted their power to four shafts and finally to four propellers . The machines were designed for up to 70,000 shaft horsepower , which should be sufficient for up to 27 knots. In tests in 1913 even 76,700 wave horsepower and 28.5 knots were achieved.
The ships of the class carried between 1000 and 3520 tons of coal and 1500 tons of oil. However, they consumed 1400 tons per day under full load at maximum speed.
Conversions
In contrast to the original plans, the main mast of the type ship Lion was relocated in front of the first chimney and the bridge structure, which was originally only planned as a small steering position, was raised to three floors with an open platform on the roof. The other ships were brought to the same level while they were being built. Even before the start of the World War, the ships received additional fire control devices, which were gradually installed on the rear of all main turrets.
In the battles on the Dogger Bank in the spring of 1915 and the Skagerrak Battle in the summer of 1916, construction-related weaknesses in the fire control became apparent, so that the forward mast on the surviving ships Lion and Princess Royal was secured against self-movement with a support structure. To do this, a support brace was placed on the port and starboard side next to the first chimney and connected to the foremast below the observation platform .
During the course of the World War, emphasis began to be placed on anti-aircraft defense and, from 1914, a QF 13-pounder (76.2-mm) anti-aircraft gun was installed on each of the ships. In 1916 they were exchanged for a 4-inch and a 3-inch cannon, which were placed on the deck directly behind the second chimney.
Lion class ships
Due to the increased length, the lines of the ships appeared more elegant than the previous classes and they were considered the best-built ships to date. After the type ship HMS Lion , the class was also called the "splendid cats" (for example: "the famous cats").
Lion
The HMS Lion was laid down in Plymouth on September 29, 1909 and launched in 1910. In 1914 she took part in the naval battle near Heligoland . It was used as a flagship in the battle on Doggerbank in January 1915 and was badly damaged by more than a dozen hits. In the Battle of the Skagerrak in May 1916 she was hit hard again and around 100 crew members were killed. After the war, it was scrapped in 1924 as part of the concessions the kingdom made at the 1922 Washington Naval Conference.
Princess Royal
The HMS Princess Royal was laid down on May 2, 1910 and launched in April 1911. She belonged with her sister ship HMS Lion to the 1st battle cruiser squadron and took part in the sea battles near Helgoland, on the Doggerbank and in the Skagerrak battle, where she was hit by nine heavy shells. After the war, like her sister ship, she fell victim to the Washington naval agreements and was sold for scrap in 1922 and canceled in 1923.
Queen Mary
The HMS Queen Mary was a modified version of the Lion class with modified middle artillery, fire control and slightly modified armor protection. She was laid down in Jarrow on March 6, 1911 and launched in March 1912. She took part with her half-sisters HMS Lion and HMS Princess Royal in the battles near Helgoland and the Skagerrak Battle in May 1916. There she was hit by SMS Derfflinger in the first phase of the battle, during the duel between the German and British battlecruisers, with several 30.5 cm grenades, which exploded one or both of the Queen Mary's front ammunition chambers and destroyed the ship, in 1266 Sailors were killed.
literature
- RA Burt: British Battleships of World War One , Seaforth Publishing, 1986, ISBN 978-1-84832-147-2
- John Roberts: Battlecruisers , Chatham Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-86176-006-X
Individual evidence
- ^ Bernard Ireland: Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century , Harpers Collins Publishers, 1996, ISBN 978-0-00-470997-0 , p. 108
- ^ RA Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 173
- ↑ "13.5" / 45 (34.3 cm) Mark V (L) 13.5 "/ 45 (34.3 cm) Mark V (H)" on navweaps.com
- ↑ "4/50 (10.2 cm) BL Mark VII" from February 14, 2014 on navweaps.com
- ↑ a b c R.A. Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 176
- ^ RA Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 177
- ↑ a b R.A. Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 178
- ↑ a b R.A. Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 179
- ↑ John Roberts: Battlecruisers , Chatham Publishing, 1997
- ^ RA Burt: British Battleships of World War One , p. 179