RN Battlecruisers: Lion Class

[Brian James]

Lion Class Battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal pictured fitting out at Vickers Shipyards, Barrow-in-Furness in 1912 with Lead Ship Battlecruiser IJNS Kongo fitting out alongside
She was the second of two Lion-Class Battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy before World War I. Designed in response to the Moltke-Class Battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, the ships significantly improved on the speed, armament, and armour of the preceding Indefatigable Class.
Laid down in 1912 and commissioned in 1913, Princess Royal served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began. She was then sent to the Caribbean to prevent the German East Asia Squadron from using the Panama Canal. After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. During the Battle of Dogger Bank, Princess Royal scored only a few hits, although one crippled the German Armoured Cruiser SMS Blücher. Shortly afterwards, she became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Rear-Admiral Osmond Brock.
Princess Royal was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Apart from providing distant support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, the ship spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. Princess Royal was placed into reserve in 1920, then was sold for breaking up as scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

[designeraccd]

Elegant looking, but the KONGO was probably a somewhat better design, given her improved layout and 14" guns.

[designeraccd]

The LIONs were BIG ships in their time.

Specs (WIKI):
"Class and type: Lion-class battlecruiser
Displacement: 26,270 long tons (26,690 t) (normal)
30,820 long tons (31,310 t) (deep load)

Length: 700 ft (213.4 m)
Beam: 88 ft 6.75 in (27.0 m)
Draught: 32 ft 5 in (9.9 m) at deep load
Installed power: 70,000 shp (52,199 kW)
42 Yarrow boilers

Propulsion: 4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range: 5,610 nmi (10,390 km; 6,460 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 1,092
Armament: 4 × twin BL 13.5-inch Mk V guns
16 × single BL 4-inch Mark VII guns
2 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Armour: Belt: 9–4 inches (229–102 mm)
Bulkheads: 4 inches (102 mm)
Barbettes: 9–8 inches (229–203 mm)
Turrets: 9 inches (229 mm)
Decks: 2.5 inches (64 mm)
Conning tower: 10 inches (254 mm)"

Note the number of boilers it took to make her move! Compare that to a WW2 BB. DFO

[jbryce1437]

Thank you both for the great photos of the class. A few more of Lion and many thanks to Terry Dickens for sharing a lot of these on the old site:

Lion

HMS LION-6-1910-1924CC[1].jpg

HMS LION-7-1910-1924T[2].jpg

HMS LION-8-1910-1924T[1].jpg

HMS LION-9-1910-1924TB[1].jpg

HMS LION-11-1910-1924[1].jpg

hms-lion44.JPG

hms lion ros jul 1916.jpg

Lion 1[1].jpg

Lion 2[1].jpg

Lion 3[1].JPG

Lion 1915-01-24[1].jpg

LION at Blyth 11 November 1924[1].jpg

LION November 1924 [1].jpg

lion-(1915)-stb.side.jpg

lion-(1919)-altered,-stb.si.jpg

LION[2].jpg

LION1-[2].jpg

Lion-14 5Bat Khronstadt 1914 [1].jpg

Lion-15 5Bat Khronstadt 1914 [1].jpg

Lion15[1].jpg

lion-1913.jpg

Sorry for any duplications

[Brian James]

Admiral Sir David Beatty's son,David standing watch on Lead Ship,Battlecruiser HMS Lion in 1918.

[Brian James]

Lion Class Battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal schematic..1914.

[Brian James]

Original Vickers,Barrow-in-Furness Shipyard 1910 blueprint for Lion Class Battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal.

[Brian James]

Lion Class Battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal pictured on sea trials in 1912.

[Brian James]

Lion Class Battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal pictured c1913..Designed in response to the Moltke Class Battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, the ships significantly improved on the speed, armament, and armour of the preceding Indefatigable Class. Completed in 1913 at Vickers Armstrong Shipyards, Barrow-in-Furness, Princess Royal participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the start of World War I in August 1914. She was then sent to the Caribbean Sea to prevent the German East Asia Squadron from using the Panama Canal. After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. During the Battle of Dogger Bank, she scored only a few hits, although one crippled the German Armoured Cruiser Blücher. Shortly afterward, she became the flagship of the 1st BCS, under the command of Rear-Admiral Osmond Brock.
Princess Royal was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Apart from providing distant support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, she spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. She was placed into reserve in 1920, then was sold for scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

[Brian James]

Proposed 1938 Lion Class Battleship schematic, 2 were laid down in 1939 just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War but never completed.