A brief thread on the Revenge class battleships, because there seems to be some myths about them.

Often seen as a retrograde step after the Queen Elizabeths, this misunderstands their fleet role compared to the Queen Elizabeth class. The Queen Elizabeths were a 'special' class. Intended to give the battle fleet its own organic fast division, they introduced some notable improvements - the 15in gun, being entirely oil fueled, and the increased speed of 25 knots.

One of my favourite photos of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, late summer/early autumn of 1941.

This profile view offers a good opportunity to highlight some features of the class, so, a thread... First, the main armament. 10 x 14-inch guns in a 4-2-4 arrangement. The turrets were called 'A', 'B' and 'Y'. 'B' turret was originally conceived as a Quad as well, but changed to a twin to enable more armour to be carried on a Treaty limited displacement.

@ransonwrites To be honest, there wasn't much capacity for accelerating the Lions.

In essence, for most of 1934-35 the Royal Navy expected its next capital ship to have 14" guns. This was because most countries had indicated a willingness to reduce the calibre limit - except the USA. @ransonwrites However, by Sep 1935 it had become clear that Japan would not agree to a reduction unless the USA didn, and the USA had given no such indication. European nations were also building fast 15" gun ships.

The need for a fast capital ship meant the 16" gun was viewed unfavourably.

Battleship Guns - Is fewer larger guns or more smaller guns better?

A question that troubled many a ship designer.

A comparison of 14", 15" and 16" guns...

1/30 The advantages of the larger gun are clear - it has a bigger shell, with more ability to penetrate armour. It'll generally have a larger bursting charge inside it.

Thefore, your hits are more likely to do significant damage when they do hit.

2/30

HMS Vanguard, Britain's last battleship. A brief overview.

1/25 Vanguard was the last British battleship built – the 59th in a line of big-gun warships going back to Dreadnought. She was a ship with quite an interesting origin. In the late 1930s the Royal Navy had embarked on an ambitious construction programme of capital ships.

2/25

The superstructure of the battleship HMS King George V, January 1941.

There's a lot going in this photo, but what is everything for? And the 'Queen Anne's Mansion' superstructure is a distinctive feature, but what actually is inside it?

Well, starting from the top...

(1/18) This is the sight for the UP Launcher on "B" turret. As designed it was meant to be No. 1 Pom Pom director for an Octuple Pom Pom on "B" turret, but such mounts were in short supply when the ship completed.

(2/18)

KGVs - Survivability Beyond Armour.

Clearly, battleships are known for their extensive heavy armour. But there's a lot more that goes into ensuring that they can remain combat capable if damaged.

I thought it would be interesting to highlight a few aspects.

(1/23) Firstly, unit machinery and sub-division. The main propulsion machinery was divided across 8 compartments. 4 boiler rooms, each with 2 boilers, and 4 engine rooms.

These formed pairs, which were a self contained unit that drove 1 shaft.

(2/23)

A short thread on the evolution of British battleship armour.

Detail is in the images!

(1/10) HMS Dreadnought, laid down 1905. This layout was typical of the early British 12-inch armed battleships, although of course there are some detail differences.

(2/10)

Conning a battleship without a Conning Tower - a small thread.

Or, where should you drive a battleship from if you're being shot at? And what happens if that position does get shot?

1/14 Traditionally, capital ships had both something called a Compass Platform and an armoured Conning Tower. Helpfully modelled below by HMS Hood.

2/14

The King George V class - Fire Control Arrangements

(Not how the maths works - that's far too complicated!)

(1/17) For the 14-inch guns the centrepiece of the Fire Control System was the Admiralty Fire Control Table (AFCT). The KGVs carried the Mark IX.

(Pictured is Belfast's, a Mk VI, which is smaller).

Each turret also contained an Admiralty Fire Control Box for local control.

(2/17)