NAVYPEDIA

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Lion (Navypedia)

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Lion		16	Vickers-Armstrong, Tyne	4.7.1939	---	---	suspended 10.1939, cancelled 1945
Temeraire		1045	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	1.6.1939	---	---	suspended 10.1939, cancelled 1945
Conqueror			John Brown, Clydebank	---	---	---	suspended 10.1939, cancelled 1945
Thunderer			Fairfield, Govan	---	---	---	suspended 1942, cancelled 1945

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	40550
Displacement full, t	46300
Length, m	225.6 pp 239.3 oa
Breadth, m	31.7
Draught, m	9.14 (10.21 deep load)
No of shafts	4
Machinery	4 sets Parsons geared steam turbines, 8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Power, h. p.	130000
Max speed, kts	30
Fuel, t	3720 oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	14000(10)
Armour, mm	main belt: 381 (330 - 279 at ship ends), bulkheads: 305 - 254, barbettes: 374 - 325, turrets: 374 (face) - 254 (sides) - 229 (rear) - 152 (roof), CT: 114 - 76 (sides) - 51 (roof), secondary gunhouses: 38 - 25, main deck: 152 + 37 over magazines, 125 over machinery, lower deck: 127 - 63 fore and 127 - 114 aft
Armament	3 x 3 - 406/45 BL Mk II or Mk III, 8 x 2 - 133/50 QF Mk I, 6 x 8 - 40/39 2pdr QF Mk VIII, 1 catapult D-III-H, 2 seaplanes (Walrus, Swordfish)
Electronic equipment	radars
Complement	1680 as flagship

Graphics

Project history

Britain has appeared unique seapower, till the end met the conditions of London Treaty and as a result received King George Vs, battleships with the least possible guns. A situation may been correct by the ships of the 1938 programme, Lion class. Their main guns reached the resolved 406mm, however displacement, on political grounds, have limited by 40000t. As a whole as designed these ships repeated the predecessors, being only by 12m more long and outwardly differing by a transom stern.       Alas, Admiralty was late: it had time to laid down 2 ships under the 1938 programme, but the beginning of war has forced to refuse building; ships, at the best, could be completed only in 1944. Two more ships of 1939 programme were ordered, but works on them did not commenced ever.

Protection

  External 381mm main belt was 132m in length, it protected citadel between end barbettes. Lower stripe of belt was 155.6m long and 381-140mm thick. Thickness of bulkheads was 305mm (near center line) - 254mm (near sides) over main deck and 51mm under main deck.

Flat main deck within citadel was 152mm over magazines and 127mm over machinery, it connected with upper edge of main belt. There was a lower deck outside citadel, connected with upper edge of lengthened parts of lower belt strike. It extended fore up to first water-proof bulkhead in 3.7m from stem and has thickness 127-64mm; its aft part was 114mm thick (127mm over steering gear), closed by 102mm bulkhead. Magazines had additional 51-37mm splinter screens, covering magazines from all directions.

Barbettes were 305mm thick at center line. Its thickness increased up to 338 ("B") - 374mm ("A" and "Y") abeam. Secondary gunhouses had 38mm faces and 25mm roofs.

Last longitudinal bulkhead was 44mm thick, underwater protection deep was 4.4m maximally.

Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.