List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy
Encyclopedia
The battlecruiser
was the brainchild of Admiral Sir John ("Jacky") Fisher, the man who had sponsored the construction of the world's first "all big gun" warship, . He visualised a new breed of warship with the armament
of a battleship, but faster, lighter, and less heavily armoured. The first three battlecruisers, the , were laid down while Dreadnought was being built in 1906.
This design philosophy was most successful in action when the battlecruisers could use their speed to run down smaller and weaker ships. The best example is the Battle of the Falkland Islands
where and sank the German armoured cruisers and almost without damage to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships. They were less successful against heavily armoured ships, as was demonstrated by the loss of Invincible, , and during the Battle of Jutland
in 1916. All three ships were destroyed by more heavily armoured German battlecruisers, with the British failure to prevent fires or explosions in the gun turret
s from reaching the magazines
also playing a role in the losses.
Of the battlecruisers built before the First World War, the Invincible class and Indefatigable class all had 6 inches (15 cm) of armour on their waterline
, a top speed of 25 knots (13.6 m/s), and eight 12 inches (30 cm) guns. The more advanced battlecruisers—the two Lion-class ships, , and —all had an armour belt
of 9 inches (23 cm), speeds over 28 knots (15.2 m/s), and eight 13.5 inches (34 cm) guns. The Renown and Courageous classes, built during the war, were begun when Admiral Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord
for the second time in late 1914. Each of these classes in turn served as the fastest capital ship
s in the world and were heavily armed with four or six 15 inches (38 cm) guns, but they paid for their speed and armament by having less armour than battleships. was laid down during the war, but was extensively reworked with more armour based on the experience gained at the Battle of Jutland, and was not completed until after the war.
Following the war, the British planned to build the G3 class, which had the same armament and armour as battleships of the time and were rated as battlecruisers only by comparison to the more heavily armoured and slower battleships also planned. They were cancelled as they exceeded the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty
. Of the first nine battlecruisers, only HMS Tiger survived the Washington Treaty and into the 1930s. The three Courageous-class ships were converted to aircraft carrier
s during the 1920s and only Repulse, Renown and Hood served in the Second World War as battlecruisers. All three went through substantial refits between the wars. Hood was lost in the battle of the Denmark Strait
, Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft at the start of the war in the Pacific
, and Renown survived the war to be scrapped
in 1948.
from the main battery for a 4 knots speed advantage. During the war Inflexible and Indomitable participated in the unsuccessful pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau
in the Mediterranean. Inflexible was recalled home shortly afterwards, but Indomitable remained off the Dardanelles to bottle up the German ships for the rest of 1914 before returning to the UK. Invincible and Inflexible were sent to the South Atlantic in late 1914 to hunt down the German East Asia Squadron
and destroyed it at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
. Indomitable participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank
in the North Sea
in early 1915 while Inflexible was badly damaged during the opening stages of the Dardanelles Campaign
. The ships formed the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron
at Jutland
where Invincible was destroyed by the explosion of an artillery magazine
. The two surviving ships spent the rest of the war conducting patrols of the North Sea, as the High Seas Fleet
was forbidden by the Kaiser
to risk any more losses. They were put into reserve in early 1919 and sold for scrap on 1 December 1921.
They spent most of the war patrolling the North Sea and participated in most of the battles there.
Of the three, only New Zealand was in the United Kingdom when the war began. Indefatigable was in the Mediterranean, where she unsuccessfully pursued the German warships and as they sailed towards Turkey
. New Zealand participated in some of the early actions in the North Sea
, including the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the inconclusive Scarborough Raid
. Indefatigable and New Zealand participated in the Battle of Jutland, where the former was destroyed by a magazine explosion after numerous hits from the battlecruiser . New Zealand patrolled uneventfully after Jutland, watching for the next appearance of the High Seas Fleet. She conducted Admiral Jellicoe
on his tour of India and the Dominions after the war. New Zealand was sold for scrap in 1922 to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty.
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The Lion class, nicknamed the "Splendid Cats", were a significant improvement over their predecessors of the in speed, armament, and armour. The Lion-class ships were 2 knots faster, exchanged the 12 inches (30 cm) guns of the older ships for 13.5 inches (34 cm) guns, and had a waterline belt
9 inches (23 cm) thick versus the 6 inches (15 cm) of the Indefatigables. These improvements were in response to the German , Germany's second class of battlecruisers, which were larger and more powerful than the first British battlecruisers of the .
HMS Lion served as the flagship
of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers throughout the First World War, except when she was being refitted or under repair. She sank the German light cruiser
during the Battle of Heligoland Bight and served as Vice Admiral
Beatty's
flagship at the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. She was so badly damaged at the first of these battles that she had to be towed back to port by and was under repair for more than two months. During the Battle of Jutland she suffered a serious propellant fire that destroyed one gun turret, which had to be removed and rebuilt while the ship was under repair for several months.
Princess Royal served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began and then was 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 by the two Invincible-class battlecruisers, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. During the Battle of Dogger Bank she scored only a few hits, although one directly crippled the German armoured cruiser , which allowed the enemy vessel to be caught and sunk by the concentrated fire of the British battlecruisers. Shortly afterwards Princess Royal became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral
Osmond Brock
. She was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Both ships spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although they did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
in 1917. In 1920 they were both put into reserve and were sold for scrap a few years later under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
and did not perform well. She next participated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 where she was one of the British battlecruisers most often hit by German shells; she was only lightly damaged. She spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although she did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.
Tiger was the oldest battlecruiser retained by the Royal Navy after the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty came into effect in 1922. She became a gunnery training ship in 1924 and joined the Battlecruiser Squadron in 1929 while its flagship, , underwent a lengthy refit. Upon Hoods return to service in 1931, Tiger was decommissioned
and sold for scrap in 1932 in accordance with the terms of the London Naval Treaty
of 1930.
The Renown class ships were originally laid down as improved versions of the s. Construction was suspended at the outbreak of the war on the grounds they would not be ready in time. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart their construction as battlecruisers that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction
(DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but they were delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. They were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.
was the only ship of the class to see combat in the First World War when she participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917. Both ships were reconstructed twice between the wars; their armour protection was increased along with other lesser improvements in the 1920s, while a much more thorough reconstruction was done in the 1930s, especially for . Both ships served during the Second World War; they searched for the in 1939, participated in the Norwegian Campaign
of April–June 1940, and searched for the in 1941. Repulse was sunk on 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea
off Kuantan
, Pahang
, by Japanese aircraft.
Renown spent much of 1940 and 1941 assigned to Force H
at Gibraltar
escorting convoys, and she fought in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento
. She was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and provided cover to several Arctic convoys in early 1942. The ship was transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch
and spent much of 1943 refitting and transporting Winston Churchill
and his staff to and from various conferences with Allied leaders. In early 1944 Renown was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, where she supported numerous attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in Indonesia
and various island groups in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home Fleet in early 1945 and was placed in reserve after the end of the war. Renown was sold for scrap in 1948.
Lord John Fisher's Baltic Project
, which was intended to land troops on the German Baltic Coast. The ships of this class
were fast but very lightly armoured with only a few heavy guns. They were given a shallow draught, in part to allow them to operate in the shallow waters of the Baltic but also reflecting experience gained earlier in the war. To maximize their speed, the Courageous class were the first capital ship
s of the Royal Navy to use geared steam turbine
s and small-tube boiler
s. This made them the fastest capital ships in existence, slightly faster than even the Renown-class ships.
The first two ships, and , were commissioned in 1917 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. They participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight and were present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later. Their half-sister
was designed with a pair of 18 inches (46 cm) guns, the largest guns ever fitted on a ship of the Royal Navy, but was modified during construction to take a flying-off deck
and hangar in lieu of her forward turret
and barbette
. After some patrols in the North Sea her rear turret was removed and another flight deck added. Her aircraft attacked the Zeppelin
sheds during the Tondern raid
in July 1918. All three ships were laid up
after the end of the war, but were rebuilt as aircraft carrier
s during the 1920s. Glorious and Courageous were sunk early in the Second World War and Furious was sold for scrap in 1948.
, commander of the Grand Fleet, saw no real need for more battleships. A number of German battlecruisers
had been laid down that were superior to the bulk of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers so the design was revised to counter these. The class was going to consist of , Anson, Howe, and Rodney—all names of famous Admirals—but the latter three ships were suspended as the material and labour required to complete them was needed for higher-priority merchantmen and escort vessels. Their designs were updated to incorporate the lessons from the Battle of Jutland, but the Admiralty eventually decided that it was better to begin again with a clean-slate design so they were cancelled in 1919.
Hood, however, was sufficiently advanced in construction that she was completed in 1920 and immediately became flagship
of the Battlecruiser Squadron
of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1923–24 Hood, accompanied by and a number of s, sailed around the world
from west to east via the Panama Canal
. On 23 April 1937, after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
, she escorted three British merchantmen into Bilbao
harbour despite the presence of the Nationalist
cruiser that attempted to blockade the port. Hood spent most of the early part of the Second World War patrolling against German commerce raiders and escorting convoys. As flagship of Force H
based at Gibraltar
, she bombarded French ships during the attack on Mers-el-Kébir. In May 1941 Hood and the battleship were ordered to intercept the and the heavy cruiser
as they attempted to break out into the North Atlantic. In the subsequent Battle of the Denmark Strait
Hoods aft magazines exploded, sinking her within five minutes of the start of the battle.
design. The G3s carried nine 16 inches (406.4 mm) guns and were expected to achieve 32 knots, while the N3s would carry nine 18 inches (457.2 mm) guns on the same displacement at the expense of a slower speed. While officially referred to as "battlecruisers", the G3s have also been considered "fast battleship
s".
The G3 design was approved by the Board of Admiralty on 12 August 1921. Orders were placed in October and November, but were suspended later in November with the beginning of the Washington Naval Conference
, which limited battleship numbers. The orders were cancelled in February 1922 with the ratification of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited construction to ships of no more than 35000 long tons (35,561.8 t) displacement.
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
was the brainchild of Admiral Sir John ("Jacky") Fisher, the man who had sponsored the construction of the world's first "all big gun" warship, . He visualised a new breed of warship with the armament
Naval artillery
Naval artillery, or naval riflery, is artillery mounted on a warship for use in naval warfare. Naval artillery has historically been used to engage either other ships, or targets on land; in the latter role it is currently termed naval gunfire fire support...
of a battleship, but faster, lighter, and less heavily armoured. The first three battlecruisers, the , were laid down while Dreadnought was being built in 1906.
This design philosophy was most successful in action when the battlecruisers could use their speed to run down smaller and weaker ships. The best example is the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...
where and sank the German armoured cruisers and almost without damage to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships. They were less successful against heavily armoured ships, as was demonstrated by the loss of Invincible, , and during the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
in 1916. All three ships were destroyed by more heavily armoured German battlecruisers, with the British failure to prevent fires or explosions in the gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s from reaching the magazines
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
also playing a role in the losses.
Of the battlecruisers built before the First World War, the Invincible class and Indefatigable class all had 6 inches (15 cm) of armour on their waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
, a top speed of 25 knots (13.6 m/s), and eight 12 inches (30 cm) guns. The more advanced battlecruisers—the two Lion-class ships, , and —all had an armour belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
of 9 inches (23 cm), speeds over 28 knots (15.2 m/s), and eight 13.5 inches (34 cm) guns. The Renown and Courageous classes, built during the war, were begun when Admiral Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
for the second time in late 1914. Each of these classes in turn served as the fastest capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s in the world and were heavily armed with four or six 15 inches (38 cm) guns, but they paid for their speed and armament by having less armour than battleships. was laid down during the war, but was extensively reworked with more armour based on the experience gained at the Battle of Jutland, and was not completed until after the war.
Following the war, the British planned to build the G3 class, which had the same armament and armour as battleships of the time and were rated as battlecruisers only by comparison to the more heavily armoured and slower battleships also planned. They were cancelled as they exceeded the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
. Of the first nine battlecruisers, only HMS Tiger survived the Washington Treaty and into the 1930s. The three Courageous-class ships were converted to aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s during the 1920s and only Repulse, Renown and Hood served in the Second World War as battlecruisers. All three went through substantial refits between the wars. Hood was lost in the battle of the Denmark Strait
Battle of the Denmark Strait
The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941...
, Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft at the start of the war in the Pacific
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and Renown survived the war to be scrapped
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in 1948.
Key
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery Main battery Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns... guns |
| Armour | Waterline belt Belt armor Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships.... thickness |
| Displacement | Ship displacement Displacement (ship) A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load... at deep load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed in knots |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel Keel In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event... began to be assembled |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned Ship commissioning Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military... |
Invincible class
The Invincible-class ships were the first battlecruisersThese ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911, when they were re-designated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including cruiser-battleship, dreadnought cruiser, and battle-cruiser. See Roberts, pp. 24–25 in the world. The design resembled that of HMS Dreadnought, but sacrificed armour protection and one gun turretGun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
from the main battery for a 4 knots speed advantage. During the war Inflexible and Indomitable participated in the unsuccessful pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the German Mittelmeerdivision comprising the battlecruiser and the light cruiser...
in the Mediterranean. Inflexible was recalled home shortly afterwards, but Indomitable remained off the Dardanelles to bottle up the German ships for the rest of 1914 before returning to the UK. Invincible and Inflexible were sent to the South Atlantic in late 1914 to hunt down the German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
and destroyed it at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...
. Indomitable participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in early 1915 while Inflexible was badly damaged during the opening stages of the Dardanelles Campaign
Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
The naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign of the First World War were mainly carried out by the Royal Navy with substantial support from the French and minor contributions from Russia and Australia. The Dardanelles Campaign began as a purely naval operation...
. The ships formed the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron
3rd Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was a short-lived Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War.-Creation:...
at Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
where Invincible was destroyed by the explosion of an artillery magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
. The two surviving ships spent the rest of the war conducting patrols of the North Sea, as the High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
was forbidden by the Kaiser
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
to risk any more losses. They were put into reserve in early 1919 and sold for scrap on 1 December 1921.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| HMS Invincible | 8 × 12-inch (305 mm) | 6 inches (15 cm) | 20420 long tons (20,748 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 25 knots | 2 April 1906 | 20 March 1909 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916 |
| HMS Inflexible | 5 February 1906 | 20 October 1908 | Sold for scrap, 1 December 1921 | ||||
| HMS Indomitable | 1 March 1906 | 20 June 1908 | |||||
Indefatigable class
The design of the Indefatigable class represented a modest reworking of the preceding , featuring increased endurance and an improved cross-deck arc of fire for their midships wing turrets achieved by lengthening the hull. Like its predecessor, the design resembled the contemporary dreadnought, but sacrificed armour protection and one turret from the main battery for a 4-knot speed advantage. Originally was the only ship of the class, but and were later built as part of a scheme to improve the defense of the Dominions by having each Dominion purchase a "fleet unit" of one battlecruiser, three light cruisers, and six destroyers. New Zealand agreed to fund one battlecruiser and chose a modified Indefatigable design rather than the then being built for the Royal Navy.They spent most of the war patrolling the North Sea and participated in most of the battles there.
Of the three, only New Zealand was in the United Kingdom when the war began. Indefatigable was in the Mediterranean, where she unsuccessfully pursued the German warships and as they sailed towards Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. New Zealand participated in some of the early actions in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, including the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the inconclusive Scarborough Raid
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians...
. Indefatigable and New Zealand participated in the Battle of Jutland, where the former was destroyed by a magazine explosion after numerous hits from the battlecruiser . New Zealand patrolled uneventfully after Jutland, watching for the next appearance of the High Seas Fleet. She conducted Admiral Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
on his tour of India and the Dominions after the war. New Zealand was sold for scrap in 1922 to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| HMS Indefatigable | 8 × 12-inch | 6 inches | 22430 long tons (22,790 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 25 knots | 23 February 1909 | 24 February 1911 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916 |
| HMS New Zealand | 20 June 1910 | 19 November 1912 | Sold for scrap, 19 December 1922 | ||||
Lion class
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
9 inches (23 cm) thick versus the 6 inches (15 cm) of the Indefatigables. These improvements were in response to the German , Germany's second class of battlecruisers, which were larger and more powerful than the first British battlecruisers of the .
HMS Lion served as the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers throughout the First World War, except when she was being refitted or under repair. She sank the German light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
during the Battle of Heligoland Bight and served as Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Beatty's
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
flagship at the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. She was so badly damaged at the first of these battles that she had to be towed back to port by and was under repair for more than two months. During the Battle of Jutland she suffered a serious propellant fire that destroyed one gun turret, which had to be removed and rebuilt while the ship was under repair for several months.
Princess Royal served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began and then was sent to the Caribbean to prevent the German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
from using the Panama Canal. After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands by the two Invincible-class battlecruisers, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. During the Battle of Dogger Bank she scored only a few hits, although one directly crippled the German armoured cruiser , which allowed the enemy vessel to be caught and sunk by the concentrated fire of the British battlecruisers. Shortly afterwards Princess Royal became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Osmond Brock
Osmond Brock
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Osmond de Beauvoir Brock KCB, KCMG, KCVO was a Royal Navy officer.-Naval career:Brock was the eldest son of Commander Osmond de Beauvoir Brock of Guernsey and he joined the Navy in 1882. Appointed midshipman in 1886, he passed for Lieutenant with first classes in every...
. She was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Both ships spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although they did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
The Second Battle of Heligoland Bight was a naval engagement during the First World War. On 17 November 1917, German minesweepers clearing a path through the British minefield in the Heligoland Bight near the coast of Germany were intercepted by two British light cruisers, and , performing...
in 1917. In 1920 they were both put into reserve and were sold for scrap a few years later under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| HMS Lion | 8 × 13.5-inch (343 mm) | 9 inches (23 cm) | 30820 long tons (31,315 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28 knots | 29 November 1909 | 4 June 1912 | Sold for scrap, 31 January 1924 |
| HMS Princess Royal | 2 May 1910 | 14 November 1912 | Scrapped beginning 13 August 1923 | ||||
HMS Queen Mary
HMS Queen Mary was similar to the s, though she was slightly larger and given more powerful engines to achieve the same speed as the earlier ships. Her secondary guns were better protected and some of her belt armour was redistributed. She was the last battlecruiser completed before the beginning of the war, and she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight shortly after the war began. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she unsuccessfully attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914. She was refitting during the Battle of Dogger Bank in early 1915, but participated in the next major fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Queen Mary hit the German battlecruiser early in the battle and burnt out one of that ship's rear turrets. Seydlitz later knocked out one of Queen Marys main guns. The German battlecruiser , in the meantime, had lost sight of her previous target in the haze and switched to Queen Mary. Within 10 minutes, Queen Mary was hit twice, exploding shortly afterwards.| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| HMS Queen Mary | 8 × 13.5-inch | 9 inches | 31844 long tons (32,355 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28 knots | 6 March 1911 | 4 September 1913 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916 |
HMS Tiger
HMS Tiger was the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy at the start of the First World War, although she was still being finished when the war began. The ship was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron for the duration of the war and participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank in early 1915 even though she was still shaking downShakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
and did not perform well. She next participated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 where she was one of the British battlecruisers most often hit by German shells; she was only lightly damaged. She spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although she did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.
Tiger was the oldest battlecruiser retained by the Royal Navy after the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty came into effect in 1922. She became a gunnery training ship in 1924 and joined the Battlecruiser Squadron in 1929 while its flagship, , underwent a lengthy refit. Upon Hoods return to service in 1931, Tiger was decommissioned
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
and sold for scrap in 1932 in accordance with the terms of the London Naval Treaty
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...
of 1930.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| HMS Tiger | 8 × 13.5-inch | 9 inches | 33260 long tons (33,794 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28 knots | 6 June 1912 | 3 October 1914 | Sold for scrap, February 1932 |
Renown class
Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
(DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but they were delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. They were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.
was the only ship of the class to see combat in the First World War when she participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917. Both ships were reconstructed twice between the wars; their armour protection was increased along with other lesser improvements in the 1920s, while a much more thorough reconstruction was done in the 1930s, especially for . Both ships served during the Second World War; they searched for the in 1939, participated in the Norwegian Campaign
Norwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
of April–June 1940, and searched for the in 1941. Repulse was sunk on 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
off Kuantan
Kuantan
Kuantan is the state capital of Pahang, the 3rd largest state in Malaysia. It is situated near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. If one measures the distance along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it is located roughly halfway between Singapore and Kota Bharu...
, Pahang
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
, by Japanese aircraft.
Renown spent much of 1940 and 1941 assigned to Force H
Force H
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....
at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
escorting convoys, and she fought in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento
Battle of Cape Spartivento
The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War...
. She was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and provided cover to several Arctic convoys in early 1942. The ship was transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
and spent much of 1943 refitting and transporting Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and his staff to and from various conferences with Allied leaders. In early 1944 Renown was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, where she supported numerous attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and various island groups in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home Fleet in early 1945 and was placed in reserve after the end of the war. Renown was sold for scrap in 1948.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
| HMS Renown | 6 × 15-inch (381 mm) | 6 inches | 32220 long tons (32,737 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31.5 knots | 25 January 1915 | 20 September 1916 | Sold for scrap, August 1948 |
| HMS Repulse | 25 January 1915 | 14 November 1916 | Sunk by Japanese air attack 10 December 1941 | ||||
Courageous class
The Courageous class comprised three battlecruisers, known as "large light cruisers", that were nominally designed to support Admiral of the FleetAdmiral of the Fleet
An admiral of the fleet is a military naval officer of the highest rank. In many nations the rank is reserved for wartime or ceremonial appointments...
Lord John Fisher's Baltic Project
Baltic Project
The Baltic Project was a plan promoted by the Admiral Lord Fisher to procure a speedy victory in a war with Germany. It involved landing a substantial force, either British or Russian soldiers, on the flat beaches of Pomerania on the North German coast, under 100 miles from Berlin. To support this...
, which was intended to land troops on the German Baltic Coast. The ships of this class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
were fast but very lightly armoured with only a few heavy guns. They were given a shallow draught, in part to allow them to operate in the shallow waters of the Baltic but also reflecting experience gained earlier in the war. To maximize their speed, the Courageous class were the first capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s of the Royal Navy to use geared steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s and small-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
s. This made them the fastest capital ships in existence, slightly faster than even the Renown-class ships.
The first two ships, and , were commissioned in 1917 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. They participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight and were present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later. Their half-sister
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
was designed with a pair of 18 inches (46 cm) guns, the largest guns ever fitted on a ship of the Royal Navy, but was modified during construction to take a flying-off deck
Flight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...
and hangar in lieu of her forward turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
and barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
. After some patrols in the North Sea her rear turret was removed and another flight deck added. Her aircraft attacked the Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
sheds during the Tondern raid
Tondern raid
The Tondern raid, officially designated Operation F.7, was a British bombing raid mounted by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force against the Imperial German Navy's airship base at Tondern in Germany. It was the first attack in history made by aircraft flying from a carrier flight deck. On 19 July...
in July 1918. All three ships were laid up
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
after the end of the war, but were rebuilt as aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s during the 1920s. Glorious and Courageous were sunk early in the Second World War and Furious was sold for scrap in 1948.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
| HMS Courageous | 4 × 15-inch | 2 inches (5.1 cm) | 22560 long tons (22,922 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 32 knots | 28 March 1915 | 28 October 1916 | Sunk by , 17 September 1939 |
| HMS Glorious | 1 May 1915 | 14 October 1916 | align= left | Sunk by the German battleships and 8 June 1940 | ||||
| HMS Furious | 2 × 18-inch (457 mm) | 22890 long tons (23,257 t) | 8 June 1915 | 26 June 1917 | Sold for scrap, 15 March 1948 | ||
Admiral class
The Admiral-class battlecruisers were intended as improved versions of the s, but were recast as battlecruisers after Admiral John JellicoeJohn Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
, commander of the Grand Fleet, saw no real need for more battleships. A number of German battlecruisers
Mackensen class battlecruiser
The Mackensen class was the last class of battlecruisers to be built by Germany in World War I. The class was to have comprised four ships: Mackensen, the name ship, Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, and Fürst Bismarck. None of the vessels were completed, as shipbuilding priorities were redirected...
had been laid down that were superior to the bulk of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers so the design was revised to counter these. The class was going to consist of , Anson, Howe, and Rodney—all names of famous Admirals—but the latter three ships were suspended as the material and labour required to complete them was needed for higher-priority merchantmen and escort vessels. Their designs were updated to incorporate the lessons from the Battle of Jutland, but the Admiralty eventually decided that it was better to begin again with a clean-slate design so they were cancelled in 1919.
Hood, however, was sufficiently advanced in construction that she was completed in 1920 and immediately became flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Battlecruiser Squadron
Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service from 1919 to the early part of the Second World War.- Formation :...
of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1923–24 Hood, accompanied by and a number of s, sailed around the world
Cruise of the Special Service Squadron
In 1923-24, HMS Hood and the Special Service Squadron sailed around the world on The Empire Cruise, visiting many ports of call in the countries which had fought together during the First World War. The Squadron departed Devonport on 27 November 1923 and headed for Sierra Leone...
from west to east via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
. On 23 April 1937, after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, she escorted three British merchantmen into Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
harbour despite the presence of the Nationalist
Spanish State
Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
cruiser that attempted to blockade the port. Hood spent most of the early part of the Second World War patrolling against German commerce raiders and escorting convoys. As flagship of Force H
Force H
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....
based at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, she bombarded French ships during the attack on Mers-el-Kébir. In May 1941 Hood and the battleship were ordered to intercept the and the heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
as they attempted to break out into the North Atlantic. In the subsequent Battle of the Denmark Strait
Battle of the Denmark Strait
The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941...
Hoods aft magazines exploded, sinking her within five minutes of the start of the battle.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
| HMS Hood | 8 × 15-inch | 12 inches | 46680 long tons (47,429 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31 knots | 1 September 1916 | 15 May 1920 | Sunk 24 May 1941 by the |
| HMS Anson | 9 November 1916 | Suspended March 1917 | Cancelled 27 February 1919 | ||||
| HMS Howe | 16 October 1916 | ||||||
| HMS Rodney | 9 October 1916 | ||||||
G3 Battlecruiser
The G3 battlecruisers were planned as a response to naval expansion programmes by the United States and Japan. The four ships of this class would have been larger, faster, and more heavily armed than any existing battleship (although several projected foreign ships would be larger). The "battlecruiser" designation came from their higher speed and lesser firepower and armour relative to the planned N3-class battleshipN3 class battleship
The N3 class was a dreadnought battleship class designed for the Royal Navy after World War I, incorporating all the lessons learned from that conflict. They were very similar in design to the s, but had larger guns and thicker armour...
design. The G3s carried nine 16 inches (406.4 mm) guns and were expected to achieve 32 knots, while the N3s would carry nine 18 inches (457.2 mm) guns on the same displacement at the expense of a slower speed. While officially referred to as "battlecruisers", the G3s have also been considered "fast battleship
Fast battleship
Historically, a fast battleship was a battleship which emphasized speed without - in concept - undo compromise of either armor or armament. The term is especially appropriate when applied to a design which was not only faster than the preceding battleship class, but faster than subsequent classes...
s".
The G3 design was approved by the Board of Admiralty on 12 August 1921. Orders were placed in October and November, but were suspended later in November with the beginning of the Washington Naval Conference
Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference also called the Washington Arms Conference, was a military conference called by President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington from 12 November 1921 to 6 February 1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations...
, which limited battleship numbers. The orders were cancelled in February 1922 with the ratification of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited construction to ships of no more than 35000 long tons (35,561.8 t) displacement.
| Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Fate | |||||
| G3 Battlecruiser | 9 × 16-inch (406 mm) | 14 inches (36 cm) | 53909 long tons (54,774 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31 knots | Ordered 26 October 1921 | Cancelled February 1922 |
See also
- List of battlecruisers of Germany
- List of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy
- List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy