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Admiral class battlecruiser

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HMS Hood
General Characteristics

Displacement: 45,200 tons
Length: 860 ft 7 in (262.3 m)
Beam: 104 ft 2 in (31.8 m)
Draft: 33 ft 1 in (10.1 m)
Propulsion: 4 oil turbines producing 144,000 shp
Speed: 31 knots
Range: 5,300 nmi (10,000 km)
Complement: 1,169
Armament: 8 x 15 inch (381 mm) guns
12 x 5.5 inch (140 mm) DP guns
8 x 4 inch (102 mm) DP guns
24 x 2 pdr (40 mm) AA guns
20 x .50 (12.7 mm) cal machineguns
4 x 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Aircraft: 1 catapult-launched plane

The Admiral-class battlecruisers were a group of four British Royal Navy battlecruisers designed near the end of World War I. The class consisted of HMS Anson, Howe, Rodney, and Hood. These ships were intended to counter the German Kaiserliche Marine Mackensen-class battlecruisers that were then under construction. After the Germans stopped working on the Mackensen class, HMS Anson, Howe, and Rodney were cancelled. The Hood was completed and later saw service in World War II.

Contents

History

In 1915 the Admiralty were considering the next generation of warship to follow the Queen Elizabeth-class. The Director of Naval Construction, Sir Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, was given instructions to prepare designs for a new "fast battleship". The designs should incorporate the lessons already learned from Royal Navy vessels operating under wartime conditions; they needed a high freeboard, with secondary armament mounting clear of spray, shallow draught, make in at least 30 knots and use 15 inch guns.

Admiral Jellicoe changed the requirement from fast battleship to large battlecruiser since the rumoured Mackensens would outperform the current British battlecruisers.

In early 1916, the choice was between two designs by E.L. Attwood. In April 1916, the design choice was made. They would be large ships 860 feet long, displacing 36,000 tons. The narrow hull, lightly armoured with small boilers meant that she should be able to reach 32 knots. The orders for the first three were placed the same month, the fourth a while later.

HMS Hood after Viscount Hood to be built by John Brown & Company Ltd, Clydebank
HMS Howe after Earl Howe to be built by Cammell Laird & Company, Ltd
HMS Rodney after Baron Rodney to be built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Ltd.
HMS Anson after George Anson to be built by W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, Ltd.

The loss of British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 led to changes in the design. These included additional armour and changes to the armament. The extra weight of the armour necessitated strengthening the hull and the keel of the first, Hood, was not laid until September 1916. The new displacement would be 42,100 tons.

The non-arrival of the German Mackensens meant that there was no longer a rush to build four ships. At the same time the US was starting on the Lexington class battlecruisers (later to become the Lexington class aircraft carriers) and South Dakota class battleships in her bid to create a navy without equal. The Royal Navy needed better ships than the Admiral class and started looking forward to the G3 battlecruisers and N3 battleships. As her build was already underway the Hood was retained but the other three were cancelled.

Ships in class

HMS Hood at the Panama Canal
Enlarge
HMS Hood at the Panama Canal

Laid down in 1916, construction suspended in March 1917 and cancelled in October 1918.

See also

External links


Admiral class battlecruiser
HMS Anson | HMS Hood | HMS Howe | HMS Rodney

List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy

 

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