Lion-class battleship
| File:Lion Class.png Lion Class Battleship
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Lion Class Battleship |
| Builders: | Armstrong Shipyard |
| Operators: | Commonwealth Navy |
| Preceded by: | Repulse-class battleship |
| Succeeded by: | none |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Active: | 0 |
| Laid up: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Battleship |
| Displacement: | 65,000 tonnes empty, 72,000 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 281m |
| Beam: | 34m |
| Draught: | 10.8m |
| Installed power: | 4 shafts, 4 x steam turbines, 8 x 2-drum boilers (172,000 bhp / 128MW) |
| Speed: | 28 knots |
| Range: | 30,600+ km at 10kn |
| Complement: | 1,750 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
Belt: 16 inches (406.4 mm), tapering to 10.24 inches(260 mm), inclined 20 degrees Deck: up to 8 inches (203 mm) Barbettes: 22 inches (558.8 mm) Gun turrets: 26 inches (650 mm) Bulkheads: 18 inches (457 mm) |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 x helipad (standard), up to 18 STOVL fighter, helicopters or UAVs (aviation mod) |
The Lion-class was a class of two fast battleships of the Commonwealth Navy, the second class of such capital ships in Arthuristan service after the early-30s era Repulse-class battleship.
They were first designed and laid down in the late 1930s, the culmination of two developing factors. First of all, Arthurista was rapidly recovering from a major economic depression, when the government again had the resources to pursue large-scale rearmament. Secondly, tension with the breakaway fascist power known as the Arthuristan National State was rapidly rising and, recognising the obsolescence of their 1910s-era Elbareth Class and Admiral Class Battlecruisers, as well as an opportunity to improve upon the early-30s Repulse-class battleship, the Admiralty accorded the Lion Class Project a high level of priority. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the war in 1941, the Fascists had achieved a 8-8 parity in modern fast capital units, despite the overall 16-8 advantage in ship-of-the-line numbers enjoyed by the Commonwealth Navy by virtue of its modernised 1910s-era dreadnoughts and battlecruisers. This was offset by the sheer fighting power of Lion-class vessels - combining eight 18-inch guns, a 20-degrees inclined main armour belt of 16-inches thick and reasonable speed, they were designed to outclass any Pardesian capital ship in a one-on-one duel.
Rather than the projected all-out decisive engagement with the opposing capital fleet's Warlord Class Battleship and Sword Class Battlecruisers, they were predominantly used as anti-aircraft escorts for the fleet carriers, as well as coastal gunfire support. In fact, most of the large scale surface actions of the war were fought between ad hoc task groups of cruisers and destroyers, often at night at point blank range with radar-directed gunnery and torpedoes. On the other hand, recognising the threat posed by aircraft to the battleship, the Lion Class packed an extensive array of AA armament. Its masses of 40mm Bofors in quad-mounts and Oerlikon 20mm autocannons were deadly to attacking aircrafts at close range, while the dual purpose 5.25 inch turrets could lay down a lethal wall of bursting shells at a range of 12km, making the battleships very well-suited to the role they were actually used for. Both ships served with distinction and survived the war, although Temeraire was heavily damaged by a Fascist Aichi divebomber in 1943 and was only returned to service in 1946, after the end of the war.
In the decade after the war, the two vessels' secondary battery of 5.25 inch heavy DP guns and its 40mm Bofors mounts were replaced by a uniform heavy AA battery of 3 inch (76.2mm) 70 calibre guns in twin mounts, considered the best balance between stopping power and rate of fire and far more effective than a combination of both of its predecessors in dealing with contemporary high speed jet aircrafts, despite the reduction in barrel numbers.
Although the Admiralty has long realised that the days of the battleship as decisive weapons of war were over, there remained no substitute for them in the fire support role. As such, both Lion and Temeraire were kept in service throughout the Cold War years together with two earlier Repulse-class battleships, periodically modernised with up to date technology. For example, some of the ships' light AA gun mounts were exchanged for Sea Cat missiles in the early 60s and then Goalkeeper CIWS in the 1980s to give the ships the ability to defend themselves against sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. It was also fitted with Arthurista's first anti-ship missile, the Greenwich Hammerhead. Superficially resembling the Estovakivan Termit and Rodarian Silkworm, the Hammerhead Mk 1 utilised a liquid-fuel rocket motor for a maximum range of 40km and the Mk 2 used solid fuel for a maximum range of 110km.. They were armed with a 400kg shaped charge warhead and an active radar seeker capable of detecting destroyer-sized targets at 20km, supplemented by a mid-course guidance datalink. They were replaced by Harpoons in the 1980s.
Lion was placed in reserve in 1986. The last remaining active vessel, Temeraire, was radically modified into an aviation battleship, with a ski-jump take-off deck for STOVL fighters fitted to the port side and a flat helicopter deck on the starboard.
Currently, the Temeraire has been mothballed. Although very unlikely to be called into serve once again, it remains officially part of the navy’s inventory and theoretically could be reactivated as a unit of the fleet.
Ships of the Lion Class
- Lion
- Temeraire (aviation mod)