Lucrezia Quintilian-Class Battlecruiser

Class overview
Name:	Lucrezia Quintilian-class battlecruiser
Builders:	Royal Shipbuilders of Cacerta
Operators:	Cacertian Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Anastasia Alberti-class
In commission:	1921 – 1946
Planned:	3
Completed:	3
Lost:	1
Retired:	2
Preserved:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Battlecruiser
Displacement:	29,364 tons standard 35,956 tons fully loaded
Length:	256 meters
Beam:	29.4 meters
Draft:	8 meters
Propulsion:	3 × CNRC geared turbines 10 × Caustus superheated boilers 3 × shafts each driving five-bladed propellers
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h)
Range:	14,000 nautical miles at 20 knots
Complement:	1,965 officers and crew
Armament:	Guns: 9 × 380mm RN-BCIII guns (3 × 3) 12 × 150mm RN-QFII guns (6 × 2) Dual-purpose: 14 × 105mm RN-DPII guns (6 × 2) Anti-aircraft: 16 × 40mm RN-AAIII guns (8 × 2) 16 × 16mm RN-AAII guns (16 × 1)

The Lucrezia Quintilian-class was a class of three battlecruisers built for the Cacertian Royal Navy in the aftermath of the Divide War and served during the Siduri War. The Lucrezia Quintilian-class ships were also the last class of purpose-built battlecruisers built for the CRN, the role of battlecruisers having been brought into question following their performance during the early engagements of the Siduri War.

All three ships were laid down in 1920 as part of the Cacertian Empire’s rearmament efforts following its defeat during the Divide War. New naval doctrine developed from lessons learned during combat in the Sundering Sea called for faster, but well-armed, warships that could pursue lighter vessels that dreadnoughts and ships-of-the-line could not close to engage.

The class served extensively during the early stages of the Siduri War; one serving with Task Force Center, another with Task Force Andria and the last serving with Task Force South. Their fast cruising speed allowed them to raid coastal cities of Allamunnika and Syara on the Sundering Sea and often escaping before being engaged. All three were present at the Battle of the Sabri Sea where the Veronica Quintilian was sunk after extensive brawling on the third day.

Both the Lucrezia Quintilian and the Morena Quintilian survived the war, but were later struck in 1947. The Morena was broken up for scrap in 1952 with the Lucrezia being restored and preserved at the Fumicino Naval Warfare Museum.

Design

In early 1919, many high-ranking members of the Royal Navy gathered to discuss the shortcomings of the navy’s performance during the Divide War. At the time of the conflict, Cacertian naval doctrine emphasized strong line formations consisting of warships with extremely heavy armor and firepower. The negative to this focus being that Cacertian formations, while devastatingly effective at optimal range, were relatively easy to outrun and out-maneuver. The Syaran Navy used this to their advantage, deploying large numbers of light cruisers and destroyers armed with torpedoes to inflict severe damage on Cacertian warships before escaping out of range of return fire. While the CRN did possess a number of ships designated as battlecruisers at the time, many of them were found to be too under-gunned having made sacrifices in armament for armor. It was then concluded that the Cacertians would need to re-evaluate the future of battlecruisers and their role in the navy.

The requirements for the new battlecruiser design was provided to the Royal Shipbuilders in mid-1919 and included the ability to steam for twelve hours at 32 knots with an endurance of 7,100 nautical miles at 20 knots. Its acceleration between 20 to 30 knots should take no longer than fifteen minutes and the engine room should be sufficiently protected so that the ship would not be slowed even after taking hits in that area. Highly specific values were provided for each aspect of the design’s armor which featured extensive anti-torpedo and mine protection alongside defenses meant to take on return fire from 280mm naval batteries and 300kg bombs. The desired main armament of the design would be nine 380mm guns in three triple turrets supported by a dozen 150mm dual-purpose cannons.

This new battlecruiser design, being developed around the same time as the new generation of battleships, was expected to have a large strike range as they were expected to operate independently with nearly six weeks of onboard supplies. While a full double-hull was initially considered to improve their survivability, it was ultimately dropped as it was deemed too expensive to develop and would also increase the weight and cut speed.

The final design had the new battlecruisers at a length of 236 meters with a beam of 29.4 meters and a draft of 7.8 meters. The displacement at a full long-distance load would be 34,200 metric tons. Constructed from longitudinal steel frames, the outer hull plates would be welded and consisted of twenty-one watertight compartments with a double bottom that made up 79% of the ship’s length.

Armament

The Lucrezia Quintilian-class ships were built with nine 380mm RN-BCIII quick-firing guns housed in three triple turrets, two forward and one aft. They were an improvement over the earlier RN-BCIIs found on the preceding Anastasia Alberti-class. The RN-BCIIIs were considered smaller caliber than guns of other comparable navies, but they were characterized by their high muzzle velocity (900 meters per second) and fast rate of fire (3.5 rounds per minute). The Lucrezia’s turrets allowed the guns to be depressed −8° and elevated up to 40° with a traverse speed of 7.6 deg/sec. At maximum elevation, the main battery could hit targets up to 40,930 meters away.

The secondary armament consisted of a battery of twelve 150mm RN-SBI quick-firing guns. The turrets were similarly designed to those found on the Amika Carpio-class battleships and could elevate 40° and depress -10°. They fired 45.3kg shells at a rate of fire between 6–8 shots per minute with a barrel life of approximately 1,100 rounds. The secondary batteries had a maximum range of 23,000 meters at maximum elevation and were supplied with 1,600–1,800 shells, or 133–150 shells per gun. The anti-aircraft armament aboard the Lucrezia Quintilian-class consisted of 105mm dual-purpose guns supplemented by a mix 40mm and 16mm anti-aircraft guns.

In 1933, all three battlecruisers were also outfitting with six 540mm deck-mounted torpedo tubes, three on each side amidships. Each ship carried eighteen torpedoes, or three full reloads.

Armor

The armored belt of the Lucrezia Quintilian class ranged in thickness form 165mm to 225mm with the most reinforced sections protecting the central part of the ship with specific focus on the ammunition magazine. The upper deck armor was 50mm thick and the mid-deck consisted of thicknesses between 85mm—105mm. The slopes of the armored connected to the lower edge of the main belt in a turtle deck arrangement; these slopes provided significantly improved armor protection. The conning tower had armor that was 270mm thick with 120mm thick roof armor. Each turret had armor faces that were 360mm thick with 200mm sides and a 150mm roof.

Propulsion

All three ships were powered by three CNRC geared turbines that drove three five-bladed screws that were 4.8 meters in diameter. Steam was provided to the turbines by ten Caustus ultra-high pressure boilers which produced 5,900 kPa at temperatures of 450 °C. The engines were rated at 157,811 shp at 265 revolutions per minute; during sea trials the Lucrezia managed to make 163,900 shp at 280 rpm. Although the ships were designed and ordered to reach speeds of up to 32 knots, all three ships beat their designed speeds by reaching an excess of 34 knots during trials. Each ship carried up to 2,800 tons of fuel oil as designed, although additional storage areas (which included hull spaces in between the belt and torpedo bulkhead) increased the capacity to 5,000 metric tons. Electrical power was supplied by five electrical plants, each made up of four diesel generators and eight turbo-generators. The total electrical power output was 4,120 kW at 220 volts.

Construction

The lead ship of the class, the Lucrezia Quintilian, was laid down at Fumicino Dock 0031 for the CNRC on 9 February 1920 with a designation of BC-LQ-001. She was launched on 14 March 1921 and was completed three weeks later. On 10 July 1921, the Lucrezia was commissioned for service.

Morena Quintilian, the class’s second ship, was laid down eleven days after the keel of the Lucrezia and constructed in Fumicino’s Dock 0020; she was launched on 25 March 1921. After fitting out in Paviolo, Morena was commissioned on 21 July 1921.

The third ship of the class, Veronica Quintilian, was constructed in Paviolo Dock III as a large majority of the dry-dock facilities in Fumicino were occupied scrapping old dreadnoughts and constructing new ships as part of the CRN’s new naval strategy. Veronica was launched 19 April 1921 and completed her fitting out in June. She was later commissioned in August.

Service History

HMS Lucrezia Quintilian

Main article: HMS Lucrezia Quintilian (BC-LQ-001)

HMS Morena Quintilian

Main article: HMS Morena Quintilian (BC-LQ-002)

HMS Veronica Quintilian

Main article: HMS Veronica Quintilian (BC-LQ-003)

Current Status

Two ships of the class survived the war, Lucrezia Quintilian going on to be preserved as part of the Fumicino Naval Warfare Museum. The Morena was struck from the naval roster in 1947 and later broken up for scrap in 1952 in Paviolo. The third ship, Veronica, was lost during the conflict with her wreckage later found by Dr. Iwao Harada during his expedition to find the Azalia D’Orio in 1992.

Units

#	Designation	Name	Shipyard	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status	Commanding Officer
I	BC-LQ-001	Lucrezia Quintilian	Fumicino Dock 0031	9 February 1920	14 March 1921	10 July 1921	Preserved at the Fumicino Naval Warfare Museum.	N/A
II	BC-LQ-002	Morena Quintilian	Fumicino Dock 0020	20 February 1920	25 March 1921	21 July 1921	Broken up for scrap in 1952.	N/A
III	BC-LQ-003	Veronica Quintilian	Paviolo Dock III	14 March 1920	19 April 1921	14 August 1921	Sunk following surface action during the Battle of the Sabri Sea, 25 November 1935	N/A