Lion Class Battleship - Design and Description

Design and Description

The choice of 14-inch (356 mm) gun and the mix of quadruple and twin turrets for the main battery of the King George Vs had been dictated by the Second London Naval Treaty, which limited battleships to 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) standard displacement and a main calibre of 14 inches. However, when the Japanese Government refused to agree to its terms, the maximum calibre allowed reverted to 16 inches in April 1937. The Board of Admiralty then began preliminary design work on a 35,000-ton ship armed with 16-inch guns and they were promising enough that the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) was ordered to further investigate such designs, providing for several aircraft as well. To save design time, many of the features of the King George Vs were incorporated in the new design, but the limited size of the ship was a real challenge for the designers. The increased weight of the main armament was compensated for by a slight reduction in the overall weight of armour and the elimination of two twin 5.25-inch (133 mm) gun turrets.

The designer's issues were made much easier on 31 March 1938 when the signatories of the Treaty invoked its escalation clause because the Japanese refused to provide any information about their battleship construction programme and the signatories feared that their new ships could be outclassed by the new Japanese battleships. The new limit was 45,000 long tons (46,000 t), but the Admiralty decided to limit themselves to 40,000 long tons (41,000 t) and nine 16-inch guns on cost grounds. A new design was prepared with more armour, more powerful machinery, the two twin 5.25-inch gun turrets restored, and four aircraft added. The Admiralty approved this design on 15 December and bids were solicited very shortly afterwards.