Design
Following the success of the 13.5-inch (340 mm) 45 caliber gun, the Admiralty decided to develop a 15-inch (381 mm)/42 gun to equip the battleships of the 1912 construction programme. The move to the larger gun was accelerated by one or two years by the intervention of Winston Churchill, now at the Admiralty. Rather than waiting for prototype guns, the entire design was optimized on paper for the new weapon, and construction commenced immediately. In making this decision, the Admiralty ran a considerable risk, as a forced reversion to the 12-inch (305 mm) or 13.5-inch (343 mm) gun would have resulted in a ship with weakened striking power.
The initial intention was that the new battleships would have the same configuration as the preceding Iron Duke-class, with five twin turrets and the then-standard speed of 21 knots (39 km/h). However, it was realised that, by dispensing with the so-called "Q" turret amidships, it would be possible to free up weight and volume for a much enlarged powerplant, and still fire a heavier broadside than the Iron Duke. The original 1912 programme envisaged three battleships and a battlecruiser, possibly an improved version of HMS Tiger named Leopard. However, given the speed of the new ships, envisaged as 25 knots (46 km/h), it was decided that the battlecruiser would not be needed and a fourth battleship would be built instead. When the Federation of Malay States offered to fund a further capital ship, it was decided to add a fifth unit to the class (HMS Malaya).
The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) advised that the concept would be feasible only if the ships were powered solely by oil. Previous classes, including those still in construction, used fuel oil, which was still relatively scarce, as a supplement to coal, of which the UK then commanded huge reserves. However, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, undertook to guarantee a supply of oil in wartime, thereby allowing the programme to proceed. The oil eventually was guaranteed by the negotiation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Convention.
Meanwhile, an investigation led by Admiral Jackie Fisher had worked through all the logistical problems associated with oil fuel instead of coal, and so oil fuel was installed. Oil has a much greater energy density, vastly simplified refuelling arrangements, requires no stokers, and emits much less smoke to obscure gun laying, and makes the ships less visible on the horizon.
A further ship was authorized in 1914 and would have been named Agincourt (a name later applied to a dreadnought expropriated from Turkey). Although most sources and several official papers in the class's Ships Cover describe her as a further repeat of the Queen Elizabeth design, one historian has suggested that Agincourt would have been built on battlecruiser lines. This design would have kept the Queen Elizabeth armament, but substituted thinner armour in order to gain a 28-knot (52 km/h) top speed. Whatever the case, Agincourt was cancelled at the outbreak of war in 1914.
In some respects, the ships did not quite fulfil their extremely demanding requirement. They were seriously overweight, as a result of which the draught was excessive and they were unable to reach the planned top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h). In the event, the combination of oil fuel and more boilers provided for a service speed of about 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph), still a useful improvement on the traditional battle line speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) and just fast enough to be thought of as the first fast battleships. However, after Jutland Admiral John Jellicoe was persuaded that the slowest ship of this class was good only for about 23 knots (43 km/h), he concluded that, since this should be considered as the speed of the squadron, it would not be safe to risk them in operations away from the main battlefleet.
Despite these problems, most of which were mitigated in service, the ships were well received and proved outstandingly successful in combat. The savings in weight, cost and manpower made possible by oil fuel only were convincingly demonstrated, as were the benefits of concentrating a heavier armament into fewer mountings.
The class was followed by the Revenge-class, which took the Queen Elizabeth configuration and economized it back down to the standard 21-knot (39 km/h) battle line.
The intended successor to the Queen Elizabeths was to be an unnamed fast battleship with high freeboard, with secondary armament mounting clear of spray, a shallow draught and a top speed of at least 30 knots (56 km/h); however, First Sea Lord Fisher changed it to an even faster but less armoured battlecruiser. Out of the class of four ships, only HMS Hood was completed. Though armour was hastily added during construction that would have made her theoretically on a par with the Queen Elizabeths, the Royal Navy were well aware of the flawed reworking and always considered Hood a battlecruiser and not a fast battleship.
Read more about this topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship
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