LION class

In 1913, the Royal Navy incorporated three Lion class battlecruisers to the Grand Fleet. They were the HMS Lion, HMS Princess Royal and HMS Queen Mary), and at the time of its appearance, they were considered as “super cruisers”. This class represented the same on the battlecruiser’s World as HMS Dreadnought did in the battleship’s World, a colossal technical advance in many concepts. In less than four years the ships went from the blueprints to be sailing, which was a great achievement. The main artillery was composed by 343mm guns, the same caliber as the most powerful British battleships of the time, and the protection scheme was far superior to any previous British battlecruiser. Its speed was excellent, and although the projected maximum was 27 knots, the three vessels surpassed 30 knots in the War. They were nicknamed the “splendid cats” by sailors and were the largest warships put into service before WWI began in 1914. Two units survived the WWI and were withdrawn in 1922 as part of the Washington Treaty agreement.

LION class gallery and more info