HMS Lion (1910)

Lion underway
History
United Kingdom
NameLion
NamesakeLion
Ordered1909–1910 Building Programme
BuilderHM Dockyard, Devonport
Laid down29 November 1909
Launched6 August 1910
Commissioned4 June 1912
Decommissioned30 May 1922
FateSold for scrap, 31 January 1924
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeLion-class battlecruiser
Displacement
Length700 ft (213.4 m)
Beam88 ft 7 in (27 m)
Draught32 ft 5 in (9.9 m) at deep load
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range5,610 nmi (10,390 km; 6,460 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement1,092
Armament
Armour

HMS Lion was a battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She was the lead ship of her class, which were nicknamed the "Splendid Cats".[1] They were significant improvements over their predecessors of the Indefatigable class in terms of speed, armament and armour. This was in response to the first German battlecruisers, the Moltke class, which were very much larger and more powerful than the first British battlecruisers, the Invincible class.

Lion served as the flagship of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers throughout World War I, except when she was being refitted or under repair.[2] She sank the German light cruiser Cöln during the Battle of Heligoland Bight and served as Vice-Admiral David Beatty's flagship at the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. She was so badly damaged at the first of these battles that she had to be towed back to port and was under repair for more than two months. During the Battle of Jutland she suffered a serious propellant fire that could have destroyed the ship had it not been for the bravery of Royal Marine Major Francis Harvey, the gun turret commander, who posthumously received the Victoria Cross for having ordered the magazine flooded. The fire destroyed one gun turret which had to be removed for rebuilding while she was under repair for several months. She spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although she did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917. She was put into reserve in 1920 and sold for scrap in 1924 under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference c24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Campbell, p. 29