Queen Elizabeth in her original configuration at Lemnos, 24 April 1915
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Queen Elizabeth class |
Operators | Royal Navy |
Preceded by | Iron Duke class |
Succeeded by | Revenge class |
In commission | 1914–1947 |
Planned | 6 |
Completed | 5 |
Cancelled | 1 |
Lost | 1 |
Scrapped | 4 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Type | Super dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | |
Length | 643 ft 9 in (196.2 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 90 ft 7 in (27.6 m) |
Draught | 33 ft 7 in (10.2 m) (deep load) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 4 shafts; 2 steam turbine sets |
Speed | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
Range | 5,000 nmi (9,260 km; 5,750 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement |
|
Armament |
|
Armour |
|
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a group of five super-dreadnoughts built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. These battleships were superior in firepower, protection and speed to their Royal Navy predecessors of the Iron Duke class as well as preceding German classes such as the König class. The corresponding Bayern-class ships were generally considered competitive, although the Queen Elizabeth class were 2 knots (3.7 km/h) faster and outnumbered the German class 5:2. The Queen Elizabeths are generally considered the first fast battleships of their day.
The Queen Elizabeths were the first battleships to be armed with 15-inch (381 mm) guns, and were described in the 1919 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships as "the most successful type of capital ship yet designed."[1] They saw much service in both world wars. Barham was lost to a U-boat attack in 1941, but the others survived the wars and were scrapped in the late 1940s.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)