The various treaties finally all expired in 1936 with Japan's refusal to sign the London II Treaty. The gloves were off and all of the Allied nations went out to the 45,000 ton limit and beyond for their next designs. Algarve was no different. To ease construction the same turret (triple 15") as used on the Mars class was produced for the Venus class as well. The difference being four turrets fitted to the Venus type while the Mars type only had three. This required a much bigger ship, almost 15,000 tons heavier, a lot of which was the extra breadth, thicker armour, and extra turret. Originally ordered as a class of four the first two were laid down in 1937 and 1938 while the final two were laid down in 1939 and 1940. The Venus was completed in early 1941 and had benefitted from the double shifts instituted from the beginning of WW2, the Andromeda was completed late 1941. The final two ships were halted at the start of the war and then cancelled in 1940. Consideration was given to converting the ships to aircraft carriers, but neither was advanced enough to warrant further action. The equipment and fittings for the two ships were used on other vessels.
Displacement: 48,000 tons standard, 56,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 808 x 116 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 150,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 14" side, 6.5" deck, 15/10/6" turrets.
Armament:
12 x 15" (4x3)
20 x 4.5" (10x2)
48 x 40mm (24x2)
Aircraft: 3
Crew: 2350
Good Ship Venus Poem (Dirty lyrics - avoid reading if easily offended)
Twas on the good ship Venus,
By God you should have seen us,
The figurehead was a whore in bed
And the mast the Captain’s penis.
The captain of this lugger,
He was a dirty bugger,
He wasn’t fit to shovel shit
From one ship to another.
The captain’s wife was Mabel.
Whenever she was able,
She’d fornicate with the second mate
Upon the galley table.
The cabin boy was Kipper,
A dirty little nipper,
We stuffed his arse with broken glass
To circumcise the skipper.
The captain had a daughter,
Who fell into the water,
We heard her squeal and knew an eel
Had found her sexual quarter.
The second mate’s name was Andy,
His balls were long and bandy,
We filled his arse with molten brass
For wanking in the brandy.
The captain’s name was Morgan,
By Christ he was a gorgon!
Ten times a day sweet tunes he’s play.
On his productive organ.
The captain’s daughter Mable,
They laid her on a table!
And all the crew would come and screw
As oft as they were able.
“Twas on a Chinese station,
We caused a great sensation.
We sunk a junk in a sea of spunk
By mutual masturbation.
Another cook was O’Malley,
He didn’t dilly dally.
He shot his bolt with such a jolt
He whitewashed half the galley.
Another one was Cropper,
Oh Christ he had a whopper.
Twice round the deck, around his neck
And up his bum for a stopper.
The ship's dog's name was Rover,
The whole crew had him over,
We ground that faithful hound
From Singapore to Dover.
The bosun's name was Carter
He was a musical farter
He could play ‘God Save the Queen' from beginning to end
And Beethoven's moonlight sonata.
They spied whore upon the shore.
And off came shirt and collar.
In 20 minutes by the clock,
she'd made a thousand dollars.
The first mates name was Carter
By God he was a farter
When the wind wouldn't blow and the ship wouldn't go
they called on Carter the farter to start her
So now we end this serial,
Through sheer lack of material.
I wish you luck and freedom from
Diseases venereal.