The Admiral Byrd followed the earlier Antarctican building
doctrine of having the main guns forward and tertiary guns aft.
The forward guns were the biggest yet, on the Admiral Byrd, with a
pair of 14" guns in a rotating turret forward and four 9.5" in
twin turrets aft. This monitor style suited the Antarcticans who
would always chase. The aft guns being for dissuading enemy
light ships from coming near.
The Admiral Byrd class went from the almost universal 18 knot
battleship to the faster 20 knot speed. This was done so that
the Byrd could chase down enemy battleships and destroy them
with 14" gunfire. The only ships that could catch the Byrd were
cruisers and destroyers. The aft mounted 9.5" would take care of
any cruiser impudent enough to try that.
The three ships served through the First World War, mainly in
the bombardment role, which it turned out their layout made them
very suitable for. One of the class was lost to mines in 1915.
The remaining two went through to 1924 when they were removed
from the Navy List and scrapped. (Anything with Triple expansion
reciprocating engines had been discarded by 1925. The
Antarctican Navy only wanted turbinw machinery on its ships.)
| Displacement | 14,500 tons standard, 17,500 tons full load |
| Length | 444 ft |
| Breadth | 78 ft |
| Draught | 26 ft |
| Machinery | 2 shaft, reciprocating engines, 20,000shp |
| Speed | 20 knots |
| Range | 5000 miles at 10 knots |
| Armour | 11" side, 2" deck, 11"/7"/5" turrets |
| Armament | As completed 2 x 14" (1x2) 4 x 9.5" (2x2) 10 x 4" LA (10x1) 2 x 3" AA (2x1) added 1916 3 x 2pd AA (3x1) added 1917 |
| Torpedoes | 1 x 18" submerged in the bow |
| Complement | 850-880 as Flagship |
| Notes | Admiral Byrd Admiral Nansen Admiral Mawson |
| Elevation | Range | Striking Velocity | Angle of Fall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.20 degrees | 2,500 yards (2,290 m) | 2,293 fps (699 mps) | 1.27 |
| 2.40 degrees | 5,000 yards (4,570 m) | 2,114 fps (644 mps) | 2.78 |
| 4.00 degrees | 7,500 yards (6,860 m) | 1,948 fps (594 mps) | 4.70 |
| 5.65 degrees | 10,000 yards (9,140 m) | 1,798 fps (548 mps) | 7.00 |
| 7.53 degrees | 12,500 yards (11,430 m) | 1,663 fps (507 mps) | 9.85 |
| 9.65 degrees | 15,000 yards (13,720 m) | 1,546 fps (471 mps) | 13.20 |
| 12.03 degrees | 17,500 yards (16,000 m) | 1,452 fps (443 mps) | 17.13 |
| 14.66 degrees | 20,000 yards (18,290 m) | 1,388 fps (423 mps) | 21.58 |
| 17.60 degrees | 22,500 yards (20,570 m) | 1,347 fps (411 mps) | 26.50 |
| 19.55 degrees | 24,000 yards (21,950 m) | 1,336 fps (407 mps) | 29.55 |
| 20.00 degrees | 24,400 yards (22,310 m) | --- | --- |