The Antarctican Navy had been using the 14" twin turret for a
long time. The British going to 15", the Americans going to 16",
made it sensible for the Antarcticans to go from the 14" to the
16" gun for its new ships. With Europe looking to explode any
minute, the Senate ordered four of the new ships. To aid in
speeding up the building process as many features and fittings
of the Hillary type were to be used in the construction of the
ships.
A powerful ship for sure. Built to be better than the Queen
Elizabeth class. That was achieved. Bigger, better, faster, it
was all three. The new 16"/45 calibre weapon was a very good
gun. It could fire 32,000 yards with a 2,500 pound shell, which
caused mayhem when it arrived at the other end, on an enemy
ship. The ships were completed as Flagships and were used
to command the various Fleets around Antarctica. The Admirals
quarters aft were only used in port as the Admiral would
otherwise have a 200 odd meter run from the quarters aft to the
bridge superstructure forward. All four ships made it through
World War One and into the inter-war years. The ships were
within the Washington Treaty limits and could be kept as is.
1936 and all four ships took their turns for a twelve month
rebuild to enhance these fine ships.
.PNG)
The ships were stripped from B to X turret, all superstructure
being removed. While the main deck was up, new machinery and a
new armoured deck were fitted. The fore funnel was slanted
backward to clear exhaust gases from the new bridge structure. A
pair of hangars were built either side of the funnels with space
made available in the aft superstructure for one more aircraft,
total three. The twin 6" were removed and replaced, one to one,
with the new twin 5" gun system. Four Dual Purpose AA Directors
were fitted to control these weapons. The light AA weapons were
the octuple 2 pounder mounting, of which eight were fitted, and
eighteen single Hispano-Suiza 20mm cannons were also fitted. A
now lethal weapons platform. Further enhancements in electronics
kept arriving and being fitted. 1938 the first ones appeared at
the topmasts, search radar.
| Displacement | 35,800 tons standard, 39,750 tons full load | |
| Length | 695 ft | |
| Breadth | 100 ft | |
| Draught | 28 ft | |
| Machinery | 4 shaft, steam turbines, 130,000shp | |
| Speed | 30 knots | |
| Range | 7000 miles at 10 knots | |
| Armour | 13" side, 2" deck, 14"/10"/6" turrets (6: deck from 1937) | |
| Armament | As completed 8 x 16" (4x2) 16 x 6" (8x2) 6 x 4" LA (6x1) replaced with 4" AA guns 1917 4 x 2pd AA (4x1) added 1917 |
Refits to 1937-38 8 x 16" (4x2) 16 x 5" (8x2) 64 x 2pdr (8x8) 18 x 20mm (18x1) |
| Complement | 1070-1115 as Flagship | |
| Notes | Admiral Barents Admiral Clarkson Admiral Hammond Admiral May |
|
16" shells going from shell room to hoist to go up to the
turret for firing.
