The end of World War One saw the Antarctican Admiralty rushing
to complete their final capital ships before the Senate might
cancel them and decide they were no longer required and scrapped
them. The Admiralty had fought too long to have these two ships
built to have them undone now. These were to be the ultimate
fast battleship. The second ship never made it, the Senate
decided with over a year to go to completion that it would no
longer be completed as a battleship. The Senate offered the
Admiralty a way out by having the ship converted to the new
class of ship - an aircraft carrier.
The ship was named for Captain Robert Scott who was Captain of
the Emerald when that ship went north from Northend to discover
Southam. He was a member of the Scot clan and became a member of
the Senate. During his tenure the term Admiral was coined and he
became the first recipient of the new rank. As time went on the
rank was split over others, with Admiral of the Fleet at the top
of the Navy, with Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral denoting
Admirals that actually commanded the ships. The new rank started
an eventual complete revamp of the officer ranking system from
Midshipman to the Lord Admiral of the Fleet who held this post
as part of the Senate.
The main reason the Senate did not complete the Amundsen was
that a pair of 18" battleships may have sparked a new round of
'mine is bigger than yours' building competitions. One ship
would not scare most major powers as there were plenty of 15"
and 16" battleships that could gang up on the Scott. The Captain
Scott went on many 'show the flag' cruises around Antarctica and
its surrounding countries. When you have the most heavily armed
ship in the world, you do want to show it off. Taken in hand for
a full rebuild in June 1939, the rebuild was turned into a refit
with the outbreak of WW2 in September. The major area brought up
to date were the radar and other electronic equipment. The 2
pounder gun system was to be replaced with an upgraded 40mm
Bofors mountings but this took place mounting by mounting over
the next two years. The dual purpose 5" had replaced the twin 6"
in a 1936 refit. It was the machinery that the Navy would have
most liked to renew. April 1940 the ANS Scott was released back
to the Navy.
I can't have the Scott fighting any battles yet as I am still
figuring out who all the goodies and baddies are going to be.
| Displacement | 44,500 tons standard, 48,500 tons full load | |
| Length | 743 ft | |
| Breadth | 116 ft | |
| Draught | 31 ft | |
| Machinery | 4 shaft, steam turbines, 130,000shp | |
| Speed | 27 knots | |
| Range | 8000 miles at 12 knots | |
| Armour | 15" side, 6" deck, 15" turrets | |
| Armament | As completed 8 x 18" (4x2) 16 x 6" (8x2) 6 x 4" AA (6x1) 6 x 2pd AA (6x1) |
1940 8 x 18" (4x2) 16 x 5" (8x2) 56 x 2pd (6x8, 2x4) 24 x 20mm (24x1) |
| Complement | 2050-2080 as Flagship | |
| Notes | Captain Robert Scott - Major Roald Amundsen - converted to CV |
|
Admiral Robert Falcon Scott as he appeared in the Senate during
his ten year tenure.
