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HMAS Queen Victoria (BB-1916 (1939-mod))
With the arrival of the plans for the two types of 15" Battleship, Queen Elizabeth and Revenge classes, choices had to be made as to what would serve the Australis Navy best. With the large distances around Australis and the Pacific Ocean, speed was deemed a neccessary asset. The Naval commissioners decided the Queen Elizabeth designs would suit better. The blend of speed armour and armament made the class the best all round battleships of World War One. The three Australis Queens did not reach Europe till the beginning of 1917 by which time all of the major naval battles had been decided and the naval war was a matter of exercises and drills.
The Queens were rebuilt during the 1938-40 period, and this was an extensive rebuilding with everything from B to X turret being removed and replaced, new bow section being fitted, new deck armour and the tertiary armament was greatly augmented with lots of dual-purpose and anti-aircraft guns being fitted. The aircraft handling facilities were not fitted as these 3 ships had been paired with the Van Dieman aircraft carrier since that ships completion. The ships speed was kept to the 25 knot mark as this made it possible for the Iron Dukes to be made up to the same speed giving the Navy a seven ship 'battlefleet' .
Original look of the "Queen" class battleships 1918/19.
| Displacement | 29,500 tons std, 36,500 tons full load |
| Length | 669 ft |
| Breadth | 98 ft |
| Draught | 30 ft |
| Machinery | 4 shaft steam turbines, 80,000shp |
| Speed | 25 knots |
| Range | 5,000 miles at 15 knots |
| Armour | 13" side, 5.5" deck, 13/11/5" turrets |
| Armament | 8 x 15" (4x2) 24 x 4.5" (12x2) 56 x 2pd (7x8) 12 x 20mm (4x2 4x1) |
| Aircraft | nil |
| Torpedoes | nil |
| Complement | 1350 |
| Notes |
The workings of a 15" gun turret.
