HMS Princess Royal (CA-1941)

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Largest of the Royal Navy cruisers, they shared the same hull as the Australis Navies Christchurch class but the superstructure and other armament finishing details were different in each type. The semi-automatic 7.5" Mk VII gun was a decent advance over the previous marks. The 7.5" on the Norfolk class were firing at 5-6 rpm while the Mk VII fired at 9-10rpm. This required a much larger cruiser than the previous Norfolk type hull. Fitted with 4 triple turrets and 150 rounds per gun, theoretically the ship could empty its magazine in 15 minutes. In reality with gun ranging and targeting, weather conditions and a raft of other conditions to be met a rate of 6-7 rpm would be a good acchievement. Perfect conditions rarely happen at sea.

Princess Royal was the first of the class completed in October 1941 with the two others, HMS Agincourt (March 1942), HMS Conqueror (June 1942) and HMS Centurion (November 1942) made an excellent impression when they joined the Home Fleet and Force H on completion. Big solid well protected ships they were a match for their opposite numbers in the Italian and Germanic States Navies.

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