These two vessels were originally ordered
as additional "R" Class battleships, but they were cancelled
in 1914 with the start of the war. When Fisher
returned as First Sea Lord, he received permission
to use the material allocated for the battleships
to construct two new battlecruisers.
Fisher touted the easy victory of the British
battlecruisers over obsolete German cruisers
at the Battle of the Falklands as proof that
the battlecruisers were effective at running
down commerce-raiders, but the requirement
for an unusually shallow draft indicates
that he wanted these two ships as part of
his great Baltic Invasion Fleet (see the
Courageous Class history).
These vessels were very lightly built, and
they reverted to the inadequate 6" main
belt found on the first-generation battlecruisers.
Not only were these ships twice as larger,
but also the eight years that had passed
between the two classes has seen the increase
in gun caliber from 12 to 15 inches. The
main belt was very narrow, and covered only
part of the waterline.
Fisher set the goal of constructing these
two vessels in only 15 months, which had
a great effect on the design process. Monitors
had already been started to carry two of
the 8 turrets ordered for the cancelled battleships,
so only 6 turrets were available for the
battlecruisers. The machinery of the HMS Tiger was duplicated to save time, but the number
of boilers was increased to boost speed.
Triple mounts for the secondary battery were
chosen for the first time, but in service
these mounts proved to unreliable, clumsy
to operate, and too crew-intensive. Anti-torpedo
bulges were included as part of the design,
a first in a capital ship.
Construction took 5 and 6 months longer than
expected, but the construction of such large
capital ships in such a short time shows
that even during a war, the British shipyards
were second to none.
Fisher was pleased with the handsome, fast
design of these ships. Upon their arrival
at Scapa Flow as reinforcements for the Grand
Fleet, the knowledge that they were protected
on an identical scale to the lost HMS Invincible and HMS Indefatigable horrified Admiral Jellicoe, who described
them in his memoirs as "white elephants".
Soon after the war they were taken in hand
for reconstruction to improve protection
over the magazines, and also on the turret
roofs. Renown's lightly built hull was damaged during her
gun trials, and the pair spent so much time
in dockyard hands for minor problems that
they earned the nicknames "Refit"
and "Repair".
| Laid down Renown: 25 Jan 1915 Repulse: 25 Jan 1915 |
Launched Renown: 4 Mar 1916 Repulse: 8 Jan 1916 |
Completed Renown: Sep 1916 Repulse: Aug 1916 |
Commissioned Renown: 12 Sep 1916 Repulse:14 Aug 1916 |
| Fate Renown: Sold 1948 Repulse: Sunk 10 Dec 1941 |
Builders Renown: Fairfield, Govan Repulse: John Brown |
Complement 967 |
|
| Displacement 27,947 tons standard, 32,727 full load |
Dimensions 750' x 90' |
Draught 27' 6" full load |
|
| Main guns 6 x 15" L42 (3 x 2) |
Secondary guns 17 x 4" (5 x 3, 2 x 1) |
Light guns 2 x 3" AA (2 x 1) 4 x 3 -lbs (4 x 1) |
Torpedo tubes 2 x 21" submerged |
| Armour Belt: 6" sloped Turrets: 11" Deck: 3.5" C.T.: 10" |
|||
| Machinery 42 Babcock & Wilcox boilers |
Turbines Brown-Curtis |
Power output 112,000 shp |
Shafts 4 |
| Speed 32.6 kts design |
Range 5610 @ 10 kts |
Fuel 1000 tons oil normal 4243 tons oil max |
|
HMS Renown:
WWI Service:
1916 - 1918 Grand Fleet, no action
1923-26 Rebuilt, bulges added, catapult fitted,
additional armor added
24 x 9" armor plates originally ordered
for the Chilean battleship Almirante Cochrane
were used in this refit.
23 Jan 1935 Damaged bow in collision with HMS Hood
1936-39 Rebuilt at portsmouth, new engines,
new masts, tower superstucture
WWII Service:
1939 Service in South Atlantic hunting for
German Raiders
9 Apr 1940 Struck German Gneisenau three
times off Norway, damaged by return fire
1940-41 Force H Gibralter, Bismarck operations,
Malta convoys, Cape Spartivento
9 Feb 1941 Bombarded Genoa
1942-43 Home Fleet, North Africa, Sabang
raid
1945 Reduced to harbor service
19 Mar 1948 Sold and broken up Faslane
HMS Repulse:
WWI Service:
1916 - 1918 Grand Fleet, no action
12 Dec 1917 Collided with HMAS Australia
1919-21 Rebuilt, belt armor increased to
9"
6" belt move up as upper belt
1923-24 World Cruise
Sep 1931 Mutiny at Invergordon
1932-36 Rebuilt, superstructure built up,
hanger and catapult added, AA increased
1936-38 Mediterranean service
WWII Service:
1939-41 Home Fleet, Norway Operations, Bismarck Operations
1941 Transfered to Far East as part of Force
Z
10 Dec 1941, Sunk by Japanese aircraft bombs
and torpedoes off East Coast of Malaya, 327
killed
