Modern Naval Craft

[Cigarette Card: H.M.S. 'Warspite']
H.M.S. "WARSPITE," British Battleship

First built under the 1912 estimates as a unit of the Queen Elizabeth class of five ships, the Warspite was completed at Devonport on March 1915, and was in action at Jutland. Four of these ships have been, or are in process of being, modernized at a cost approximately equal to the original contract price of £2,500,000 each. With displacements ranging from 30,600 to 31,100 tons, they are over 600 feet long, with a speed of 25 knots and a complement of nearly 1,200.

H.M.S. "REVENGE," British Battleship, "Royal Sovereign" Class
Five ships of this class were projected under the 1913-14 estimates, and were all completed and commissioned during the Great War, at an average cost of £2,500,000. The Revenge was built by Vickers. The armament consists of eight 15-inch guns, with an adequate number of subsidiary weapons, and 21-inch torpedo tubes. She has a displacement of 29,150 tons and a speed of 22 knots. Some of her sister ships include aircraft in their equipment. Bulges of improved type as a protection from underwater attack were fitted after the War. Their lower freeboard renders these ships rather wet in heavy weather.

H.M.S. "HOOD," British Battle Cruiser
Begun under the Emergency War Programme in 1916, H.M.S. Hood was built by John Brown & Co., Clydebank, and cost about £6,000,000. She has a speed of 31 knots, a displacement of 42,1000 tons and carries a complement of 1,341. Her armament consists of eight 15-inch guns, twelve 5.5-inch guns, four 4-inch anti-aircraft guns and subsidiary weapons, besides six 21-inch torpedo tubes. She is fitted with outside bulges as protection against under-water attack, and has specially thickened side armour and conning tower. The Hood is reckoned as a first-class fighting unit.

H.M.S. "REPULSE," British Battle Cruiser, "Renown" Class
Provided for by the 1914-15 Navy estimates, the two ships of this class were both built on the Clyde, at a cost of about £3,000,000 each. Both have been extensively reconstructed. The armament consists of six 15-inch and twelve 4-inch guns with numbers of subsidiary weapons, including 21-inch torpedo tubes. The two ships each ahve a displacement of 32,000 tons, a speed of 28-29 knots and carry a complement of about 1,200. Owing to the additional armour protection which has been provided, the speed has been reduced from the original 31 knots.

H.M.S. "EXETER," British Cruiser, "York" Class
This class, numbering two ships, is a modification of the three-funnelled Dorsetshire type which preceded it, being 1,585 tons lighter. Originally it was intended that there should be three funnels, but the necessity of saving space decided that the two forward uptakes should be trunked into a single casing. Built at Devonport Dockyard, the Exeter has a displacement of 8,390 tons. Her complement is 600 and her speed 32 knots with 80,000 h.p. Her armament is exceptionally heavy, consisting of six 8-inch guns, with adequate subsidiary weapons, including 21-inch torpedo tubes. She carries two aircraft with catapults.

Rev 2000-02-18