The Orion-class were the first dreadnought battleship to be armed with a gun larger than 12-inches. This would, in addition to the necessary changes to mount that gun, prompt them to be called ‘Super Dreadnoughts’. The 13.5-inch armed Orion would, as such, create a new naval race and a new kind of battleship.
Or an extension upon the existing dreadnoughts, depending on how you view it.
Further Reading:
https://www.amazon.com/British-Battleships-World-War-One/dp/1591140536/
https://www.amazon.com/British-Battleship-1906-1946-Norman-Friedman/dp/1591145627/
https://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Builders-Constructing-British-Capital-ebook/dp/B00USBFQYG/
source
First comment
Well summarised for this class of inauspicious dreadnoughts
Yes. Another of my Old Friends from the Avalon Hill Jutland Game.
.
I really don't understand why they held on to wing turrets this long. Now I'm no engineer. But looking at HMS Dreadnaught's wing turrets, it has issues. Unless they were trying to start a new trend of having battleships fire only forward. But even that is problematic.
the silliest thing about this particular class,
is the placement of the foremast behind the first funnel.
something that would lead to anyone in the fighting top
becoming smoked sailor.
She is much smaller than she looks-only 22k tons and very short lived-12 years. An America class LHA is twice as big and designed to last 40 years
As it turns out bigger wasn`t better some 12 inch guns outperformed them. and were capable to fire much faster.the same happened years later with the Nelson-Class guns.
HMS Empress of India had also mounted a 13.5 inch main armament.
As a youth, we had a family friend who, as a 16 year old boy, fought in Y turret of HMS Monarch at Jutland. Strange to think that was 107 years ago.
I never thought I would subscribe to a Yank talking about 'my' navy. However I thought the video was excellent. It must be rememberd that battleships were not meant to fight. If mine is bigger and better than yours I'm going to do nasty things to you so don't come out to play.
The leader of the turret farm trend.
Fantastic video, as usual my friend! Keep up the great content.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Thanks for this presentation on the Orion class this squadron rarely gets mentioned.
The ' Orions' fired a total of 198 , 13.5 inch rounds and suffered no casualties at Jutland.
Great work!
I really appreciate this channel, while drachnifel is great at going into detail on specifics, it's a lot harder to find more general overviews on stuff on his channel
Just found the channel, great content. Got a sub and likes from me!
German ships reached 21 lnts on trial with best quality coal ( often imported from Wales) but,on operations, often lost a couple of knots because of the truly awful German rubbish.
However. considerably less effective, These are the guns replaced by the 12" on the preDreadnoughts, replace at 1.5" increments by the 13.5" and 15" guns.
Well…the "Supers in Being"? 😂
By 1918 the Royal Navy numbered 1200 ships !
I always thought these battleship were prettier than their successors as the hull was smooth sided with no cut in bulkheads for gun casements. I wonder if these got a interwar modernization such as the Italians did with their ships. Rejoval of the midships turret rebuilding the powerplant fir greater speed and insurance burning oil. Extention of the forcastle deck aft to the rear deck house giving room for a row of dp. Guns. Speaking of guns, the 13.5s would be traded in for 14 inch. With new superstructures the result would look very similar to HMS Queen Elizabeth after her WW2 modifications.
Un gran acorazado monocalibre de la segunda generación