HMS Lion 狮级战列舰 (1944 variant)
The first version of the Lion class battleships, designed in 1938, were fairly straightforward upgrades over the previous King George Vs. The Lions had slightly larger hulls than the earlier KGVs to carry bigger 16-inch guns, while their armour, secondary weapons and machinery remain unchanged. Construction of the first two Lions began in 1939, but work was paused with the outbreak of WW2 as resources were more urgently needed elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Admiralty took advantage of this pause to improve the design and to incorporate wartime lessons.
Initial improvements were fairly minor; the design was widened to enhance torpedo protection and the bow raised to keep water out during stormy weather. By 1942, the floatplane hangar and catapults were removed, made obsolete by new radar systems. More drastic changes began in 1944. Combat experiences during the war had proved air attacks to be deadlier than even the most pessimistic expectations. As a result, the 5.25-inch secondaries were replaced by 4.5-inch Mark V guns dedicated for anti-air work, and belt armour was sacrificed in exchange for a staggering 7 inches of deck armour. Interesting, torpedo launchers were also added, likely as acoustic homing ASW weapons. In order to maintain range and a 30-knot top speed after these improvements, the ship had to grow even bigger, reaching nearly 60,000 tonnes by October 1944.
At this point, it was finally accepted that such a massive ship would be exceedingly expensive and practically useless in the age of aircraft carriers. Various efforts to reduce the size of the ship, or attempting to convert it into a hybridcarriers, continued for another year before the Lions were finally cancelled in 1945. The ship I’ve built here represents the B2 design proposal of 1944.
Specifications
Length: 274m/ 899 ft
Beam: 37.8m/ 124 ft
Speed: 30.5 knots from 250,000 horsepower driving 4 shafts
Weapons
3x triple 16-inch/406mm main guns
12 x twin 4.5-inch/113mm Mark V secondaries
10x sextuple 40mm Mark VI Bofors AA
14x single 40mm Mark VII Bofors AA
2x quadruple torpedo tubes.
Armor
200mm/ 7.5 inches deck
305mm/ 12 inches belt and bulkheads
140mm/ 5.5 inches conning tower
Required items:
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Assorted Modpack version 9.81 — Steam Workshop
