HMS Princess Royal British Battlecruiser

HMS Princess Royal

HMS Princess Royal was the second of two Lion-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy before the First World War. Designed in response to the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, the ships significantly improved on the speed, armament, and armour of the preceding Indefatigable class. The ship was named after Louise, The Princess Royal, a title occasionally granted to the Monarch’s eldest daughter.

Completed in 1913, Princess Royal participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the start of World War I in August 1914. She was then sent to the Caribbean Sea to prevent the German East Asia Squadron from using the Panama Canal. After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (BCS). During the Battle of Dogger Bank, the ship scored only a few hits, although one crippled the German armoured cruiser Blücher. Shortly afterward, she became the flagship of the 1st BCS, under the command of Rear-Admiral Osmond Brock.

Princess Royal was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Apart from providing distant support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, the ship spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. She was placed into reserve in 1920, then was sold for scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Class and type	Lion-class battlecruiser
Displacement	26,270 long tons (26,690 t) 30,820 long tons (31,310 t) (deep load)
Length	700 ft (213.4 m)
Beam	88 ft 7 in (27 m)
Draught	32 ft 5 in (9.9 m) at deep load
Installed power	42 × Yarrow boilers 70,000 shp (52,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × direct-drive steam turbine sets 4 × shafts
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	5,610 nmi (10,390 km; 6,460 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	985 (in 1912)
Armament	4 × twin 13.5 in (343 mm) guns 16 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns 2 × 1 – 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 4–9 in (102–229 mm) Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm) Barbettes: 8–9 in (203–229 mm) Turrets: 9 in (229 mm)Decks: 2.5 in (64 mm) Conning tower: 10 in (254 mm)