HMS Lion

Type:
Battlecruiser
Class:
Builder:
Devonport Dockyard
Plymouth, England
Pennant Number:
N/A
Ordered:
1909
Launched:
August 6, 1910
Keel Laid:
November 29, 1909
Commissioned:
June 4, 1912

Fate:
Sold Jan. 31, 1924 to Hughes Blockow and scrapped, stripped at Jarrow-on-Tyne, England and
hull broken up at Blyth, Scotland.


Dimensions, machinery and performance
Length:
700'
Engines:
4 Parsons geared steam turbines
Beam:
88' 2"
Boilers:
42 Yarrow (coal fired with oil backup)
Draft:
27' std. / 28' 10" full
Shafts:
4
Displacement:
26,270 std. / 29,680 full
HP:
70,000
Speed:
27 knots
Crew:
1000+
Range:
5,610 NM @ 10 knots / 2,420 NM @ 23.9 knots


Armament as built
Number Carried
Type
Arrangement
Maximum Range / Ceiling
8
13.5"/45 (343mm)
Mk V (L)
4 twin turrets
23,740 yards @ 20° (13.4 miles)
1,400 lb. AP shell
Rate of fire 1-2 RPM
14
4"/50 (102mm)
BL Mk VII
Single mounts
casemates
11,600 yards @ 15° (6.5 miles)
31 lb. HE shell
Rate of fire 6-8 RPM
2
21" (533mm)
torpedo tubes
broadside
submerged
10,750 yards @ 31 knots (6.1 miles)
4,500 yards @ 45 knots (2.5 miles)
515 lb. TNT warhead
Armament notes:
After 1917 several AA guns installed.


Combat Victories
Date
Name
Type
Tons
Nationality
Notes
Aug. 28, 1914
SMS Cöln
Cruiser
4,864
Germany
(a)
Jan. 24, 1915:
SMS Seydlitz
Battlecruiser
28,550
Germany
(b) damaged
Notes:
(a):
Assisted by HMS Princess Royal. Only one crewman survived.
(b):
Seydlitz hit twice, both aft turrets destroyed, 159 crewmen killed.


History
Aug. 6, 1910:
Christened by Lady Clifden.
Aug. 28, 1914:
Battle of the Heligoland Bight, assisted in sinking SMS Cöln.
Jan. 24, 1915:
Admiral David Beatty's flagship at the Battle of Dogger Bank. Received 18 hits during
the battle. Had to be towed by HMS Indomitable to Rosyth, Scotland for repairs.
May 31, 1916:
Damaged at the Battle of Jutland, 12 direct hits from Derfflinger and Lützow, ninty-nine crewmen were reportedly killed.

One hit destroyed Q turret where Maj. Francis J. W. Harvey, R.M., although mortally wounded, ordered the magazine doors closed and the magazine flooded thus saving the ship from the fate of HMS Queen Mary, HMS Indefatigable and HMS Invincible which all exploded and sank at Jutland. He died shortly thereafter and was awarded the Victoria Cross (posthumously). During repairs the gunnery crew was found dead, with their hands still holding the magazine door handles closed.


Builder's Data
Page published Oct. 19, 2007