Talk:Queen Elizabeth-class battleship

Italics
I think "Queen Elizabeths" looks ugly and would be better if the whole was italicised (i.e. Queen Elizabeths). Anyone agree/disagree? -- Cabalamat 16:00, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Well, I made the change because I thought it was an improvement, but change them back if you wish. But the '-s's shouldn't be italicized, since they aren't part of the name.
 * &mdash;wwoods 17:00, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Factual Inaccuracy
"they forced the Germans to alter the armament of the Bayern class armament from its original 12 inch (305 mm) guns to 15 inch (381 mm)"

I have removed the following sentence from the introduction as it is fatually incorrect. Most sources suggest that the Germans started developing their 15 inch gun prior the Royal Navy, but could not get the gun into service nearly as fast as the British. I have replaced the sentence with a Quote from the 1919 edition of Janes. Getztashida 15:29, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The "sinking" of QE and Valiant in Alexandria Harbour, 1941
I've gone around the QE class articles updating the details of this famous incident. Up 'til now, they have all claimed that both ships were "sunk", but there were never any citations. Reading through Stephen Roskill's official history and John Winton's biography of Andrew Cunningham reveals that neither ship was "sunk" by any standards - QE was seriously damaged, suffering loss of power, and eventually grounded on the harbour bottom after counter-flooding to correct her list. Valiant was in a far less serious state, at the damaged section her hull bottom was quite extensively stoved in (but critically not holed, save for started rivets), and she remained clear of the bottom with power, propulsion and armament intact. The damage was still very serious for both ships - and I've made sure that the articles still reflect this - but neither ship could have been said to be "sunk" by any means.

There don't appear to be any good online sources, but see the following discussion:

Warships1 board

Paddyboot (talk) 15:44, 17 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Generally a ship is not classed as 'sunk' unless there is water over the main deck, or if the ship is in shallow water and has capsized etc., so as to render salvage necessary. i.e., the ship is effectively lost unless an inordinate amount of effort is expended to recover her.


 * The best term to use would be 'were put out of action' or something similar. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 13:02, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

Wrong name
HMS Malay, not Malaya —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.107.21.84 (talk) 00:38, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * No, HMS Malaya, not Malay. (Colledge, p.213; Janes, p. 35; Massie, p. 586; here, here and here). Benea (talk) 03:10, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Propulsion
Queen Elizabeth class battleship: 75,000 shp with 27,500 tons standard and 24 knots Revenge class battleship: 26,500 shp with 29,150 tons standard and 21 knots I think 75,000 shp can not be correct. 188.23.86.150 (talk) 21:38, 24 September 2010 (UTC)


 * It takes a lot of power to get relatively small increases in speed. The numbers are about right195.217.166.8 (talk) 12:48, 15 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The number struck me as a bit excessive, too. Speed goes very roughly as the cube root of shaft horsepower, assuming similar hull form. By that (admittedly rough) formula, the speed ratio 24/21 requires a power ratio of not quite 1.5, considerably less than the nearly 3 to 1 ratio in these numbers. Looking around the Web, I find at http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battleship/hms-queen-elizabeth.html that the 75,000 shp figure is maximum overload while the normal maximum is 56,000 -- still considerably greater than the cube law would suggest, but it makes me wonder if the problem is an oranges/apples comparison. Yaush (talk) 14:57, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Revenge design legend was 31,000 shp on 25,500 tons 2.100.193.184 (talk) 11:21, 14 June 2023 (UTC)
 * for 21 knots 2.100.193.184 (talk) 11:22, 14 June 2023 (UTC)

Design and description
The Queen Elizabeth-class ships were designed to form a fast squadron for the fleet that was intended to operate against the leading ships of the opposing battleline. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship.

Warspite had a length overall of 643 ft, a beam of 90 ft and a deep draught of 33 ft. She had a normal displacement of 32590 LT and displaced 33260 LT at deep load. She was powered by two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at 75000 shp and intended to reach a maximum speed of 24 kn. Warspite had a range of 5000 nmi at a cruising speed of 12 kn. Her crew numbered 1,025 officers and ratings in 1915 and 1,220 in 1920 while serving as a flagship.

The Queen Elizabeth class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15 in Mk I guns in four twin gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Twelve of the fourteen BL 6 in Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the forecastle deck near the aft funnel and were protected by gun shields. Their anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 3 in 20 cwt Mk I guns. The ships were fitted with four submerged 21 in torpedo tubes, two on each broadside.

Warspite was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15 ft rangefinders. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'B' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in July 1917.

The waterline belt of the Queen Elizabeth class consisted of Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was 13 in thick over the ships' vitals. The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 in of KC armour and were supported by barbettes 7 - 10 in thick. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 in in thickness. The main conning tower was protected by 13 inches of armour. After the Battle of Jutland, 1 inch of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazines and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines.

Secondary Armament
HMS Queen Elizabeth did have 16 6" guns. If the remainder of the vessels did not have 16 6" guns then shouldn't the table say 12- 16 6" guns? Wandavianempire (talk) 18:22, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

Put names up front
When I, and probably many other readers, link to the page about a class of ships, it is usually to find out which ships were in that class. Therefore I suggest putting the names in the introduction. Granted, that might not be possible for ships with many examples. I considered making this edit myself, but I suspect some sort of standard exists. So I won’t meddle. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 05:43, 21 August 2023 (UTC)

how many ships she sank
there's no real number but you can find archives in the british navy museum.