Lion Class Battlecruiser (1910)
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
All units were likely fitted with this equipment by late 1914.[1]
The transmitting positions were
- Gun control tower
- Conning tower (transmitters to port and starboard with a local switch to select one in use)
- 'B' turret
- 'Q' turret ('X' turret for Queen Mary)
The protocols for how her crew should handle wooding of the turrets was outlined in the Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[2]
Gunnery Control
Queen Mary differed from her sisters by mimicking King George V whereas Lion and Princess Royal were likened to Orion.[3] The control arrangements were likely as follows, with some inferences being drawn due to fundamental differences between these ships and their dreadnought archetypes.
Control Positions
- Control top (for Lion and Princess Royal)
- Gun control tower
- 'B' turret
- 'Q' turret ('X' turret for Queen Mary)
Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS.[4] It is not clear if this applied to Lion and Princess Royal.
Control Groups
The four 13.5-in turrets were separate groups, each with a local C.O.S. so that it could be connected to
- Forward TS
- After TS
- Local control from officer's position within turret
Directors
Main Battery
At some point, the ships were fitted with a cam-type tripod-mounted director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun (in 'Y' turret?).[5] The battery was divisible into forward ('A' & 'B') and aft ('Q' & 'Y') groups, and a C.O.S. in the TS allowed the following modes of control:[6]
- All turrets on aloft director
- All turrets on directing gun
- Forward group on aloft, aft group on directing gun
By 1917, Lion and Princess Royal were awaiting fitting of a second tripod-type director aft, at which time they would have been fitted with a 5-way C.O.S., possibly in the manner:[7]
- All turrets on forward aloft director
- All turrets on aft director
- All turrets on directing gun
- Forward group on forward director, aft group on aft director
- Forward group on forward director, aft group on directing gun
Secondary Battery
The 4-in broadside guns are not listed as ever having had directors installed.[8]
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
Like most previous large British ships of the era, Lion and Princess Royal[9] had 2 TSs, but Queen Mary established the new pattern of using a single TS[10].
Dreyer Table
At the Battle of Jutland, Lion and Princess Royal carried the Mark III Dreyer Tables[11] they were completed with,[12] while Queen Mary was using a Mark II Dreyer Table when she was destroyed.[13][14]
Sometime prior to 1919, Lion and Princess Royal had been upgraded to Mark IV* Dreyer Tables, but had no Dreyer Turret Control Tables.[15]
Fire Control Instruments
Vickers F.T.P. Mark III instruments sent range and deflection data to gun sights, and Barr and Stroud (probably Mark II*[Inference]) instruments used elsewhere.[16]
Gun Ready signals mounted in the TS(s) and control positions indicated which which guns were ready.[17]
Lion and Princess Royal also had Target Visible signals mounted in their TSes and control positions to indicated which turrets could see the target. Queen Mary and later ships lacked this equipment.[18]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 37.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 37.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 8.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 143.
- ↑ Admiralty. Battle of Jutland: Official Despatches, p. 387.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 6-7.
- ↑ Sumida, Jon. In Defence of Naval Supremacy, p. 300.
- ↑ Brooks, John. Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland, p. 8.
- ↑ Sumida, Jon. In Defence of Naval Supremacy, p. 252.
- ↑ Brooks, John. Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland, p. 166.
- ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 72.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
Bibliography
Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917 Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918 Template:BibSumidaIDNS Template:BibBrooksDreadnoughtGunnery Template:BibUKJutlandOfficialDespatches Template:Lion Class (1910)
