HMS Tiger was planned as a fourth ship of the Lion Class, identical to Queen Mary. However, the design study for the Japanese
Kongo had a strong influence on the design of
the Tiger, and she was redrawn to be far closer to
the Kongo than to the three Lion Class ships.
The poor main battery layout of the Lion Class was corrected, as was the poor mast
arrangement. What resulted was a battlecruiser
equivalent of the Iron Duke Class battleships, with the same main battery,
round funnels, tripod masts, and 6"
secondary battery. The armor layout was strongly
influenced by Kongo, resulting in a better protected ship than
the Lions. However, the decision to use the traditional
B & W boilers, instead of the new small-tube
Yarrow design, cost weight. The Director
of Naval Construction, Sir Eustace Tennyson,
claimed that the use of these obsolete boilers
cost 4 knots of speed, and valuable weight
that could have been used on protection.
Tiger had an increased coal capacity, the
largest ever for a British ship. But the
increase in SHP over the Lion Class resulted in a very high fuel consumption,
so range was no better than preceding classes.
A sister ship, to be named HMS Leopard, was proposed under the 1912 Navy Estimates,
but postponed until 1914. The money was appropriated
but used to order a sixth Queen Elizabeth class battleship instead, which was in turn
cancelled when the war broke out.
Tiger was one of the best looking ships ever built
for the Royal Navy, and continued in service
until 1932. She was discarded under the treaty
limits.
| Laid down 20Jun 1912 |
Launched 15 Dec 1913 |
Completed Sep 1914 |
Commissioned 3 Oct 1914 |
| Fate Feb 1932 Sold for scrap |
Builders John Brown |
Complement 1121 |
|
| Displacement 28,430 tons standard, 35,160 full load |
Dimensions 660' x 90' |
Draught 28' 5"' full load |
|
| Main guns 8 x 13.5" L42 (4 x 2) |
Secondary guns 12 x 6" (12 x 1) |
Light guns 2 x 3" AA (2 x 1) 3 x 4 -lbs (3 x 1) |
Torpedo tubes 4 x 21" submerged |
| Armour Belt: 9" sloped Turrets: 9" Deck: 3" C.T.: 10" |
|||
| Machinery 39 Bobcock & Wilcox boilers |
Turbines Brown-Curtis |
Power output 108,000 shp |
Shafts 4 |
| Speed 28 kts design |
Range 4650 @ 10 kts |
Fuel 450 tons coal normal 3480 tons coal max |
|
HMS Tiger
24 Jan 1915 Battle of Dogger Bank, received
three hits, 12 killed
31 May 1916 Battle of Jutland, received 17
hits, 24 killed
2 Jul 1916 Repairs completed
1917 Refit, flying off platform added to
Q turret, searchlight platforms to 3d funnel
1918 Refit, mainmast shifted to top of derrick-stump
1922 Sea-going training ship
1929-31 Active duty while HMS Hood under refit
30 Mar 1931 Paid off at Devonport
Mar 1932 Sold and broken up at Inverkeithing
HMS Leopard
Proposed, but not ordered.
