History of HMS Incomparable Project

This Fisher was pleased with the Renown and Courageous Class ships, so he next turned his attention to building his ultimate capital ship. Designed between 1914 and 1916, this design would have been the world's largest warship, at over 50,000 tons displacement and 1000 feet in length. They would have carried the world's largest naval weapons also, with 20" rifles, firing a 4000+ pound shell, as the main battery. Armor would have been just as inadequate as that found on previous designs. Protection against mines was attempted, with a honeycombed double bottom filled with cork.
The ship was to have tremendous bunkerage capacity, and be able to sail around the world without fueling. Small tube boilers and powerful reduction geared turbines would give an estimated 35 knots. The vessel or vessels were to be very lightly built for a short life span, on the theory that all capital ships would be obsolete in 10 years anyway, and thus removed from service. With the war, development of the weapons proved impossible, and after Jutland the battlecruiser type fell out of favor. An idea was hatched to redesign this project with all-or-nothing armor, giving a central citadel of up to 16" thickness, but the entire project was abandoned.

Laid down
N/A
Launched
N/A
Completed
N/A
Commissioned
N/A
Fate
Project abandoned
Builders
N/A
Complement
?
Displacement
49,513 tons standard, 52,890 full load
Dimensions
1000' x 104'
Draught
24' full load
Main guns
6 x 20"
(3 x 2)
Secondary guns
15 x 4" (5 x 3)
Light guns
4 x 3" AA (4 x 1)
9 x 3-lbs (9 x 1)
Torpedo tubes
8 x 21" submerged
Armour
Belt: 10"
Turrets: 14"
Deck: 4"
C.T.: 10"
Machinery
approx 36 Yarrow small tube boilers
Turbines
4 x Brown-Curtis geared
Power output
180,000 shp
Shafts
4
Speed
34 -35 kts design
Range
24,000 + nm @ 10 knots
Fuel
unknown

HMS Incomparable:

Project abandoned before order placed