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
