NEW BATTLESHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 2, 2 July 1938, Page 9

NEW BATTLESHIPS

FIVE BRITISH GIANTS

Particulars of the five British battleships of the King George V class, now building, are published in the monthly journal of the German Admiralty writes Hector By water in the "Daily Telegraph and Morning Post." The King George V and the Prince of Wales are expected to be launched this year at Walker-on-Tyne and Birkenhead respectively. They will be followed by the Anson at Clydebank, the Beatty at Govan, and the Jellicoe at Wallsend-on-Tyne. All five ships are due to be completed before March 31, 1941. According to the German authority the main armament consists of ten 14in guns, mounted in two quadruple and , and one double turret. Assuming this to be correct, it is probable that there will be one quadruple turret forward, with the double turret raised above it,' and a quadruple turret on the quarter deck,- giving. a ', Jjow flire of six guns, a stern fire? of four, and a broadside of ten. This lay-out of the main armament will give the ships a much more symmetrical appearance than that of -the Nelson, in which all three triple 16in ! turrets are placed forward. Moreover, the two: funnels ancLjfcwp masts, with which the KihglGeorge V type is provided, .will contribute to a wellbalanced profile. HIGHER RATE OF FIRE. With an armament of ten 14in guns the weight of a .full salvo will be about 40 per cent^less than that fired by the Nelson's nine'l6in guns. A 14in projectile weighs aboutf 15601b -compared with the 20001b 16in shell. Thus the respective weights of a broadside from the King George V and the Nelson would be 15,6001b and 18,0001b. As, however, the 14in gun has a higher rate of fire, the total weight of metal dischjarged by the j King George V in a given period would ! not be greatly inferior to that of the 116 in gun ship. It is understood that the King George V and her sisters will be longer than any previous British bat-1 j tleship and have a breadth exceeding [the Nelson's 106 ft. The total weight of armour protection will be about 13,000 tons. This | enormous proportion of ■ defensive weight has been made possible by the saving effected by choosing Kin guns and quadruple turrets. The total weight of the King George V's main armament is probably little, if at all, greater than that of the Queen Elizabeth's eight 15in guns in double turrets.

The new ships will mount the most powerful anti-aircraft batteries ever installed afloat.