H.M.S. RENOWN

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160641, 3 May 1920, Page 6

H.M.S. RENOWN

A MIGHTY VESSEL OF WAR

In selecting the battle-cruiser Renown to carry the Prince of Wales to America, the British Admiralty chose a handsome and popular ship to carry a gallant and popular Prince on a tour of good-will. Renown has grace in every line of her, so much so, indeed, that one is apt to forget that she carries six of the most powerful guns afloat to-day. It is easier to credit her speed than her gun-power, for she is both long and lean and in spite of her great siaa, she has all the sweetness of line and delicacy of modelling which characterises the yacht. How big is she? She is 789 feet long. Moreover, she is within a foot or two of being the same length as the Mauretana, although there the similarity ends, for the Mauretana has been driven by her 70,000 horse-power turbine at a maximum speed of 26 knots, whereas the Renown, with her 112,000 horse-power, made on her trial trip 32.6 knots, which is equivalent to about 38 miles an hour. As might be expected, in order to achieve this speed, the Renown was given the fine underwater lines of a destroyer. It has been stated that, except in her bottom plates, there is not a straight line in the whole hull of the ship, and to the practised eye, a great similarity is shown between her lines and those of the latest destroyers. There is a suggestion of her fineness in the fact that in spite of her length, she displaces only 26,600 tons, and her draught is only 26ft 6in. Originally this vessel and the Repulse were laid down as battleships, and work had only just commenced when war was declared. As a result of the success of 'the British battle-cruisers in finding and sinking Admiral von Spec’s fleet at the Falkland Islands, it was decided to bnild the two ships as battle-cruisers, giving them greater speed and a heavier armament than- the existing ships of that class.

LESSONS LEARNED IN WAS.

The Renown embodies many of tie kssons learned in the war, including a modified bulge below water as a protection against torpedoes. In fact, the whole matter of anti-torpedo defence has been well worked out, the protection of the bulge being supplemented by elaborate internal subdivision of the hull of the ship itself. The armament consists of six, 98ton, 15in guns, firing a 19201b shell. Both the guns and the turrets are worked hydraulically. One stroke of a plunger located on the gun above, the breech-block unscrews the latter and swings it open. The guns are elevated by the direct action of a plunger attached below the breach. The bringing up of the heavy ammunition is also done bj hydraulic power. A novel feature is the installation of the four-inch anti-torpedo battery in three gun shield mounts, a compact arrangement which is in line with up-to-date development. An interesting feature Is that this secondary battery of 17 four-inch guns is controlled by special director-firing methods from the -foretop.

The British system of firing is to let go with only the right-hand gun in each turret, which in the Renown means a three-gun salvo. The next salvo consists of the left-hand guns in each turret, and the third salvo of. the righthand guns. The rang© for the aecond salvo is raised 500 yards over the first, and th© third is raised 500 yards over the second. The salvjps come so rapidly that when firing at, say, 15,000 yards’ range, there will be three of these sal-, vos in (he air at the same time. When they land, the splash lays a scale, as it were, down npon the water near or around th© enemy, and from the three shots, the fire-control officer can determine the range for the next salvo. It is known as the ladder” system.

FORWARD FIGHTING TOPS.

The three covered-in platforms on the fighting top of the forward tripod mast contain the fire-control instruments and are occupied by the officers who do the spotting and ranging, by which the position and course of the enemy ships are determined. The motive power consists of water-tube, oil-fired boilers, and Brown-Curtiss turbines. The oil is stored in the double bottom. When the Renown is fully fuelled for a voyage she carries 4350 tons.