Three Orion class battleships (from right to left: Conqueror, Monarch, Thunderer) with King George V
General Characteristics
Displacement:
22,000 tons standard/25,870 tons max
Length:
581 feet (177 m)
Beam:
88 feet (27 m)
Draught:
24 feet (7 m)
Propulsion:
Steam turbines, 18 boilers, 4 shafts, 27,000 hp
Speed:
21 knots
Range:
Complement:
750–1100
Armament:
Ten 13.5-inch guns, sixteen 4-inch guns, three 21-inch submered torpedo tubes
The Orion class battleships were four super-dreadnoughts — the first ships of that type — of the Royal Navy's. The lead ship was Orion, launched in 1910. They were the first dreadnoughts to have all their main guns in the centerline as well as re-introducing the massive 13.5-inch main armament, not seen in Royal Navy service since the 1891Royal Sovereign class battleships.
The Orion class ships cost almost 1.9 million pounds to construct and were designed to withstand heavy attack. All four were present at the battle of Jutland in World War I, 31 May1916, but took no damage. They had a relatively short career, all being decommissioned in 1921 and disposed of in various ways in the 1920s, due to the Washington Naval Treaty.
Ships of the class
Conqueror
Monarch
Orion
Thunderer - After being decommissioned, she served as a cadet ship from 1922, becoming the last surviving ship of the class until she was scrapped in December 1926.
The main battleship nations during this period were Britain, France and Russia, plus newcomers Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, while Turkey and Spain built small numbers of armoured frigates and cruisers, and Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands built smaller "coastal battleships" (pantserschip) of up to 5,000 tons.
SMS Ostfriesland was a Dreadnought-type battleship of the Helgoland class.
Battleships still in existence as museums include the American USS Massachusetts, North Carolina, Alabama and Texas, the British HMS Mary Rose, Victory and Warrior, the Japanese Mikasa, the Swedish Vasa, the Dutch Buffel and Schorpioen, and the Chilean Huascar.
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