HMS Princess Royal (1911)

Type

Battleship

Period

20th Century

Nation

Great Britain

Overview: HMS Princess Royal was the second of two Lion-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy before the First World War, technically a battlecruiser rather than a true battleship. She was designed to counter the German Moltke-class battlecruisers and improved substantially on the speed, armament, and armour of the preceding Indefatigable class. Specifications: As built she displaced 26,270 long tons (30,820 long tons deep load), was 700 ft long with an 88 ft 7 in beam, and could make 28 knots on turbine power. Her main armament was four twin 13.5-inch gun turrets, backed by sixteen 4-inch secondary guns and two 21-inch torpedo tubes, with belt armour of 4-9 inches and a 10-inch conning tower. Service History: Commissioned in November 1912, she served with the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron and took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 before being detached to the Caribbean to guard against the German East Asia Squadron using the Panama Canal. She fought at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, where she helped cripple the armoured cruiser Blücher, briefly served as Beatty's flagship after Lion was damaged, and later fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as flagship of Rear-Admiral Osmond Brock, sustaining moderate damage. She was sold for scrap in December 1922 under the terms of post-war naval arms limitations. Notable Facts: As a sister ship to HMS Lion, Princess Royal shared in most of the same actions and is often depicted alongside Lion and Queen Mary in wartime photographs of the Grand Fleet's battlecruiser squadrons. Her role escorting the first Canadian troop convoy across the Atlantic in October 1914 is a lesser-known episode that modelers researching her wartime paint scheme and service markings may find of interest.