HMS Renown (1916)

HMS ''Renown'' was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart her construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. ''Renown'', and her sister , were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.

''Renown'' did not see combat during the war and was reconstructed twice between the wars; the 1920s reconstruction increased her armour protection and made other more minor improvements, while the 1930s reconstruction was much more thorough. The ship frequently conveyed royalty on their foreign tours and served as flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron when ''Hood'' was refitting.

During the Second World War, ''Renown'' was involved in the search for the in 1939, participated in the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940 and the search for the in 1941. She spent much of 1940 and 1941 assigned to Force H at Gibraltar, escorting convoys and she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento. ''Renown'' was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and provided cover to several Arctic convoys in early 1942. The ship was transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch and spent much of 1943 refitting or transporting Winston Churchill and his staff to and from various conferences with various Allied leaders. In early 1944, ''Renown'' was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean where she supported numerous attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in Indonesia and various island groups in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home Fleet in early 1945 and was refitted before being placed in reserve after the end of the war. ''Renown'' was sold for scrap in 1948.

Design and description

Admiral Lord Fisher first presented his requirements for the new ships to the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) on 18 December 1914, before the ships had even been approved. He wanted a long, high, flared bow, like that on the pre-dreadnought , but higher, four 15-inch guns in two twin turrets, an anti-torpedo boat armament of twenty guns mounted high up and protected by gun shields only, speed of 32 knots using oil fuel, and armour on the scale of the battlecruiser . Within a few days, however, Fisher increased the number of guns to six and added two torpedo tubes. Minor revisions in the initial estimate were made until 26 December and a preliminary design was completed on 30 December.

During the following week the DNC's department examined the material delivered for the two battleships and decided what could be used in the new design. The usable material was transferred to the builders, who had received enough information from the DNC's department to lay the keels of both ships on 25 January 1915, well before the altered contracts were completed on 10 March.

''Renown'' had an overall length of , a beam of , and a maximum draught of . She displaced at normal load and at deep load. Her Brown-Curtis direct-drive steam turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . However, during trials in 1916, ''Renown''s turbines provided , allowing her to reach a speed of . The ship normally carried of fuel oil, but had a maximum capacity of . At full capacity, she could steam at a speed of for .Burt 1986, p. 297

The ship mounted six 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mk I guns in three twin hydraulically powered turrets, designated 'A', 'B', and 'Y' from front to rear. Her secondary armament consisted of 17 BL 4-inch Mark IX guns, fitted in five triple and two single mounts. ''Renown'' mounted a pair of QF 3 inch 20 cwt"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. anti-aircraft guns mounted on the shelter deck abreast the rear funnel.Raven and Roberts, p. 48 She mounted two submerged tubes for torpedoes, one on each side forward of 'A' barbette.

''Renown''s waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour measured thick amidships. Her gun turrets were thick with roofs thick. As designed the high-tensile-steel decks ranged from in thickness. After the Battle of Jutland in 1916, while the ship was still completing, an extra inch of high-tensile steel was added on the main deck over the magazines.Burt 1986, p. 294 ''Renown'' was fitted with a shallow anti-torpedo bulge integral to the hull which was intended to explode the torpedo before it hit the hull proper and vent the underwater explosion to the surface rather than into the ship.

Despite these additions, the ship was still felt to be too vulnerable to plunging fire and ''Renown'' was refitted in Rosyth between 1 February and mid-April 1917 with additional horizontal armour, weighing approximately , added to the decks over the magazines and over the steering gear. Flying-off platforms were fitted on 'B' and 'X' turrets in early 1918. One fighter and a reconnaissance aircraft were carried.

Construction and service

1916–1925

''Renown'' was laid down by Fairfield at Govan, Glasgow, Scotland on 25 January 1915. The ship was launched on 4 March 1916 and completed on 20 September 1916, after the Battle of Jutland at the cost of £3,117,204. She served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during the remaining two years of the First World War. ''Renown'' was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron for the duration of the war, but never fired a shot in anger

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases