The British HMS Lion
The German SMS Moltke
An item referred to the Journal of the Franklin Institute in which naval constructor D.W. Taylor (1) of the US Navy calculated that the German battle cruisers of the Moltke(2) type and the British Lion type (3) had an insufficient coal bunker capacity with respectively 3.100 and 3.500 tons to retain their hue speed during a battle, Even at a limited speed was the coal consumption already high. The low freeboard aft of the Moltke was a serious problem which became clear when she visited the USA heavily stamped while the aft ship was lying too much upon the water. In the Naval Annual of 1913 wrote admiral Custance (4) that too much of the heavy armament was offered mainly to obtain a higher speed.
Notes
1. Rear admiral Davit Watson Taylor (4 March 1864 Louisa County, Virginia, USA-28 July 1940 Washington, D.C., USA), naval architect, chief Bureau of Construction and Repair since 14 December 1914 at the same time Chief Constructor of the Navy during the First World War.
2. Moltke-class. Sister ship the Goeben. Building ordered on 17 September 1908. Laid down at the shipyard of Blohm&Voss, Hamburg, Germany on 7 December 1908, baptized by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger and launched on 7 April 1910, commissioned on 30 August 1911 and scuttled by her own crew to prevent that she fell into British hands on 21 June 1919, raised in 1927 and broken up at Rosyth between 1927-1929. Displacement 22.979 tons/22.616 long tons (design)-25.400 tons/25.000 long tons (full loaded) and as dimensions 186,6 x 30 x 9,2 metres or 612.2 x 98.5 x 30.3 feet. The Parsons turbines supplied via 4 screws 51.289 (design)-84.609 (maximum) shp allowing a speed of 25,5 (design)-28,4 (maximum) knots and with a speed of 14 knots a range of 4.120 nautical miles. Her crew numbered 1.053 men included 43 officers. The armour consisted of a 10-29cm/3.9-11” thick belt. a 2,54-7,62cm/1-3” inch deck with the gun turrets, barbettes and conning tower protected by respectively 23cm/9.1”, 23cm/9.1” and 34cm/14”. The armament consisted of 5x2-28cm/11” L/50 guns, 12-15cm/5.9” guns and 12-8,8cm/3.5“ guns
3. Of the Lion-class (nicknamed Splendid Cats) preceded by the Indefatigable-class and succeeded by Queen Mary-class. Sister ship Princess Royal. Building costs 2.06.458/2.086.458 pound sterling. Ordered under the Building Programme 1909-1910. Laid down at the Devonport Dockyard, United Kingdom on 29 November 1909, launched on 6 August 1910, commissioned on 4 June 1912, decommissioned on 30 May 1922 and sold for 77.000 pound sterling to be broken up on 31 January 1924. Displacement 26.270 long tons/26.690 tons (normal)-30.820 long tons/31.310 tons (deep load) and as dimensions 213,4 (over all) x 27,0 x 9,9 (at deep load) metres or 700’0” x 88‘6.75”x 32.5’. The 2 sets four-shaft Parsons direct-drive steam turbines and 42 Yarrow water tube boilers supplied 70.000 ship allowing a speed of 28 knots and with a speed of 10 knots a range of 5.610 nautical miles by an coal bunker capacity of 3.500 long tons/3.00 tons and additional fuel oil capacity of 1.135 long tons/1.153 tons. Her crew numbered 1.092 men. Her armament consisted of 4x2-13.” breech loading Ml V guns, 16x1-4” breech loading Mark VII guns and 2x1-53,3cm/21” Mk II submerged torpedo tubes. For which 14 torpedoes were taken with her The armour consisted of a 10,2-22,9cm/4-9” thick belt. 10,2cm/4” thick bulkheads, 6,4cm/2.5” thick decks while the barbettes, gun turrets and conning tower were protected by respectively 22,9-20,3cm/8-9”, 22,9cm/9” and 25,4cm/10”.
4. Admiral Sir Reginald Neville Custance (20 September 1847 Belfast, Ireland-30 August 1935 Broadclyst, Devon, Enland), director of Naval Intelligence 1899-1902?
