|
The ''Nelson'' class was a class of two battleships ( and ) of the British Royal Navy, built shortly after, and under the terms of, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. They were the only British battleships built between the (ordered in 1913) and the , ordered in 1936. The ships were named after famous British admirals: George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson of the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. To comply with the limitations of the ''Washington Treaty'', these ships were of an unusual design with many novel features. They are often referred to as the first treaty battleships. The ''Nelsons'' were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of nine guns. The most unusual feature however, and one that is immediately noticeable, is that these were all carried forward of the bridge. Commissioned in 1927–29, the ''Nelson''s served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during World War II. was made famous by her role in the sinking of the in May 1941. At the climax of the battle ''Rodney'', in conjunction with ''King George V'', closed on ''Bismarck'' to bombard her at short range. ''Rodney''s main guns were credited with an estimated 100 to 130 hits, contributing greatly to her final destruction. ''Nelson'' participated in the bombardment of targets in northern France during and after D-Day. In particular, during the Caen campaign she was credited with destroying a group of five Tiger tanks which ventured into a red zone (within 40 km. of the Coast) deemed by the German command to be in range of allied battleships. The two ships of the class survived the war, but were scrapped in 1948–49 along with all other British battleships except the King George V-class battleships and . ==History and design== The Battle of Jutland had shown the value of firepower and protection over speed and manoeuvrability.〔''British Battleships 1939–45 (II)'', Angus Konstam, Osprey Publishing.〕 The next generation of British warships incorporated this lesson. After the First World War, the Admiralty drew up plans for massive, heavily armoured battlecruisers and battleships, far larger and stronger than all previous vessels. The G3-class battlecruisers would carry guns, and the proposed N3-class battleships would carry nine guns, and would be the most powerful vessels afloat. The Royal Navy was planning to hold its superiority in the burgeoning arms race, despite the large warships planned in Japan and the United States. Development was abruptly curtailed by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which brought the arms race to a halt. The four battlecruisers that had been ordered were cancelled. Some of the material acquired would later be used in ''Nelson'' and ''Rodney''. The Treaty limited all nations' battleships to 35,000 tons and 16-inch guns. The British had successfully ensured that the definition of maximum displacement – the standard displacement – excluded both fuel and boiler feed water. They had argued that having to protect the widespread British Empire meant their ships had to carry more of both and they should not be penalised compared to nations, such as Japan, France and Italy, that operated normally much closer to their home bases. As a result, water-filled internal anti-torpedo bulges could be incorporated, which did not contribute to the "dry" (standard) weights and therefore did not exceed the treaty displacement limits.〔 The limits of the treaty inevitably led to compromises in the design of two new ships, and the resulting ''Nelson'' class sacrificed installed power (and hence speed) in order that they be well-armed and defended. They were often referred to as the "Cherry Tree" class, because they had been "cut down by Washington".〔 The need to limit displacement resulted in a radical new warship design, drawn from the "G3" and "N3" designs of Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction from 1912 to 1924. To reduce the weight of armour, the main gun turrets were all mounted forward to shorten the armoured citadel. The "G3" and "N3" had two turrets forward of the bridge with the third between the bridge and the funnels/aft superstructure. However, in the ''Nelson''s, this was taken further and all three were in front of the bridge; "B" mount superfiring over "A", with "X" turret on the fo'c'sle deck behind "B", and therefore unable to fire directly forward or aft. "X" turret is sometimes referred to as "C" turret and one alternative design, designated "O3", had it superfiring over both "A" and "B" turrets.〔 The secondary guns were placed in totally enclosed director-controlled twin turrets at the upper deck level and were grouped aft – another innovative element taken from the G3 and N3 design.〔〔''The Grand Fleet-Warship Design and Development 1906–1922'', D.K. Brown, Seaforth Publishing, ISBN 978 1 84832 085 7〕 The machinery was of necessity limited in weight, size and installed power, and there were only two shafts with quite large screws. All previous British battleships since of 1906 had four screws as did all British battleship classes after ''Nelson''. In order that flue gasses be kept clear of the superstructure, the boiler rooms were moved behind the engine rooms, exhausting into a single funnel. This orientation also reduced the overall length of the armoured citadel. As a countermeasure to the limited power, the hull was of a very efficient hydrodynamic form, to attain the best possible speed.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nelson-class battleship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|