HMS Princess Royal ( 1911 ) HMS " Princess Royal " was the second of two s built for the Royal Navy before World War I . Designed in response to the s of the German Navy , the ships significantly improved on the speed , armament , and armour of the preceding . The ship was named for The Princess Royal , a title occasionally granted to the Monarch ' s eldest daughter . Laid down in 1912 and commissioned in 1913 , " Princess Royal " served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began . She was then sent to the Caribbean to prevent the German East Asia Squadron from using the Panama Canal . After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 , " Princess Royal " rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron . During the Battle of Dogger Bank , " Princess Royal " scored only a few hits , although one crippled the German armoured cruiser . Shortly afterwards , she became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , under the command of Rear - Admiral Osmond Brock . " Princess Royal " was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs . Apart from providing distant support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917 , the ship spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols of the North Sea . " Princess Royal " was placed into reserve in 1920 , then was sold for breaking up as scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty . Design . The " Lion " - class battlecruisers , nicknamed the " Splendid Cats " , were designed by Philip Watts , the Director of Naval Construction , to be as superior to the new German battlecruisers of the " Moltke " class as the German ships were to the . The increase in speed , armour and gun size forced a 70 % increase in size over the " Indefatigable " class and made them the largest warships in the world . General characteristics . " Princess Royal " was significantly larger than her predecessors . She had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load . The ship normally displaced and at deep load , over more than the earlier ships . She had a metacentric height of at deep load . Propulsion . " Princess Royal " had two paired sets of Parsons direct - drive steam turbines housed in separate engine - rooms . Each set consisted of a high - pressure ahead - and - astern turbine driving an outboard shaft , and a low - pressure ahead - and - astern turbine driving an inner shaft . Designed power was for a speed of . In September 1912 , " Princess Royal " began her sea trials and developed for a speed of . During maximum power trials in July 1913 , the battlecruiser achieved for a speed of while at the unusually high displacement of . The steam plant consisted of 42 Yarrow large - tube boilers arranged in seven boiler rooms . Maximum bunkerage was of coal and an additional of fuel oil to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate . At , the ship ' s range was . Armament . " Princess Royal " was armed with eight BL 13 . 5 - inch Mk V guns ( " BL " for breech - loading ) in four twin hydraulically powered turrets , designated ' A ' , ' B ' , ' Q ' and ' X ' from bow to stern . Her secondary armament consisted of 16 BL 4 - inch Mk VII guns , most of which were mounted in casemate s in the superstructure . The two guns mounted on the deck above the forward group of casemates were fitted with gun shield s in 1913 and 1914 to better protect their crews from enemy fire . The battlecruiser was built without anti - aircraft ( AA ) guns , but from October 1914 to December 1916 she was fitted with a single QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss gun ( " QF " for quick - firing ) on a high - angle mount , which had a maximum depression of 8° and a maximum elevation of 60° . Its shell was fired at a muzzle velocity of and a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute . It had a maximum ceiling of , but an effective range of only . A single QF 3 - inch 20 cwt AA gun was added in January 1915 and carried until April 1917 . Its high - angle mount had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90° . The gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of 12 to 14 rounds per minute . It had a maximum effective ceiling of . " Princess Royal " received a fire - control director between mid - 1915 and May 1916 that centralised fire - control under the gunnery officer who now fired the guns . To align their guns on the target , the turret crewmen had to follow pointers whose position was transmitted from the director . This greatly increased accuracy as it was easier for the director to spot the fall of shells and eliminated the shell spread caused by the ship ' s roll as the turrets fired individually . By early 1918 , " Princess Royal " carried a Sopwith Pup and a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on flying - off ramps fitted on top of ' Q ' and ' X ' turrets . The Pup was intended to shoot down Zeppelin s while the 1½ Strutter was used for spotting and reconnaissance . Each platform had a canvas hangar to protect the aircraft during inclement weather . Armour . The armour protection given to " Lion " and " Princess Royal " was heavier than on the " Indefatigable " s . The waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour measured thick amidships ; this thinned to 4 inches towards the ships ' ends , and did not reach the bow or stern . The upper armour belt had a maximum thickness of 6 inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour and thinned to abreast of the end turrets . The gun turrets and barbettes were protected by of armour , except for the turret roofs which used . The thickness of the nickel steel deck ranged from . Nickel steel torpedo bulkhead s thick were fitted abreast of the magazines and shell rooms . The sides of the conning tower were thick . After the Battle of Jutland revealed a vulnerability to plunging shellfire , 1 inch of additional armour , weighing approximately , was added to the magazine crowns and turret roofs . Service . Pre - war career . " Princess Royal " was laid down at the Vickers Shipyard in Barrow - in - Furness on 2 May 1910 . She was launched on 29 April 1911 by Princess Louise , The Princess Royal , and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 14 November 1912 . She cost £1 , 955 , 922 plus an additional £120 , 300 for her armament . Upon commissioning , " Princess Royal " joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron , which was renamed the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron ( BCS ) in January 1913 . Rear - Admiral Beatty assumed command of the 1st BCS on 1 March 1913 . The squadron , including " Princess Royal " , visited Brest in February 1914 and ports in Russia during June . World War I . Battle of Heligoland Bight . " Princess Royal " first saw combat during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914 . She was part of Admiral Beatty ' s battlecruiser force , which was originally to provide distant support to the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast if the German High Seas Fleet sortie d in response . The battlecruisers headed south at full speed at 11 : 35 a . m . when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule , as the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary . The British light cruiser had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the German light cruisers and when Beatty ' s battlecruisers appeared out of the mist at 12 : 37 p . m . " Strassburg " was able to duck into the mists and evade fire , but " Cöln " was quickly crippled by the squadron ' s guns . Before " Cöln " could be sunk , Beatty was distracted by the sudden appearance of the German light cruiser directly to his front , and ordered pursuit . " Ariadne " was reduced to a burning hulk after only three salvos at less than . " Princess Royal " sailed from Cromarty on 28 September to rendezvous with a Canadian troop convoy bound for the United Kingdom . She rejoined the 1st BCS on 26 October , but was detached again a few days later to reinforce the North Atlantic and Caribbean Squadrons in the search for Admiral Graf Spee ' s German East Asia Squadron after it destroyed the West Indies Squadron on 1 November 1914 . " Princess Royal " arrived at Halifax on 21 November , then spent several days off New York City before she steamed down to the Caribbean to guard against the possibility that Graf Spee would use the Panama Canal . The East Asia Squadron was sunk off the Falkland Islands on 7 December , and " Princess Royal " left Kingston , Jamaica to sail to the UK on 19 December . Battle of Dogger Bank . On 23 January 1915 a force of German battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper sortied to clear the Dogger Bank of any British vessels that might be collecting intelligence on German movements . The British were reading the German coded messages , and a large battlecruiser force under Admiral Beatty , aboard " Lion " , sailed to intercept . Contact was initiated at 7 : 20 a . m . on the 24th , when the British light cruiser " Arethusa " spotted the German light cruiser . By 7 : 35 , the Germans had seen Beatty ' s force ; Hipper , aboard , ordered his ships south at , thinking that he could outpace any British battleships , and could increase to " Blücher " s maximum speed of if the pursuing ships were battlecruisers . Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to catch the Germans before they could escape . The leading ships , " Lion " , " Princess Royal " and , pursued at , and " Lion " opened fire at 8 : 52 at a range of . The other ships followed a few minutes later but the extreme range and decreasing visibility meant they did not start scoring hits until 9 : 09 . The German battlecruisers opened fire two minutes later at a range of and concentrated their fire on " Lion " , hitting her once . At 9 : 35 , Beatty signalled to " engage the corresponding ships in the enemy ' s line " , but " Tiger " s captain , believing that was already engaging " Blücher " , fired at , as did " Lion " , which left unengaged and able to fire on " Lion " without risk . " Moltke " and combined their fire to badly damage " Lion " over the next hour , even with " Princess Royal " attacking " Derfflinger " . Meanwhile , " Blücher " had been heavily damaged ; her speed had dropped to , and her steering gear was jammed . Beatty ordered " Indomitable " to attack her at 10 : 48 a . m . Six minutes later , he spotted what he thought was a submarine periscope on the starboard bow and ordered an immediate 90° turn to port to avoid the submarine , although the submarine warning flag was not raised because most of " Lion " s signal halyard s had been shot away . Soon afterwards " Lion " lost her remaining dynamo to the rising water , which knocked out all remaining light and power . At 11 : 02 , Beatty had flags hoisted signalling " course north - east " , to bring his ships back to their pursuit of Hipper , and " attack the rear of the enemy " . Rear - Admiral Sir Gordon Moore , temporarily commanding the squadron from , thought that the signals meant to attack " Blücher " , which was about to the north - east , and ordered the four other battlecruisers away from the pursuit of Hipper ' s main force to engage . Beatty tried to correct the mistake , but he was so far behind the leading battlecruisers that his signals could not be read in the smoke and haze . Beatty transferred to the destroyer at 11 : 50 and set off in pursuit of his battlecruisers , reaching them shortly before " Blücher " sank . He boarded " Princess Royal " at 12 : 20 p . m . and ordered the ships to pursue the main German force . This order was rescinded when it became clear that the time wasted in sinking " Blücher " meant the rest of Hipper ' s battlecruisers would reach friendly waters before they could be caught . Beatty ' s battlecruisers turned for home , catching up to " Lion " , which was limping along at . " Princess Royal " hit " Derfflinger " once , but only damaged two armour plates and caused a coal bunker to flood . She hit " Blücher " at least twice , including the shot that crippled her , out of a total of 271 shells fired during the battle , a hit rate of only 0 . 7 % . By way of contrast , her sister made four hits out of 243 shells fired , a rate of 1 . 6 % . She also fired two 13 . 5 - inch shrapnel shell s at the German airship L5 as its crew attempted to bomb the sinking " Blücher " , mistaking it for a British ship , despite the fact that the maximum elevation of those guns was only 20° . " Princess Royal " was not damaged during the battle . Battle of Jutland . On 31 May 1916 , " Princess Royal " was the flagship of Rear - Admiral Osmond Brock and the 1st BCS under Beatty ' s overall command ; they had put to sea with the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet to intercept a sortie by the High Seas Fleet into the North Sea . The British had decoded the German radio messages , and left their bases before the Germans put to sea . Hipper ' s battlecruisers spotted the Battlecruiser Fleet to their west at 3 : 20 p . m . , but Beatty ' s ships did not see the Germans to their east until 3 : 30 . Two minutes later , Beatty ordered a course change to east south - east , positioning the British ships to cut off the Germans ' line of retreat , and signalled action stations . Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard , away from the British , to assume a south - easterly course , and reduced speed to to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up . With this turn , Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet , behind him . Beatty altered course to the east , as he was still too far north to cut Hipper off . This began what was to be called the " Run to the South " as Beatty changed course to steer east south - east at 3 : 45 , now paralleling Hipper ' s course less than away . The Germans opened fire first at 3 : 48 , followed by the British . The British ships were still in the process of making their turn as only the two leading ships , " Lion " and " Princess Royal " , had steadied on their course when the Germans opened fire . The two battlecruisers engaged , the leading German ship , while " Derfflinger " targeted " Princess Royal " . The German fire was accurate from the start , with two hits on " Princess Royal " within the first three minutes . British gunnery was less effective ; the range was incorrectly estimated as the German ships blended into the haze . " Princess Royal " s ' A ' turret stopped working effectively early in the battle : the left gun was rendered inoperable when the breech pinion gear sheared , and the right gun misfired frequently . By 3 : 54 , the range was down to ; Beatty ordered a course change two points to starboard to open up the range at 3 : 57 . At 4 : 11 p . m . a torpedo fired by " Moltke " passed under " Princess Royal " . Those aboard the British ship saw the torpedo ' s track , but incorrectly concluded that a U - boat was positioned on the opposite side of the British line ( away from the German battlecruisers ) and was firing towards both groups of ships . This false impression was compounded by reports of a periscope sighting by the destroyer . By this time , the distance between the British and German ships was too great for accurate fire , so Beatty altered course four points to port between 4 : 12 and 4 : 15 , closing the range . This manoeuvre exposed " Lion " to the fire of the German battlecruisers , and the smoke from multiple successful hits caused " Derfflinger " to lose sight of " Princess Royal " and switch targets to at 4 : 16 . By 4 : 25 , the range was down to and Beatty turned two points to starboard to open the range again . Around this time , " Queen Mary " was hit multiple times in quick succession and her forward magazines exploded . At 4 : 30 , the light cruiser , scouting in front of Beatty ' s ships , spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet charging north at top speed . Three minutes later , they sighted the topmasts of Vice - Admiral Reinhard Scheer ' s battleships , but did not report this to the fleet for another five minutes . Beatty continued south for another two minutes to confirm the sighting before ordering his force to turn north . The German battlecruisers made their own turn north in pursuit , but Beatty ' s ships maintained full speed , and gradually moved out of range . The British battlecruisers turned north , then north - east , to try to rendezvous with the main body of the Grand Fleet , and at 5 : 40 p . m . opened fire again on their German counterparts . Facing the setting sun , the Germans could not make out the British ships and turned away to the north - east at 5 : 47 . Beatty gradually turned towards the east so his ships could cover the Grand Fleet as it deployed into battle formation , but he mistimed his manoeuvre and forced the leading British division to manoeuvre away from the Germans . About 6 : 22 , " Princess Royal " was hit by two shells fired by the battleship ; one of these disabled ' X ' turret and the other penetrated the ship ' s side armour . By 6 : 35 , Beatty was following the 3rd BCS as they were leading the Grand Fleet east - southeast , and continuing to engage Hipper ' s battlecruisers to their south - west . A few minutes earlier , Scheer had ordered a simultaneous 180° starboard turn , and Beatty lost sight of them in the haze . At 6 : 44 , Beatty turned his ships south - east , then south - southeast four minutes later , to find Hipper ' s force . He then ordered the two surviving ships of the 3rd BCS to take position astern of " New Zealand " , while slowing to and altering course to the south . Beatty then ordered his ships to make a complete circle to stay within visual range of the Grand Fleet . At 6 : 55 , Scheer ordered another 180° turn , which put the German ships on a converging course again with the Grand Fleet . However , the British had altered course to the south , allowing the Grand Fleet to cross Scheer ' s " T " and inflict damage on the leading German ships . Scheer ordered yet another 180° turn at 7 : 13 , and successfully extricated the High Seas Fleet from the danger precipitated by his previous turn . About this time " Princess Royal " fired at the leading German battlecruiser for three minutes without result . The British lost sight of the Germans until spotted smoke to the west - northwest at 8 : 05 p . m . , then identified and engaged several German torpedo boats . Hearing the sound of gunfire , Beatty ordered his ships west , and spotted the German battlecruisers only away . " Inflexible " opened fire at 8 : 20 , followed almost immediately by the rest of the battlecruisers . Shortly after 8 : 30 , the pre - dreadnought battleship s of Rear - Admiral Mauve ' s II Battle Squadron were spotted . The British battlecruisers and German pre - dreadnoughts exchanged fire ; the Germans only fired a few times before turning away to the west because of poor visibility and the more accurate British gunnery , and disappeared into the mist around 8 : 40 . Beatty ' s battlecruisers sailed south - southeast , ahead of both the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet , until the order to reverse course for home was given at 2 : 55 a . m . Along with the rest of the battlecruisers , " Princess Royal " reached Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland on the morning of 2 June , and she immediately received temporary repairs over the next eight days . She then sailed for Plymouth , where permanent repairs were completed on 15 July , and returned to Rosyth by 21 July . " Princess Royal " was hit nine times during the battle — six times by " Derfflinger " during the " Run to the South " , twice by " Markgraf " during the " Run to the North " , and once by just after II Battle Squadron appeared — with 22 killed and 81 injured . The battlecruiser fired only 230 13 . 5 - inch shells during the battle , as her visibility was often impaired by the funnel smoke and fires aboard " Lion " . She was credited with three hits on " Lützow " and two on . A torpedo fired at the German pre - dreadnoughts failed to hit . Post - Jutland career . As the German High Seas Fleet was forbidden from taking any unnecessary risks , the majority of " Princess Royal " s post - Jutland activities consisted of uneventful patrols of the North Sea . On the evening of 18 August , the Grand Fleet put to sea in response to a deciphered message that the High Seas Fleet , minus the II Squadron , would be leaving harbour that night . The Germans planned to bombard the port of Sunderland on the 19th , with extensive reconnaissance provided by airships and submarines . The Grand Fleet sailed with 29 dreadnought battleships and 6 battlecruisers to their anticipated rendezvous in the North Sea ; for fear that they had entered a minefield after was torpedoed , they turned north before turning south again . Scheer steered south - eastward pursuing a lone British battle squadron reported by an airship , which was in fact the Harwich Force under Commodore Tyrwhitt . Realising their mistake , the Germans then set course for home . The only contact came in the evening when Tyrwhitt sighted the High Seas Fleet but was unable to achieve an advantageous attack position before dark , and broke off . Both the British and German fleets returned home ; two British light cruisers , HMS " Nottingham " and had been sunk by submarines , and the German dreadnought had been damaged by a torpedo . " Princess Royal " provided support for British light forces involved in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917 , but never came within range of any German ships . She sailed with the 1st BCS on 12 December after German destroyers sank a Norway - bound convoy earlier that day , but the British were unable to intercept and returned to base the following day . " Princess Royal " , along with the rest of the Grand Fleet , sortied on the afternoon of 23 March 1918 after radio transmissions revealed that the High Seas Fleet was at sea after a failed attempt to intercept the regular British convoy to Norway . However , the Germans were too far ahead of the British , and no shots were fired . Starting in July 1918 , the Grand Fleet was affected by the 1918 flu pandemic ; at one point , " Princess Royal " lacked sufficient healthy crewmen to sail . Following the surrender of the High Seas Fleet at the end of the war , " Princess Royal " and the 1st BCS made up part of the guard force in Scapa Flow . " Princess Royal " was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet in April 1919 . The battlecruiser was placed in reserve in 1920 , and an attempt to sell her to Chile later that year was unsuccessful . She became the flagship of the Commander - in - Chief of the Scottish Coast on 22 February 1922 . She was sold for scrap in December 1922 to meet the tonnage limitations set on the Royal Navy by the Washington Naval Treaty , and arrived at the breakers on 13 August 1923 .