Redoubtable-class Battleship

## Redoubtable-Class

HMS Redoubtable, 1939

The Redoubtable-class was a class of two fast battleships built from the Royal Navy just before World War II. Both ships saw extensive service during the war.

## Background

In 1932, the French Marine Nationale laid down the Dunkerque-class battleships, and the German Kreigsmarine laid down the Scharnhorst-class battleships in 1935. Both of these powerful vessels could exceed speeds of 30 knots. Fearing being outclassed, the Royal Navy approached the #history Central Admiralty for designs for vessels to fill the battlecruiser or fast battleship role in their fleet.

By 1937, the decision was made to begin construction on these new vessels. One selected design was the Redoubtable-class, a fast battleship type designed around being as cheap and practical as possible, while still being able to outclass her French and German counterparts.

## Design

*"The combination of strong protection, speed, range, and still having extra composite strength is not something to be considered lightly...The design is a solid idea."*

The Redoubtable-class was a unique design, with transom sterns and bulbous bows. The ships displaced only 33000 tons standard, were only 200m long at the waterline with a maximum beam of 32.5m. They were thus rather stout vessels, especially for their speed of just over 32 knots, provided by oil fired boilers and 4-shaft steam turbines for 168000 SHP, and were unable to use the Panama Canal. To improve seakeeping they possessed very high freeboards, which were at minimum 7.5m above the waterline. The class was known to be rather rough-riding at top speed, but were dry, comfortable, and acceptably stable. They had a 6200 nautical mile range at 14 knots, although simple modifications could be made to increase this range to 8500 knots. This high speed and relatively short range meant that the vessels were designed to operate around Britain and Europe, and could quickly be sent into action whenever needed.

When it came to firepower and armor, the Redoubtable-class represented several firsts and lasts in British shipbuilding. To improve protected volume and flotation on limited displacement, the ships had an incremental armor scheme. This consisted of a 350mm thick main belt at a slight decline, an upper belt that tapered from 200mm to 50mm in thickness and short end belts extended from the main belt that tapered from 350mm to a point in thickness. The main armored deck was 100mm thick over the vitals, below a 25mm upper deck. Deck thickness reduced to 25mm thick at the ends, with a 100mm thick portion over the steering gears. While this armor scheme was strange by modern standards, the ship was considered very well protected. However, underwater protection was a shallow 100m structural bulkhead.

The Redoubtables were the first ships to use the quadruple 14"/45 Mk. VII turret originally designed for the King George V class. Two turrets on the main deck provided a heavier broadside than Dunkerque or Scharnhorst, although operation was initially hampered by the unreliability of the mount early in the war. The secondary battery consisted of 20 4.5" QF Mk. III BD dual purpose guns in 10 twin mounts. The Redoubtables were also the first ships in the Royal Navy designed for the famed Bofors 40mm AA gun, in 8 twin mountings. This would be increased later in the war.

The ships truly shone in the area of being cost efficient. An initial estimate of cost per unit was almost 4 million less than that of other designs, and in implementation, and final construction costs came to under 7 million per ship.

## Ships in Class

Two ships of the Redoubtable-class were ordered, both laid down in April 1937. HMS Redoubtable, the lead ship, was quickly completed just a week before her sister, HMS Reactive, in June 1939, and the vessels completed trials together. Both were commissioned in time for the Second World War.

## Service

Redoubtable and Reactive spent much of their careers together