HMS King George V

The King George V, as seen in game.

## Background History

Being constrained by the Washington Naval Treaty, Britian's new generation of battleships have to confide to a 35,000 ton displacement limit and have main guns no larger than 14-inches. Having already used up all waviers and exemptions made to each member on the Nelson class battleships, the King George V class was realized. King George herself was launched in 1939. These ships had a controversial early career due to armament problems but by late war they were highly capable capital ships that saw service in all naval theaters of the war.

## Overview

This British battleship was added into the game in version 1.70.4. It can be built with less parts than the other super ships like the H-41 but also does about 20,000 less damage. Even so, her 10 14-inch guns are not to be messed around with, especially so since we have already seen what similarly armed BB's are capable of with their with similar gameplay styles. She has a high base maneuverability but rather slow speed of 28 knots compared to Dunkerque, Alsace, Bismarck and so on which might be a small problem in the beginning. However, her turret quad mounts mean that she does not necessarily need that speed as she can just simply go bow on and take less hits while dishing out more damage than H41 when employing this tactic. While not necessarily a top tier super dreadnought, she can take on the role of hunter-killer, wrecking ships from the side flanks while staying out of the main brawl. Her anti-aircraft armament is not the most powerful, and attacks from carriers will suffer losses but will still get through the defenses.

## Tactics

King George V is a highly flexible battleship and is the most powerful warship the Royal Navy has to offer in the game with the exception of the Hood. Ten 14-inch guns give you a lot of punching power to work with, as that is the same firepower as Texas but KGV's shells are more advanced and have much more destructive power.

**Playing as King George V**

Playing as this ship requires more prudence than with other endgame battlewagons. You have the Firepower to match, but your HP and speed will let you down in a slugfest. Instead, you should initially camp bow on and soften up your targets first while minimizing damage you receive. When you have assessed the battle situation as either a offensive or defensive situation, you will have 2 kinds of modus operandi.

The first is offensive, you push in to the fray alongside your much heavier brethren and support their assault by raining lead upon enemy battleships and cruisers. Your gun count and reload speed will quickly melt away at the enemies HP while your HP initially insufficient now is more than enough to deal with half finished foes.

The latter is defensive, if your team is falling apart or you are the best battleship on your team by the 12 minute point, avoid any activity centers and attack using long range fire to support your allies. If the opportunity presents itself, target a lone warship and take it out of the equation ASAP. If any allies are in dire need of support, help them by blasting the foes they are dealing with. Repeat the process until either dead or victory is achieved.

**Playing with a King George V**

Providing AA support for King George V is a paramount priority for teammates who do not have more pressing priorities. While she is more than capable of self defense, she simply is unable to withstand a full air-wing thrown at her. While KGV is less powerful than other super battleships, her guns are deceivingly powerful and can stand as equals to the Iowa class in terms of DPM.

**Playing against King George V**

Unlike most battleships, the King George V is very agile, yet slow. Its slowness can bring about its destruction, especially if it is not fast enough to follow its allies. This will also be a problem when a faster vessel is giving chase to a critically wounded King George V. The ship also has poor turret angles, meaning that more of the ship must be exposed to achieve a broadside.

## Advantages and Disadvantages

**Advantages**

* Decent main armament reload and damage.
* Strong Anti Aircraft armament.
* High maneuverability for a battleship.
* Has almost no free board, making it hard to hit at distance.

**Disadvantages**

* Slow speed.
* Low damage per shell.
* Dispersion in on the average side.

## Trivia

* King George V actually has the second best armor protection of all capital ships bar the Yamato due to a combination of High quality British armor steel and careful arrangement of said armor.
* Many people ridiculed the class' main guns as an underpowered and obsolete design but King George V and Prince of Wales engagement with Bismarck proved otherwise, as Bismarck's conning tower, which had around 350mm (14 inches) of Krupp class A steel which means the armor value was even better than indicated. Despite that, 14 inch holes littered the conning tower and has been described as "swiss cheesed" when Robert Ballard found the wreck of the Bismarck.
* The HMS Prince of Wales, a sister ship of the King George V, was sunk off Kuantan, Malaysia in 1941 by Japanese aircraft due to lack of air cover.

## Gallery

King George V firing at an enemy Tirpitz.
## Citations

[1] https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-ship-mottoes-of-the-British-King-George-V-class-battleships-respectively