The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

Revenge Class, British Battleships

Photograph of Revenge-class battleship

Tonnage	29,150 tons standard displacement
Dimensions	620'6" by 88'6" by 30'9" 189.1m by 27.0m by 9.4m
Maximum speed	22 knots
Complement	1009
Aircraft	1 catapult 1 seaplane
Armament	4x2 15"/42 guns 12x1 6"/45 guns 2x8, 2x4 4"/45 dual-purpose guns 2x8 2pdr AA guns
Protection	8870 tons: 13" (330mm) belt 6" (152mm) bulkheads 1.5" (38mm) upper deck 2" (51mm) main deck 4" (102mm) deck over steering gear 2.5" (64mm) lower deck 13"/11"/4.5" (330mm/279mm/114mm) turret face/sides/roof 10" (254mm) barbettes 11" (279mm) conning tower 1.5" (38mm) torpedo bulkheads Torpedo bulges
Machinery	4-shaft direct-drive Parsons turbines (40,000 shp) 18 Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Bunkerage	3400 tons fuel oil
Range	7200 nautical miles (13,300 km) at 13 knots
Modifications	Radar regularly updated. 1943: Added 14x1, 6x2 20mm Oerlikon AA guns

The Revenges were completed during the First World War as slightly smaller, cheaper versions of the Queen Elizabeth class that sacrificed some speed, stability, and underwater protection for steadiness and armor protection. Unfortunately, this meant that funds for modernization always seemed to go to the Queen Elizabeths and the Revenges underwent very little modernization between the wars. Aware of their obsolescence, Churchill considered them expendable and even proposed their use at one point as blockships. However, they were all that could be spared for the Far East after the destruction of Force Z.

Curiously, this perception that the Revenges were expendable may have increased their usefulness, as they were used aggressively in the Mediterranean early in the European war.

Units in the Pacific:

Revenge	Arrived 1942-4-4 Withdrawn 1944
Resolution	Arrived 1942-4-4 Withdrawn 1944
Ramilles	Arrived 1942-4-4 Withdrawn 1942-5
Royal Sovereign	Arrived 1942-4-4 Withdrawn 1942

References

Royal Navy History (accessed 2007-9-8)

Worth (2001)

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