HMS Tiger - 'The Prettiest Battlecruiser of All'

[ItssLuBu 1,798]

HMS Tiger

 

 

Background & History

 

HMS Tiger was the sole ship of her class and the eleventh of her name built for the Royal Navy before the onset of the First World War. The Royal Navy was doubtful of the battlecruiser concept and thus she would be the final coal burning capital ship commissioned and also the most heavily armoured battlecruiser at the outbreak of hostilities. Tiger would be the last ship Sir Phillip Watts would be responsible for as DNC. The design took many ideas from the preceeding Queen Mary with improved protection however this was still not deemed enough to an equal of the German Derfflinger. As the only ship authorized in the 1911-12 programme Tiger was laid down in June 1912 at Clydebank and commissioned two years later in October 1914 she would make an excellent ship to start the potential battlecruiser line for the Royal Navy in Warthunder. Featuring decent armour and modest main calibre guns she would fare well against potential naval opponents but be vulnerable against enemies in the sky. 

 

Although not being full worked up she was soon thrust into the action at the Battle of Dogger Bank, during which her performance was not particularly great. Her 13.5 inch guns despite being an excellent ordnance piece featuring a much greater striking power had failed to caused any major damage. Following this she would be hit numerous times during the Battle of Jutland mostly by Moltke which would temporarily disable her aft turrets. Tiger had fired over 300 shells and suffered over 70 dead or wounded and was subsequently the first of the so called 'splendid cats' (along with the Lion class) in for repairs. For the remainder of the war she saw little to no further combat on being assigned to patrol duties in the North Sea as the German Fleet did not venture out en masse thereafter.

 

 

 

Post war saw Tiger remain in service with the Royal Navy and was fortunate to survive the later scrappage of older capital ships after the conclusion of the Washington Naval Treaty. She would however be placed into reserve in 1921 and refitted the following year with a new range finder and a new pair of 4 inch guns instead of the original 3 inch. In 1924 she was re-activated as a training vessel throughout the 1920's before a final stint in active service to cover whilst HMS Hood was refitting. Tiger would remain with the 3 ship Battlecruiser Squadron until this was completed and Hood returned at the start of 1931 before being sold for scrap and broken up in February 1932. In Warthunder Tiger could be an excellent choice for the start of a potential Battlecruiser line as a contemporary adversary for similar ships of the period.

 

 

 

Armour & Armament

 

Designed and commissioned during the First World War, HMS Tiger represents a different mindset of ship building. She would be designed to engage enemy capital ships with good speed however as a result of the scrapping during the 1930's would remain vulnerable to the growing threat of aircraft. Armour wise Tiger featured a Krupp Cemented belt of 9 inches amidships, tapering to 4 inches at the ships ends not quite reaching the full length. This belt reached to 27 nches below the water line, potentially making her weak against under-water penetrations although she was not designed when this was becoming more prevalent. A further 3 inch armour plate just over 1 metre tall would be installed below this main belt at the front of the ship, between 'A' and 'B' turret barbettes. Deck armour was between 1 to 1.5 inches in thickness with 4 inch bulkheads around the citadel. Gun turrets featured decent thickness of 9 inch fronts, with sides and roof between 2.5 to 3.25 inches with the barbettes between 9 to 9 inches.

 

Following on from the earlier Queen Mary class, turret position was revised along with the superstructure. She would feature 8x 13.5 inch BL L/45 Mk V guns (4x2) in turrets A and B superfiring forward, with Q and X aft. This was capable of firing a 635kg projectile for a range of 21,710 metres at a velocity of approximatley 759 m/s with a maximum elevation of 20 degrees. Secondary battery comprised 12x 6 inch BL Mk VIII guns mounted in casemates; firing a 45kg projectile at approximately 840 m/s with maximum range and elevation at 11,200m and 14 degrees respectively. Anti air armament was very light with only a single pair of QF 3 inch Mk I guns later supplemented with 4x 2pdr QF Mk II (4x1) in 1928. Torpedo armament rounded off the loadout with 4x 21 inch torpedoes in submerged mounts on either side.

 

 

Specifications

 

Length - 704ft

Beam - 90ft 6in

Draught - 32ft 5in

Displacement - 28,500 'standard' and 33,260 long tons under 'deep load'

Speed - 2x (2x2) Brown-Curtis steam turbines for approx 85,000shp for 28kts with a range of approx 4,519nm

Main Belt - 3-9 inches (76–229 mm)

Deck Belt - 1-3 inches (25 to 76 mm)

Turret Amour - 9 inches (229mm)

Barbettes - 8 to 9 in (203 to 229 mm)

Conning Tower - 10 inches (254mm)

Casemates - 6 inches (152mm)

Armament - 8x 13.5 inch BL L/45 Mk V guns (4x2)

Secondary - 12x 6 inch BL Mk VIII guns (12x1)

Anti Air Battery - QF 3 inch 76 mm Mk I guns (2x1) & 4x 2pdr QF Mk II (4x1, 1928)

Torpedoes - 4x 21-inch torpedo tubes

 

 

Sources

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_13.5-inch_Mk_V_naval_gun

https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/ww1/UK/hms-tiger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Tiger_(1913)

https://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/tiger.htm

https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=HMS-Tiger-1914-battlecruiser

Edited July 12, 2020 by ItssLuBu

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[random_guy888 23]

thanks for posting this, make a very good starter BC for UK

[Milocat 4,848]

If we get other battlecruisers this might be fun to see.  +1.

[alexvins 3]

Capital ship with no AA is not for WarThunder.

[random_guy888 23]

6 hours ago, alexvins said:

Capital ship with no AA is not for WarThunder.

wrong ship was fitted with two 76mm AA guns that could fire 16 rounds per min, high explosive.that would take anything down low medium, range, so the ship is perfectly feasible.also when you play naval you have got destroyer cruiser, escorts.

Edited June 21, 2020 by random_guy888

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

Considering the more minor jump in firepower (in most cases) relative to heavy cruisers, we'll likely get battlecruisers before battleships, and the Tiger is one of those ships that'd make sense to add.

 

On 21/06/2020 at 12:45, random_guy888 said:

wrong ship was fitted with two 76mm AA guns that could fire 16 rounds per min, high explosive.that would take anything down low medium, range, so the ship is perfectly feasible.also when you play naval you have got destroyer cruiser, escorts.

 

Not to mention those pesky torpedo boats people bring to ninja cap zones.

[Shrike142 1,682]

-1

As much as I would love to see Tiger, she really has no place in war thunder, the lack of AA would cripple this ship and make her next to useless. That and the lack of comparable ships from other nations would mean she would either be downtiered, dominate the cruisers and get revenge nuked by half the team, or be uptiered against more powerful battlecruisers, i.e. Kongo, Repulse, Renown or, god forbid, Alaska

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

+1. and unlike her sisters, HMS Tiger had an alarming habit of NOT exploding when in the presence of German warships!

 

 

On 21/06/2020 at 06:29, alexvins said:

Capital ship with no AA is not for War Thunder.

 

7 hours ago, Shrike142 said:

-1

As much as I would love to see Tiger, she really has no place in war thunder, the lack of AA would cripple this ship and make her next to useless.

 

vs other ships? i think not. and that's what matters. turning down the Tiger battlecruiser for lack of AA firepower is like turning down a Tiger tank because it can't swat P-47s out of the sky.

 

epidemic of warship capability narrowmindedness aside, take a good look at what would (pre- and post- naval BR decompression) what places the Tiger and other battlecruisers would go, and what planes would be in their BR range...

...now do you REALLY think that any ship built/modified before... what... 1943? have a chance against any of the fighter-bombers and full size bombers in the 5.0-7.0 BR range?

Edited July 10, 2020 by Admiral_Aruon

[ItssLuBu 1,798]

15 hours ago, Shrike142 said:

-1

As much as I would love to see Tiger, she really has no place in war thunder, the lack of AA would cripple this ship and make her next to useless. That and the lack of comparable ships from other nations would mean she would either be downtiered, dominate the cruisers and get revenge nuked by half the team, or be uptiered against more powerful battlecruisers, i.e. Kongo, Repulse, Renown or, god forbid, Alaska

 

I disagree really. I understand the lack of proper AA however many ships from here on in will be difficult to balance, just look at the Graf Spee now for an example. The bigger issue is how to balance these ships not just adding ones that could be classed as contemporary. 

[WayOfTheWolk 1,573]

54 minutes ago, ItssLuBu said:

 

I disagree really. I understand the lack of proper AA however many ships from here on in will be difficult to balance, just look at the Graf Spee now for an example. The bigger issue is how to balance these ships not just adding ones that could be classed as contemporary. 

I would recommend adding the March 1928 AA refit for the HMS Tiger. It would be only a slight improvement but it's still better than two 3-inch guns. 

 

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/uk/brit_bb1_tiger.htm

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

On 10/07/2020 at 07:45, WayOfTheWolk said:

I would recommend adding the March 1928 AA refit for the HMS Tiger. It would be only a slight improvement but it's still better than two 3-inch guns. 

 

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/uk/brit_bb1_tiger.htm

 

That'd be the configuration I'd go with too, especially considering that at the BRs that these things are likely to be at, they might be under attack by some of the lower-tiered jets, which will be quite difficult to take out with AA fire compared to the much slower piston-engined aircraft of lower tiers.

[ItssLuBu 1,798]

On 10/07/2020 at 15:45, WayOfTheWolk said:

I would recommend adding the March 1928 AA refit for the HMS Tiger. It would be only a slight improvement but it's still better than two 3-inch guns. 

 

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/uk/brit_bb1_tiger.htm

 

 Edited in thanks 

[CokeSpray 7,272]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.