HMS Lion (C34)

HMS Lion was a Tiger-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy, originally ordered in 1942 as one of the Minotaur-class and laid down that same year as Defence by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Greenock in Scotland on 6 June 1942.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Lion.

HMS Lion underway
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Lion
Ordered: 1942 Additional Naval Programme
Builder:
Laid down: 6 June 1942
Launched: 2 September 1944
Commissioned: 20 July 1960
Decommissioned: December 1972
Out of service: Used as a parts hulk for sister ships from 1973
Fate: Sold for scrap 12 February 1975
General characteristics
Class and type: Tiger-class light cruiser
Displacement:
  • 11,560 tons as built
  • 12,080 tons after conversion
Length:
  • 555.5 ft (169.3 m) overall
  • 538 ft (166 m) between perpendiculars
Beam: 64 ft (20 m)
Draught: 21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:
  • Four Admiralty-type three drum boilers (400 psi)
  • Four shaft Parsons steam turbines
  • 80,000 shp
Speed: 31.5 knots (58 km/h)
Range: 8,000 nautical miles (14,816 km) at 16 kn (30 km/h)
Complement: 716
Armament:

Work was stopped and not begun again until the mid-1950s for completion as an air-defence cruiser pending the introduction of guided missile-equipped County-class destroyers into the navy. She was commissioned in 1960. All three Tigers were to be converted into helicopter carriers but Lion was placed into Reserve in 1965 and served as a supply of spares for the other two until decommissioned in 1972 followed by selling for scrap in 1975.

Design and construction

Partially complete, Lion was launched on 2 September 1944 by Lady Edelson, but work was suspended in 1946. The cruiser was further advanced than the two other Tigers and its completion as HMS Defence in 1947 was anticipated.[1] The new Mk 25 triple six inch turrets for all three Tiger-class ships were 75-80% complete, but the guns were eventually mounted on the ships in Mk 26 twin turrets.[note 1] Still named Defence, she was laid up at Gareloch, a Scottish loch, for 8 years in dehumidified sealed state in official RN reserve, while the other incomplete Tigers remained with their builders. By 1954 the condition of HMS Defence "was not so good",[2] but it was felt Defence, Blake, and Tiger could still be completed, with new armament in three years at a cost of 6 million pounds. While construction of equivalent new cruisers would cost 12 million pounds and take 5 years.[2] Construction of Defence and two other cruisers was resumed to a revised Tiger-class design. Defence was renamed Lion in 1957 and construction continued at the Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson yards at Wallsend. Its final cost was 13 million pounds.

Service history

She was finally commissioned in July 1960, having been rushed into service with some shortcuts in the engineering department, due to political pressure to get her to sea. Initial trials were disrupted by severe rotor, turbine and vibration problems and a further three months in Portsmouth dockyard were required before she became fully operational in February 1961.[3]

Lion's first commission included a Mediterranean leg covering some 20,500 miles[4] in 1961. In the latter part of that year she headed to South America and returned to Plymouth in 1962.

Lion recommissioned at Devonport for service in the Home Fleet and Far East on 31 July 1962 and sailed to the Mediterranean for work-up at the end of November. She reached the Far East in March 1963 and was present at the Malaya independence celebrations in September. She subsequently visited Australia before returning to the UK via the Suez Canal. In early 1964, Lion took part in major NATO and other national exercises; she then visited Spain and Portugal before returning to the UK.

In September 1964 Lion was present at the Maltese independence celebrations. Earlier that year she had been rammed under the Forth Road Bridge by the frigate Lowestoft. Emergency repairs were carried out in Rosyth dockyard before she sailed for Malta with only hours to spare. Early in 1965, Lion was present at the Gambian independence ceremony on Bathurst, now Banjul. The ship was present at Portsmouth Navy Days in August 1965,[5] before being decommissioned into the reserve at Devonport until 1972, when she was placed on the disposal list.

Plans to convert Lion along the lines of her sisters Tiger and Blake were rejected as too costly. On 15 May 1973, she arrived at Rosyth and was subsequently stripped of parts and equipment for use in Tiger and Blake. Lion was sold for breaking up on 12 February 1975 for £262,500. On 24 April 1975 she arrived at Inverkeithing where she was scrapped by Thos W Ward's. Some equipment from her was salvaged and sold to Peru for use in their former British Fiji-class cruisers.

Commanding officers
FromToCaptain
19601962Captain J E Scotland DSC RN
19621964Captain Ian McGeoch RN
19651965Captain E F Hamilton-Meikle MBE RN
19661966Captain G D Van Someren RN[6]

Notes
  1. The new turrets were slightly improved, 60 degree DP, RPC, power rammed and with a powered breech, versions of the standard RN triple six inch structures fitted, from Belfast in 1939 to Superb in 1945, with a rate of fire 5-8 rpm ( N.Friedman. British Cruisers of WW2 and After. Seaforth. UK (2010)).
  1. A. Preston. Janes Fighting Ships of WW2 (Reprint of Janes Fighting Ships 1946-47- incorporating 40-45, p 8
  2. Brown & Moore 2003, p. 47-8.
  3. HMS LION First Commission 1960-62.
  4. Commissioning Book, HMS Lion, HMSO, 1960-1962
  5. Programme, Portsmouth Navy Days, 28–30 August 1965, HMSO, p12
  6. Navy List, HMSO, 1966

References
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Brown, D K; Moore, G (2003), Rebuilding the RN. Warship Design Since 1945, Seaforth
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