Defiance-class Battlecarrier By TheoComm Watch

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Commissioned in 1910, The Battlecarrier Defiance was a hybrid carrier equipped with battleship sized guns and armor on the main hull. She was designed to satisfy both the Admiralty's belief the carrier will dominate the future of naval warfare and their desire to possess some, and the Senate's belief that carriers would have little effect on naval warfare and as such it would be a waste to maintain dedicated carriers instead of more battleships.



She suffered from crippling flaws and performed poorly. Her engines suffered from constant breakdowns and her main guns would often warp and tear the deck when fired.



On June 10, 1938, she participated in the Battle at Hargentine Isles where Hosh carrier-based torpedo bombers devastated the Elipian Battleship-centered fleet that possessed little to no AA weaponry.



At the Defeat at Hargentine, the Royal 1st Fleet lost 7 battleships, 13 heavy cruisers, 5 light cruisers, and 8 destroyers before being routed.



She survived two critical torpedo hits to her portside and managed to limp back home where she was converted to a true carrier without the explicit consent from the Senate.



On March 13, 1940, She was separated from her escorts at sea during a storm and was unable to restore radio contact with them. When the stormed settled she encountered the Hosh battleship H-13 and two heavy cruisers D-17 and D-22. True to her namesake, the Defiance and her aircrew refused to surrender and launched their torpedo bombers. The Defiance's aircrew managed to sink the enemy ships however the Defiance's flight deck was rendered unusable, forcing pilots to abandon their planes to return to the carrier. She suffered crippling blows to her hull and was rendered immobile nearing the Royal Navy Base in Erko. She was towed in and her carrier deck hastily repaired.



When the Hosh attacked Erko, the Defiance and her crew remained at the base to hold off the incoming attackers to give the base personnel the time to escape.



The Defiance was sunk March 17, 1940 at 11:43 am with all hands on board. Her airmen were eventually all shot down shortly afterwards.



Displacement: 25,034 t



Length:

Waterline: 244.8m

Overall: 261.6m



Beam: 30.2m



Draft: 7.7m



Installed Power:

28,100ihp ( 21,000 kW)

14 Coal-fired boilers with oil spray (replaced by 6 oil-fired boilers in 1925-26)



Propulsion:

2 shafts; vertical triple-expansion steam engines



Speed:

21.7 knots



Range:

14,400km at 19 knots



Compliment:

1,720



Armaments:

2 × 14'' two-gun turrets (later removed)

5 × 5'' two-gun turrets

8 × 6'' two-gun cassemate turrets

11 × .50cal two-gun turrets



Armor:

Belt: 255mm to 305mm

Barbettes: 254mm to 305mm

Cassemate 280mm

Deck: 51mm

Turrets: 203mm to 356mm



Aircraft:

(1910)

12 fighters & 20 torpedo bombers; 3 elevators



(1938 After Hargentine)

12 fighters & 30 torpedo bombers

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Published : Jul 14, 2015