Q&A · 3:31:47-3:32:29

How Lion improved on King George V machinery

The two classes used similar shaft, turbine, and boiler counts, but Lion extracted more power through refinement.

Fast Battleships King George V Class Battleships (1939)Lion Class Battleships Naval Propulsion

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Question

How different would the 1938 Lion class have been from the King George V class?

Short answer

Its similar machinery layout was refined to deliver about 20,000 more horsepower and two additional knots.

Notes

Both designs used four shafts, four turbine sets, and eight boilers. Lion's plant was intended to produce about 130,000 shaft horsepower rather than 110,000, raising design speed from roughly 28 to 30 knots through improved machinery and related technologies rather than simply adding more boilers.