Lyon class battleship

Class overview
Name: Lyon
Builders: France
Operators: France
Preceded by: Normandie-class
Succeeded by: Dunkerque-class
Planned: 4
Completed: none
Cancelled: 4
General characteristics
Type: Battleship
Displacement: 29 000 tonnes
Length: 193.5 metres
Beam: 29.35 metres
Draught: 8.8 metres
Propulsion: Turbines and Vertical Triple Expansion engines, 43,000 hp
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)
Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Armament:

16 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 guns in quadruple turrets
24 - 138-millimetre guns
48 - 47-millimetre AA guns
13.2 millimetre machine guns

6 - 450 millimetre torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armour:

Side: 300 mm midship, 119-51 mm ends
Deck: up to 63.5 mm all together
Barbettes: 330 mm
Turrets: 340 mm face

Conning Tower: 300 mm

The Lyon was a class of battleship which was planned for the French Navy, beginning in 1914. However, construction was halted and then cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. No ship of the Lyon type was laid down.

Design

The design was an enlarged Normandie class battleship with an extra quadruple 340 mm turret. The French admiralty considered specifying a 380 mm (15 inch) gun to match contemporary foreign battleships but this could not be designed in time. The machinery would have been similar to the Normandie class with turbines for speed and more economical VTE engines for cruising.

Ships

Four ships were planned and orders were due to be placed in 1915. The orders were suspended on the outbreak of war in August 1914 and subsequently cancelled.

References