Lion Class

Lion-Class Battleships were started for the Royal Navy during 1939, but their construction was suspended shortly afterwards. They were to be a larger, improved version of the preceding King George V class.

Preceded by:  King George V class

Succeeded by: HMS Vanguard

After the start of the Second World War in September, construction continued slowly until early October, when it was suspended by the Admiralty for one year, though construction of the 16-inch guns and their turrets was to continue. The second pair of Lions were now expected to be laid down in January and April 1941. On 15 November 1939, work on Lion and Temeraire was authorised to resume whenever there was available labour, but it was suspended again in May 1940. In November, the decision to suspend construction was reaffirmed and steel from Lion was ordered transferred to the battleship Vanguard.