Revenge Class Battleship (Royal Oak Class) |
Ship/ Class | Length | Beam | Disp. | Main Arm. | Speed | # | Date |
Revenge Class | 624’ (190 m) | 88.5’ (27m) | 29,150 | 8x15†(4x2) | 21 | 5 | 1916 |
Revenge Class Battleship
ID: Plastic battleship gaming piece Revenge-Class: the battleship from the game Axis & Allies Europe 40 & Pacific 40.
The Story of the Revenge-class: The HMS Revenge, first of her class was launched just before the Battle of Jutland (the pivotal battle of her age) by a nation at war, and a nation struggling to maintain its traditional command of the seas. The Revenge class of battleships, sometimes called the “Royal Sovereign†or “R-class†by historians and labeled the “Royal Oak class†in the Axis & Allies manual, was something of a step backwards for the Royal Navy. The preceding Queen Elizabeth class had broken new ground, with its 15†guns and their 24-knot speed and spawned a a whole new category of ships, the “fast battleship,†a ship with all the protection and firepower of a battleship and nearly the speed of a battlecruiser. But the Royal Navy had designed the Revenge class that followed along much more conservative lines. With the German High Seas Fleet and the US Navy building battleships to catch up with the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet at a rapid pace, the British needed to boost their numbers, they thought... and quick. The Revenge class was thus more conservative than the preceding Queen Elizabeth class, smaller and slower, though carrying the same excellent 15†guns. Between her laying down and her launch, her nation would go to war with her new German arch-rival, and immediately after her commissioning she would participate in the titanic... and yet somehow anti-climactic Battle of Jutland between the German High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet. Her nation’s victory would then come not at sea, but by land... and with a great deal of help from her allies. The German High Seas Fleet would become the victim then not of a great battle, but of a peace treaty. The Revenge class would thus be almost a statement in steel of anti-climax, and their war-record in the next war would reflect this still: one was sunk early on at anchor by a submarine, and the rest spent the war quietly at home or in convoys, stuck in any case in “guard duty,†as quiet sentinels of a fading empire. While one was even loaned to the Soviets, the Royal Sovereign (and temporary renamed Archangelsk) her role on behalf of her temporary new masters was simply... more convoy duty. Perhaps, though, you could find a way to revive the glories of the Grand Fleet. After all, the Royal Navy’s destroyer captains had, and had handed the Germans quite a drubbing in the Norwegian fjords near Narvik. Why not her battleship captains? If such a task appeals to you, here are your tools...
Usage Notes: Use this piece for “Global 1939†and “Invasion of Italy†Variants as a battleship unit. Other British warships of interest may be: the County class cruiser & the Illustrious class aircraft carrier.