Neptune-class cruiser
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Neptune-class |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
|
| Preceded by: | Minotaur class |
| Succeeded by: | Tiger class |
| Planned: | 5 |
| Cancelled: | 5 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 18,700 long tons (19,000 t) deep load |
| Length: | 662 ft (202 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 76 ft (23 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m) |
| Installed power: | 108,000 shp (81 MW) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range: | 7,500 nmi (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1351 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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The Neptune-class was a proposed class of cruisers planned for the British Royal Navy in the latter years of the Second World War. They were large ships which were to be armed with twelve 6 in (152 mm) Dual Purpose guns and with a heavy secondary armament. While five ships of the class were planned in 1944, they were cancelled following the end of the war, before construction could begin.
In 1942, work began at the British Admiralty as to the requirements for the next class of cruisers to be built for the Royal Navy as a follow-on to the Minotaur class and Tiger-class cruisers, which were both based on the pre-war Crown Colony class. A small anti-aircraft cruiser design with six or eight 5.25 in (133 mm) dual-purpose (i.e. capable of both anti-ship and anti-aircraft fire) developed into the July 1943, design N2, armed with four twin 5.25 inch turrets of a new design and displacing 8,650 long tons (8,790 t) standard, was approved for inclusion in the 1944 construction programme. In October 1943, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Dudley Pound, resigned and his replacement, Andrew Cunningham disliked the small cruiser and work was switched to a large cruiser, described at first as an "improved Belfast", armed with twelve 6 inch guns.
The new design was 662 feet (202 m) long overall and 655 feet (200 m) at the waterline, with a beam of 76 feet (23 m) and a draught of 24 feet 9 inches (7.54 m), with the ships' hull form based on that of the Courageous-class battlecruiser of the First World War. Displacement was 15,350 long tons (15,600 t) standard and 18,700 long tons (19,000 t) deep load. The ships were not fitted with facilities for carrying aircraft, so the bridge was lower than in predecessing classes of cruiser, while the two superstructures blocks were longer than in previous ships, with the forward superstructure extending back to the forward funnel and while the aft superstructure covered the base of the aft funnel. A long forecastle was planned, reaching back beyond the aft funnel, although in 1946, it was suggested to change to a flush-deck hull.
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