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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Admiral Beatty and HMS Lion
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Admiral Beatty and HMS Lion
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Admiral Beatty and HMS Lion
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Admiral Beatty and HMS Lion

Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Admiral Beatty and HMS Lion

Associated (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)
Medallist
DateMay 2004
Object NameMedal
MediumSterling Silver
ClassificationsMedals
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS072500.81
About MeThe battle cruiser as a type of ship - fast, heavily armed, though less well armoured than the battleship - was first exemplified in the Invincible of 1907. The best known of the class was undoubtedly HMS Lion, which was completed in 1912. This ship was 26,350 tons displacement, was armed with eight 13.5-inch guns and smaller weapons and had a maximum speed of 28 knots. She looked what she was - the embodiment of aggression. She was built at the Devonport Dockyard, and when she appeared she was the pride of the Fleet.

At the outset of the First World War, the admiral commanding the Battle Cruiser Force was Sir David Beatty, with his flag in the Lion. Beatty had had an outstandingly brilliant career. He was a captain before the age of 30, and a rear admiral ten years later, thus achieving one of the youngest promotions since the time of Nelson. Beatty fought his ships in three notable actions: Heligoland Bight in August 1914, where the Germans suffered heavily; the Dogger Bank in January 1915, an encounter which could have resulted in the annihilation of the German battle cruiser squadron had not the Lion been damaged and Beatty's intentions misunderstood; and finally, there was Jutland in May 1916. In that battle the Lion was hit once again, this time on 'Q' turret amidships, and was saved from blowing up only by the action of Major Harvey of the Royal Marines, who just before his death ordered the turret's magazine to be flooded.

Beatty left the Lion and took command of the Grand Fleet in the winter of 1916. His former flagship continued to be that of the Battle Cruiser Force, but she was never again in action.

She was last in commission in 1924 after which she was broken up.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.

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