HMS Lion Will Bring 9 406 mm Guns to War Thunder’s British Fleet
The planned 1938 fit will enter Rank VII with heavy protection, powerful AP rounds, and a slower-turning main battery.
HMS Lion will join War Thunder’s British naval tree as a Rank VII battleship, bringing nine 406 mm cannons and a design Britain never managed to complete. Gaijin Entertainment introduced the planned vessel in its Steam announcement, which presents Lion in the 1938 configuration selected for the game.
Lion’s main battery will be the centerpiece of the ship. Its 16 Inch/45 BL Mk II cannons are an improved version of the guns used by HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson, with high penetration and more than 25 kg of explosive mass. That filler is described as comparable to Yamato’s, giving Lion the ability to punish heavily armored ships when shells reach their vital sections.
HMS Lion will reward careful positioning
Long-range engagements will suit Lion best. The ship’s armor is strong for its role, but commanders will need to angle slightly toward their target rather than presenting the hull straight on. Overangling can expose the magazine by allowing incoming fire to bypass the belt armor, turning an attempt at protection into a serious liability.
HMS Lion’s turrets will traverse slowly, so charging into the center of a battle will leave the ship struggling to bring its guns around. Keeping most opponents in front of the main battery should give the ship more time to fire before its broadside becomes difficult to manage.
Lion’s 406 mm guns lead the arsenal
The BL Mk II cannon is planned to become the most powerful naval gun in Britain’s tech tree. Its combination of penetration and explosive power should let the battleship threaten top-tier opponents across a wide range of distances, provided the shells reach armor and internal modules rather than striking harmless sections of the hull.
Aircraft will face six octuple 40 mm mounts and 16 133 mm dual-purpose guns. The 133 mm weapons have limited value against armored ships, but their proximity-fused high-explosive shells should give Lion a useful answer when aircraft enter range.
Why War Thunder is using Lion’s 1938 design
Later proposals called for a longer hull, a modified bow, stronger anti-aircraft defenses, and changes to the mine protection system. Those revisions would have increased the ship’s displacement enough to require less armor and lower speed, so the earlier 1938 fit offers a stronger combination for War Thunder’s naval battles.
Britain’s unfinished final battleship project
HMS Lion emerged after the collapse of the interwar naval treaty system. Japan refused to sign the Second London Naval Treaty on March 25, 1936, raising the permitted battleship caliber to 16 inches and allowing an escalation limit of 45,000 tons. Britain then designed a new class capped at 40,000 tons, the largest displacement its dockyards could handle.
The Admiralty formally ordered Lion on February 28, 1939, and laid down the ship on July 4 of that year. Construction was suspended on October 3, just weeks after the start of World War II, and only 218 tons of steel had been assembled when work stopped again in May 1940. In November 1940, the Admiralty directed that the steel be used for HMS Vanguard, a stopgap battleship built around spare 15-inch turrets.
Design work continued on paper through the war, with proposals adding thicker armor, heavier anti-aircraft weapons, and deeper torpedo protection. The Lion class was formally canceled in autumn 1945, while development of its 16-inch guns ended in 1949. The War Thunder version will preserve the earlier fit before those later revisions changed the ship’s balance of speed and protection.
Gaijin has not announced a release date for HMS Lion in the announcement, and its vehicle specifications may change before the battleship enters War Thunder.
Would you take Lion into long-range naval fights, or would its slow turrets keep you away from the front line? Share your view in the comments, then follow the site on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
War Thunder
Developed by Gaijin Entertainment
War Thunder is a free-to-play vehicular combat MMO featuring aircraft, ground vehicles, and naval craft spanning from the early 20th century to the modern era. Players progress through technology trees across multiple nations, unlocking increasingly advanced military vehicles. The game offers three realism tiers for each vehicle type: arcade, realistic, and simulator modes. Originally developed as a flight simulator under the name "World of Planes," the game expanded to include tanks in 2014 and naval forces later, becoming a combined-arms experience. A mobile version was released in 2023.
- Genre Shooter, Simulator, Tactical
- Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One
- Perspective First person, Third person, Virtual Reality
- Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
- Release January 28, 2013
- Publisher Gaijin Entertainment
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Age Rating
