Most people are unaware that the main Battle Cruiser force was stationed not at Scapa Flow with the main fleet but at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. This was so that they could catch the German "Hit and run" raids the German Navy was using to try to catch parts of the British Grand Fleet without support of the whole Fleet. The ships pictured here are the Lion Class. Nicknamed "The Splendid Cats" they had the heaviest guns when built and had the speed to either outrun the enemy battleships or catch and destroy their cruisers. In theory this was fine but in real life their use was as extensions of the main fleets. This resulted in the destruction of three of them at Jutland. The closest ship is the HMS Queen Mary which differed from the other two in that the berthing of officers and enlisted reverted to the old Royal Navy practice of officers in the rear and other ranks forward. The visual difference is the "Captains Walk" at the stern. The Queen Mary blew up at Jutland and the cause was labeled at the time as the thin armor. However there has been controversy that it was in fact the Royal Navy handling of the powder used to fire guns. That theory was "In order to speed firing of the guns the safety guards were disregarded or disengaged" and it was that powder handling that caused the demise of the three battle cruisers. Interestingly I stumbled on a National Geographic show that featured a dive that explored a British heavy cruiser that was sunk at Jutland. It showed that the blast doors were indeed open when it was sunk indicating that the second theory is probably more correct than the first. The bridge in the background is the "Forth" Bridge which when built in 1890 was a wonder of technology. Some specs for those that like them. length: 700 feet displacement full: 29,700 tons Armor Belt up to 9" eight 13.5" guns Speed 28.5 knots If you listen you can hear the men's chorale practicing their rendition of "Men of Harlech" on the quarterdeck. Comments are always welcome . An apology for not keeping up with comments on art. Another motherboard melt down!! What a pain. It's been hit and miss this year.