Royal Navy ship design for RP/Historical play

A basic guide to WW2 Royal Navy ships, made into HoI4 ship designs. Intended for RP/Historical games.

Disclaimer

I am by no mean an expert on British ship designs, and these are only my own interpretations based on some quick research. As such, I understand that this guide probably has flaws.
These designs are also obviously not intended to be competitive, and are only meant to be used for RP purposes.
I also didn't include the designs you start with in a 1936 game.

Battleships

King George V Class
The most modern British battleships at the beginning of the war.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : HMS King George V (1936), HMS Prince of Wales (1936), HMS Duke of York (1936), HMS Anson (1937), HMS Howe (1937)

Lion Class
A planned improvement over the previous class. Only two of the six ships planned were laid down in 1939, but none were completed and all were scrapped during the war.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Lion (1939), HMS Temeraire (1939), HMS Conqueror, HMS Thunderer, [2 other unnamed ships planned]

HMS Vanguard
The largest, fastest, and last British battleship to be built, she wasn't completed until after the end of the war. She was designed to be completed faster than the already laid down Lion class.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : HMS Vanguard (1941)

Aircraft Carriers

Illustrious Class
The sucessor class to HMS Ark Royal, these ships relied more on anti-aircraft defences and an armored deck for survival than a large amount of planes.

First ship laid down : 1937
Ships in class : HMS Illustrious (1937), HMS Formidable (1937), HMS Victorious (1937), HMS Indomitable (1937)

Implacable Class
The successors of the Illustrious class were faster and carried more planes than the older carriers.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Implacable (1939), HMS Indefatigable (1939)

Malta Class
A planned class of four large British carriers. Repeated changes to their design made it so they weren't ready to be laid out before the end of the war, and all were cancelled in 1945.

First ship laid down : /
Ships in class : HMS Africa, HMS Gibraltar, HMS Malta, HMS New Zealand

Light Aircraft Carriers

HMS Unicorn
An aircraft repair ship and light aircraft carrier laid down in 1939.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Unicorn (1939)

Colossus Class
The first ten of the 1942 Light Fleet Carrier design, intended as an intermediate step between the larger fleet carriers and the limited capability escort carriers.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : HMS Colossus (1942), HMS Glory (1942), HMS Ocean (1942), HMS Venerable (1942), HMS Vengeance (1942), HMS Pioneer (1942), HMS Warrior (1942), HMS Theseus (1943), HMS Triumph (1943), HMS Perseus (1943)

Majestic Class
The following six of the 1942 Light Fleet Carrier design were slight improvement over the previous ships, but weren't completed until after the end of the war. HMS Leviathan was scrapped before completion.

First ship laid down : 1943
Ships in class : HMS Majestic (1943), HMS Terrible (1943), HMS Magnificent (1943), HMS Hercules (1943), HMS Leviathan (1943), HMS Powerful (1943)

Centaur Class
The last iteration of the 1942 Light Fleet Carrier design, laid down at the end of the war and commissioned in the 50s. Their design was modernised as they were under construction, HMS Centaur being the only one completed with the original design. The first and last three ships of the class were cancelled before being laid down.

First ship laid down : 1943
Ships in class : HMS Hermes (cancelled), HMS Centaur (1944), HMS Albion (1944), HMS Bulwark (1945), HMS Hermes (ex-Elephant, 1944), HMS Arrogant (cancelled), HMS Monmouth (cancelled), HMS Polyphemus (cancelled)

Escort Carriers

Avenger Class
The first class of escort carrier built for the Royal Navy, originally laid out as American merchant ships. The ships were transfered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease agreement, with the exception of USS Charger.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Avenger (1939), HMS Biter (1939), HMS Dasher (1940), USS Charger (US Navy, 1940)

Attacker Class
The US Navy acquired 22 cargo ships to be converted into Bogue Class escort carriers, eleven of which were transfered to the Royal Navy under the terms of the Lend-Lease program to protect convoys in the Atlantic.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : HMS Attacker (1941), HMS Battler (1941), HMS Chaser (1941), HMS Fencer (1941), HMS Hunter (1941), HMS Pursuer (1941), HMS Ravager (1942), HMS Searcher (1942), HMS Stalker (1941), HMS Striker (1941), HMS Tracker (1941)

Nairana Class
A class of British-built aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : HMS Nairana (1941), HMS Vindex (1941), HMS Campania (1941)

Heavy Cruisers

County Class (Surrey)
The last group of County class heavy cruisers were the only heavy cruisers planned for the Royal Navy after the York class. The two cruisers were planned as improvement over the previous ships of the class, but they were never laid down.

First ship laid down : /
Ships in class : HMS Surrey, HMS Northumberland

Light Cruisers

Town Class (Gloucester)
An improvement over the initial Town class design with better fire control.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : HMS Liverpool (1936), HMS Manchester (1936), HMS Gloucester (1936)

Town Class (Edinburgh)
A further improvement of the Town class with additional dual-purpose and anti-aircraft guns. The ships were also longer, initially to allow for an increased number of main guns, but that idea was quickly abandonned.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : HMS Belfast (1936), HMS Edinburgh (1936)

Fiji Class
A more compact version of the preceding Town class.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Fiji (1938), HMS Nigeria (1938), HMS Mauritius (1938), HMS Kenya (1938), HMS Trinidad (1938), HMS Jamaica (1939), HMS Gambia (1939), HMS Bermuda (1939), HMS Ceylon (1939), HMS Uganda (1939), HMS Newfoundland (1939)

Minotaur Class
A war-time modification of the previous Fiji class. However, the building of the class had low priority and only three of the twelve planned ships were completed before the end of the war.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : HMS Minotaur (1941, transfered to Royal Canadian Navy before completion), HMS Swiftsure (1941), HMS Superb (1942), HMS Hawke (1943, cancelled before completion), HMS Bellerophon (1944, cancelled before completion), HMS Blake (ex-Tiger, 1942, redesigned and built as Tiger class cruiser), HMS Defence (1942, redesigned and built as Tiger class cruiser), HMS Bellerophon(ex-Blake, 1941, redesigned and built as Tiger class cruiser), HMS Mars (cancelled)

Neptune Class
A proposed class of heavily armed light cruisers. Planned in the latter stages of World War Two, they were cancelled after the end of the war before being laid down.

First ship laid down : /
Ships in class : HMS Neptune, HMS Centurion, HMS Edgar, HMS Mars, HMS Minotaur

Dido Class
A class of pre-war light cruisers, armed with dual purpose guns and intended to serve as convoy escort.

First ship laid down : 1937
Ships in class : HMS Dido (1937), HMS Argonaut (1939), HMS Charybdis (1939), HMS Phoebe (1937), HMS Hermione (1937), HMS Bonaventure (1937), HMS Scylla (1939), HMS Naiad (1937), HMS Cleopatra (1939), HMS Sirius (1937), HMS Euryalus (1938)

Dido Class (Bellona)
The last group of Dido class cruisers had a modified design with reinforced close range anti-aircraft armement.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : HMS Bellona (1939), HMS Royalist (1940), HMS Diadem (1939), HMS Black Prince (1939), HMS Spartan (1939)

Destroyers

I Class
A repeat of the previous H class, but with ten torpedoes instead of eight.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : 11 ships (Icarus to Ithuriel)

Tribal Class
A new destroyer design breaking from the previous ones, with a greater focus on guns than torpedoes.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : 16 ships (Afridi to Zulu)

J/K/N Class
A smaller follow up to the Tribal class and a return to more traditional destroyer design. The N group was commissioned and manned by the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the Polish Navy.

First ship laid down : 1937
Ships in class : 8 J class (Jervis to Jupiter), 8 K class (Kelly to Kipling)

L/M Class
An improvement over the previous classes with reinforced anti-aircraft defence and fire control.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : 8 L class (Laforey to Loyal), 8 M class (Milne to Martin)

O/P Class
A follow up to the previous class, armed with 4 in. guns and further improved anti-aircraft armament.

First ship laid down : 1940
Ships in class : 8 O class (Onslow to Orwell), 8 P class (Pakenham to Porcupine)

Q/R Class
A repeat of the previous O/P class, but with larger hull and main armament reverted to 4.7 in. guns, as well as additional torpedoes.

First ship laid down : 1940
Ships in class : 8 Q class (Queenborough to Quilliam), 8 R class (Rotherham to Roebuck)

S/T Class
An improvement over the previous class, with redesigned main gun mounts and 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : 8 S class (Saumarez to Swift), 8 T class (Teazer to Tyrian)

U/V Class
Nearly identical to the previous class, with the exception of the new main guns mounts.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : 8 U class (Grenville to Urania), 8 V class (Venus to Volage)

W/Z Class
A repeat of the preceding class, with modified director structures.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : 8 W class (Kempenfelt to Wrangler), 8 V class (Myngs to Zodiac)

C Class
A class of numerous destroyers, with some equipping the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : 32 ships (Caprice to Crescent)

Weapon Class
A fresh and new design of destroyers, designed as smaller counterparts to the Battle class under construction. Only thirteen of the twenty planned ships were laid down, and only four of them were eventually comissioned after the end of the war.

First ship laid down : 1944
Ships in class : 20 planned (Battleaxe to Spear)

Battle Class
A class of large destroyers, with new dual-purpose main guns mounts, reinforced anti-aircraft defences, and equipped with the Squid anti-submarine weapon. Half of the planned ships were cancelled with the war drawing to a close, and only seven were commissioned before the end of the hostilities.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : 42 planned (Barfleur to Vimiera)

Daring Class
The largest destroyers built for the Royal Navy at the time, and the last featuring a conventional gun design. Only eight of the sixteen ships planned were completed.

First ship laid down : 1945
Ships in class : 16 planned (Delight to Duchess)

Escort Destroyers

Note : The type I actually uses a 1936 hull, while the types II to IV use a 1940 hull. The hull icons used are simply there to differentiate them from the standard destroyers.

Hunt Class Type I
The first version of the Hunt class of escort destroyers, based on the previous Bittern class of escort sloops.

First ship laid down : 1939
Ships in class : 20 ships (Atherstone to Whaddon)

Hunt Class Type II
A revised version of the Hunt class, with modified hull and increased depth charge stowage.

First ship laid down : 1940
Ships in class : 36 ships (Avon Vale to Zetland)

Hunt Class Type III
A further revision of the Hunt class, now equipped with torpedoes.

First ship laid down : 1940
Ships in class : 28 ships (Airedale to Wensleydale)

Hunt Class Type IV
A radically different alternate design for the Hunt class, made by a private company.

First ship laid down : 1941
Ships in class : 2 ships (Brecon and Brissenden)

Submarines

River Class
A class of "fleet submarines" designed in the 1930s, intended to feature a relatively high speed at the cost of diving depth. Only three of the twenty submarines planned were completed.

First ship laid down : 1931
Ships in class : 20 planned, 3 completed (Thames, Severn, Clyde)

Grampus Class
A class of minelaying submarines of the late 1930s.

First ship laid down : 1931
Ships in class : 6 ships (Porpoise to Seal)

T Class
An improved class of submarines intended to replace the O, P and R classes.

First ship laid down : 1936
Ships in class : 53 ships (Triton to Thermopylae), another nine submarines were cancelled before being laid down

U Class
A class of small submarines built just before and during World War Two, part of the War Emergency 1940 and 1941 programmes.

First ship laid down : 1937
Ships in class : 49 ships (Undine to Upstart)

V Class
A further refinement of the U class, with longer hull. Only twenty-two of the forty-two ships planned were completed.

First ship laid down : 1942
Ships in class : 42 planned (Venturer to Upward, as well as 8 unnamed boats)

Amphion Class
The last class of submarines built for the Royal Navy before the end of the war, these were intended to replace the S and T class with improved diving depth and speed. Only sixteen of the forty-six ships were completed, and only two were ready by the end of the war. They were later modernised with snorkel and radar.

First ship laid down : Late 1943
Ships in class : 46 planned (Amphion to Adept)

Addendum

- It would probably be more accurate to use converted cruiser hulls for the escort carriers, to reflect their status of converted merchant ships.

[TheBustedAFatNutinator]

wheres the Hood?

[fil331970 (Dem)]

I'll be looking for it :)

[Allhorsenoplinko]

I'll get to it, then!

[fil331970 (Dem)]

Ohh I'd love to see it! Man the Guns is the only dlc I've got so personally this is all I can make lol...

[Allhorsenoplinko]

I should try to do this for the aircraft designers... Hmm! That's an idea!

[fil331970 (Dem)]

Thank you! I tried to stay as close as possible to the historical ships while still "translating" and adapting them to the Hoi4 format

[Space Marine]

Okay now this is some imperial gaming moment. Nice designs

[Allhorsenoplinko]

Thanks!

[fil331970 (Dem)]

There was one indeed, it was my inspiration to make this
I have the link to it, but it leads to nothing now, it seems that it was deleted

[Infinite Seaweed]

I swear there was a guide exactly like this for the us navy but I can't find it anywhere