 The Lion @-@ class ships were built without anti @-@ aircraft guns , but a variety of guns were fitted over the course of the war . These included the QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss gun on HA MkIc mounting . This had a maximum depression of 8 ° and a maximum elevation of 60 ° . It fired a 6 @-@ pound ( 2 @.@ 7 kg ) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1 @,@ 765 ft / s ( 538 m / s ) at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute . It had a maximum ceiling of 10 @,@ 000 ft ( 3 @,@ 000 m ) , but an effective range of only 1 @,@ 200 yards ( 1 @,@ 100 m ) . QF 3 inch 20 cwt AA guns on high @-@ angle MkII mounts were also used . They had a maximum depression of 10 ° and a maximum elevation of 90 ° . They fired a 12 @.@ 5 @-@ pound ( 5 @.@ 7 kg ) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2 @,@ 500 ft / s ( 760 m / s ) at a rate of 12 – 14 rounds per minute . It had a maximum effective ceiling of 23 @,@ 500 ft ( 7 @,@ 200 m ) . 
