Warships of the Royal Navy in the Second World War: Battleships, Queen Elizabeth-class, HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Warspite, HMS Valiant, HMS Barham, HMS Malaya

Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the Royal Navy in the Second World War, HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Warspite, HMS Valiant, HMS Barham, HMS Malaya

The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a group of five super-dreadnoughts built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. These battleships were superior in firepower, protection and speed to their Royal Navy predecessors of the Iron Duke class as well as preceding German classes such as the König class. The corresponding Bayern-class ships were generally considered competitive, although the Queen Elizabeth class were 2 knots (3.7 km/h) faster and outnumbered the German class 5:2. The Queen Elizabeths are generally considered the first fast battleships of their day.The Queen Elizabeths were the first battleships to be armed with 15-inch (381 mm) guns, and were described in the 1919 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships as "the most successful type of capital ship yet designed." They saw much service in both world wars. Barham was lost to a U-boat attack in 1941, but the others survived the wars and were scrapped in the late 1940s. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo, A 9255)

HMS Queen Elizabeth moored in the Forth with the Forth Railway Bridge in the background.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of her class of five dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s, and was often used as a flagship. She served in the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet, and participated in the inconclusive action of 19 August 1916. Her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. She and the other super-dreadnought battleships were the first of their type to be powered by oil instead of coal. Queen Elizabeth later served in several theatres during the Second World War, and was scrapped in 1948. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo), A 11787)

HMS Warspite.

HMS Warspite was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Completed during the First World War in 1915, she was assigned to the Grand Fleet and participated in the Battle of Jutland. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. During the interwar period the ship was deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, often serving as flagship, and was thoroughly modernised in the mid-1930s.During the Second World War, Warspite was involved in the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940 and was transferred to the Mediterranean later that year where the ship participated in fleet actions against the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) while also escorting convoys and bombarding Italian troops ashore. She was damaged by German aircraft during the Battle of Crete in mid-1941 and required six months of repairs in the United States. They were completed after the start of the Pacific War in December and the ship sailed across the Pacific to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean in early 1942. Warspite returned home in mid-1943 to conduct naval gunfire support as part of Force H during the Italian campaign. She was badly damaged by German radio-controlled glider bombs during the landings at Salerno and spent most of the next year under repair. The ship bombarded German positions during the Normandy landings and on Walcheren Island in 1944, despite not being fully repaired. These actions earned her the most battle honours ever awarded to an individual ship in the Royal Navy. For this and other reasons, Warspite gained the nickname the "Grand Old Lady" after a comment made by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in 1943 while she was his flagship.When she was launched in 1913 the use of oil as fuel and untried 15-inch guns were revolutionary concepts in the naval arms race between Britain and Germany, a considerable risk for Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jackie Fisher, who had advocated the design. However, the new "fast battleships" proved to be an outstanding success during the First World War. Decommissioned in 1945, Warspite ran aground under tow to be scrapped in 1947 on rocks near Prussia Cove, Cornwall, and was eventually broken up nearby.Warspite was the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name. It likely originated from an archaic word for woodpecker, 'speight'; with the implication that, during the age of sail the war-speight would peck holes in her enemies' wooden hulls. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo, A 23916)

Warspite bombarding defensive positions off Normandy, 6 June 1944. Note the non-operational X (upper rear) turret. Warspite was part of Bombarding Force 'D' off Le Havre, shelling German gun batteries in support of the landings on Sword area, 6 June 1944. The photo was taken from the frigate HMS HOLMES which formed part of the escort group.

(Royal Navy Photo)

HMS Warspite with neutrality stripes in the Bay of Villefranche, France; pre-Second World War.

(U.S. Navy Historical Center Photo)

HMS Valiant.

HMS Valiant was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard between January 1914 and November 1914, and entered service shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. She participated in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.During the interwar period, she was one of several warships involved in the Invergordon Mutiny, in which sailors struck against pay cuts. Valiant saw further action during the Second World War in the Mediterranean, where her service included destroying Vichy ships at Mers-el-Kébir and the Battle of Cape Matapan, during which time Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh served aboard as a midshipman. While in drydock in Alexandria, the battleship was severely damaged by an Italian raid. After additional refits and service in Sicily, she was sent to join the Eastern Fleet, raiding Japanese bases in Indonesia, before a drydock accident in Ceylon resulted in Valiant being returned to Devonport and decommissioned. (Wikipedia)

(Royal Navy Photo)

HMS Barham after her 1931-34 reconstruction.

HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Completed in 1915, she was often used as a flagship and participated in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. For the rest of the war, except for the inconclusive action of 19 August 1916, her service generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.During the 1920s and 1930s, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Home Fleets. Barham played a minor role in quelling the 1929 Palestine riots and the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The ship was in the Mediterranean when the Second World War began in September 1939, on her voyage home three months later, she accidentally collided with and sank one of her escorting destroyers, HMS Duchess.She participated in the Battle of Dakar in mid-1940, where she damaged a Vichy French battleship and was slightly damaged in return. Barham was then transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she covered multiple Malta convoys. She helped to sink an Italian heavy cruiser and a destroyer during the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and was damaged by German aircraft two months later during the evacuation of Crete. Barham was sunk off the Egyptian coast that November by the German submarine U-331 with the loss of 862 crewmen, approximately two thirds of her crew.  (Wikipedia)

(Royal Navy Photo)

HMS Malaya.

HMS Malaya was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class super-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. Shortly after commissioning in early 1916, she participated in the Battle of Jutland of the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet.Malaya spent the interwar period between the Mediterranean Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, and Home Fleet. She transported Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI into exile and served during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. Apart from this, her interwar career was uneventful.With the outbreak of the Second World War, Malaya served with the Mediterranean Fleet, serving as a convoy escort and fighting in the Battle of Calabria and Operation Grog. In March 1941, she was transferred to the North Atlantic to perform convoy escort duties, during which she prevented the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau from attacking a convoy. Torpedoed in that month by the German submarine U-106, Malaya received repairs in New York. Malaya was withdrawn from serving at the end of 1944 and used as an accommodation ship for the training establishment HMS Vernon. She was ultimately broken up and sold for scrap in 1948. (Wikipedia)