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HMS Royal Sovereign (05)
Encyclopedia
HMS Royal Sovereign (pennant number
05) was a Revenge-class
(also known as Royal Sovereign and R-class) battleship
of the Royal Navy
displacing 28000 metric tons (27,557.7 LT) and armed with eight 15 inches (38.1 cm) guns in four twin turrets. She was laid down in January 1914 and launched in April 1915; she was completed in May 1916, but was not ready for service to participate in the Battle of Jutland
at the end of the month. She served with the Grand Fleet for the remainder of the war, but did not see action. In the early 1930s, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet
and based in Malta
.
Unlike the s, Royal Sovereign and her sisters were not modernised during the interwar period. Only minor alterations to her anti-aircraft battery were effected before the outbreak of World War II
in September 1939. Assigned to the Home Fleet, she was tasked with convoy protection until May 1940, when she returned to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was present during the Battle of Calabria
in July 1940, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. By March 1942, she was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, but after the Indian Ocean raid
by Admiral Nagumo's Kido Butai, she was withdrawn to eastern Africa to escort convoys. In January 1944, she returned to Britain, and in May the Royal Navy transferred the ship to the Soviet Navy
, where she was renamed Arkhangelsk. She then escorted Arctic convoys to Kola
until the end of the war. The Soviets returned the ship in 1949, after which she was broken up for scrap
.
of 88 inch and a draught
of 28 inch. She had a designed displacement of 28000 tonnes (27,557.7 LT) and with a full combat load, she displaced 31000 t (30,510.3 LT). She was powered by four Parsons
steam turbine
s with steam from eighteen oil-fired boiler
s. These were rated at 40000 shp and a top speed of 23 knots (12.5 m/s). She had a range of 4200 nautical miles (7,778.4 km) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s).
The ship was equipped with eight BL 15-inch Mk I guns in four twin turrets, in superfiring pairs
fore and aft of the superstructure
, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Fourteen BL 6-inch Mk XII
guns were mounted in casemate
s along the broadside
of the vessel amidships. As built, her anti-aircraft armament consisted of two QF 3-inch 20 cwt Mk I
"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight
, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. guns.
In August-September 1924, the 3-inch guns had been replaced by a pair of QF 4-inch Mk V
guns, and another pair was added during the ship's 1927–28 refit. These were replaced by eight QF 4-inch Mk XVI
guns in twin turrets during Royal Sovereigns 1937–38 refit. A pair of eight-barrel 2-pounder "pom-poms"
were added in 1932 abreast the funnel
, and two four-barrel "pom-poms" were added in early 1942 atop 'B' and 'X' turrets. Ten 20 mm Oerlikon
guns were also added in 1941. Another six were added in 1943. Royal Sovereign was initially equipped with four 21 in (53.3 cm) torpedo tube
s submerged on her beam, though the after pair were removed in 1932. The forward pair were also removed in 1937–1938, during the ship's last prewar refit.
s. One was mounted above the conning tower
, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top
above the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'X' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in March 1917. A 30 feet (9.1 m) rangefinder replaced the smaller one originally fitted in 'X' turret in 1919. Similarly, another large rangefinder was fitted in 'B' turret during the ship's 1921–22 refit. A simple high-angle rangefinder was added above the bridge during that same refit.
About 1930–31, a High-Angle Control System (HACS)
Mk I director replaced the high-angle rangefinder on the spotting top. During the 1932 refit two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the fire-control director in the spotting top. In the 1937–38 refit a HACS Mark III director replaced the Mk I in the spotting top and another was added to the torpedo-control tower aft. By 1942, a Type 279
air warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar, a Type 284 gunnery radar and two Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were installed. By September 1943, the Type 284 radar had been replaced by an improved Type 284B and two Type 282 radars had been fitted for the "pom-poms".
13 inches (33 cm) thick, unlike the older ship's armour that tapered to 8 inches (20 cm) below the waterline
. The armoured belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour
(KC) with its maximum thickness between 'A' and 'Y' barbette
s and thinned to four to six inches (102 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. Above this was a strake of armour 6 inches thick that extended between 'A' and 'X' barbettes. Transverse bulkhead
s four to six inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes.
The gun turret
s were protected by 11 to 13 in (279.4 to 330.2 mm) of KC armour, except for the turret roofs which were 4.75–5 in (12.1–12.7 ) thick. The barbettes ranged in thickness from 6–10 in (15.2–25.4 ) above the upper deck, but were only four to six inches thick below it. The forecastle
deck was 1 inch (25 mm) thick, while the upper deck was 1–1.5 in (2.5–3.8 ) in thickness. The main deck was 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the magazines and machinery spaces and one inch elsewhere, except for the 2-inch-thick slope that met the bottom of the main belt. The middle deck was one inch thick over 'Y' magazine, but increased to two to four inches over the steering
machinery. The lower deck armour was forward of 'A' barbette and ranged in thickness from 1–2.5 in (2.5–6.4 ). The main conning tower had 13 inches of armour on the sides with a 3 inches (8 cm) roof. The torpedo control tower in the rear superstructure had six inches of armour protecting it. After the Battle of Jutland
, 1 inches (2.5 cm) of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazine
s and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines.
To protect against underwater explosions, the ship was fitted with longitudinal bulkheads 1 to 1.5 inches thick that ran from the forward to the rear magazines. During her 1921 refit, Royal Sovereign was fitted with an anti-torpedo bulge
that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into a water-tight empty lower compartment and an upper compartment filled with water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The space between the tubes was filled with wood and cement.
could launch. During her 1932 refit, the platforms were removed from the turrets and a trainable catapult
was installed on her quarterdeck
, along with a crane
to recover a seaplane
. The catapult and crane were removed about 1936.
. The ship was launched on 29 April 1915 and commissioned in May 1916. She was still working up during the Battle of Jutland and the end of the month, and so she was not present during the engagement.
when the fleet commander, Admiral John Jellicoe ordered the fleet to sea. Jellicoe purposely left Royal Sovereign in port due to the inexperience of her crew; as a result, she missed the Battle of Jutland
the following day. In the months after the engagement, Royal Sovereign was quickly made ready for service with the fleet to further increase the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet over the German High Seas Fleet
.
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August 1916 to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from reaching the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruiser
s were sunk by German U-boat
s during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines
. The Admiralty
concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.
In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40
cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral David Beatty
. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. This was the last time Royal Sovereign and the rest of the Grand Fleet would go to sea for the remainder of the war. On 21 November 1918, following the Armistice, the entire Grand Fleet left port to escort the surrendered German fleet into internment at Scapa Flow.
detachment assigned to Royal Sovereign left the ship on 21 June 1919 to conduct exercises. The ship meanwhile went into drydock at Invergordon
in September. Post-war demobilization in 1919 saw some 500 men leave the ship while she was in dock. Upon returning to service in late 1919, the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. Conflicts between Greece and the crumbling Ottoman Empire
prompted the Royal Navy to deploy a force to the eastern Mediterranean. In April 1920, Royal Sovereign and her sister ship steamed to the region via Malta
. While in the Ottoman capital Constantinople
, Royal Sovereign and the other British warships took on White émigré
fleeing the Communist Red Army
. Among those refugees aboard Royal Sovereign was a princess of the Galitzine
family.
The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
cut the battleship strength of the Royal Navy from forty ships to fifteen. The remaining active battleships were divided between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleet
s and conducted joint operations annually. Royal Sovereign remained with the Atantic Fleet through 1926. On 4 October 1927, the ship was placed in reserve to effect a major refit. Four new rangefinders and eight searchlights were installed. On 15 May 1929, the refit was finished, and the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. The squadron consisted of Royal Sovereign, her sisters Resolution and , and , and based in Malta. By the 1930s, the five ships of the Queen Elizabeth class were rotated through extensive modernisation. Royal Sovereign and her sisters, however, were smaller and slower than the Queen Elizabeth-class, and so they were not extensively modernised in the inter-war period. The only changes made were augmentations to their anti-aircraft batteries.
Fleet exercises in 1934 were carried out in the Bay of Biscay
, followed by a fleet regatta
in Navarino Bay off Greece. In 1935, the ship returned to Britain for the Jubilee Fleet Review for King George V. In August 1935, Royal Sovereign was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, where she served as the flagship
of Rear Admiral Charles Ramsey
. The ship served as a training vessel until 2 June 1937, when she was again placed in reserve for a major overhaul. This lasted until 18 February 1938, after which she returned to the 2nd Battle Squadron. In 1939, King George VI made a state visit to Canada; Royal Sovereign and the rest of the fleet escorted his ship halfway across the Atlantic and met it on the return leg of the voyage.
In early 1939, the Admiralty
considered plans to send Royal Sovereign and her four sisters to Asia to counter Japanese expansionism. They reasoned that the then established "Singapore strategy
", which called for a fleet to be formed in Britain to be dispatched to confront a Japanese attack was inherently risky due to the long delay. They argued that a dedicated battle fleet would allow for faster reaction. The plan was abandoned, however, because the new King George V class battleships
would not begin to enter service until 1941. In the last weeks of August 1939, the Royal Navy began to concentrate in wartime bases as tensions with Germany rose. Royal Sovereign steamed to Invergordon, where she joined her sisters Resolution and , , and the battlecruiser
. By 31 August, the force joined , the flagship of Admiral Charles Forbes, the commander of the Home Fleet.
to patrol for German merchant ships that might be attempting to reach Germany. At the outset of war in September 1939, Royal Sovereign was assigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Escort Force, which was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was tasked with protecting convoy
s to Britain. Upon returning to Plymouth
, she underwent a short refit. In May 1940, she moved to the Mediterranean Fleet. There she was based in Alexandria
with the battleships , , and , under the command of Admiral Andrew Cunningham
. On 25–27 June, she and her sister ship escorted two convoys from Alexandria to Malta
. On 28 June, aerial reconnaissance located Italian destroyer
s off Zakinthos; Admiral John Tovey took the 7th Cruiser Squadron. Royal Sovereign was left behind due to her slow speed. Cunningham spit his fleet into three groups; Royal Sovereign and Malaya were the core of Group C. She was present at the Battle of Calabria
on July 18, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. Warspite bore the brunt of the action, as Royal Sovereign and Malaya lagged behind.
In mid-August 1940, while steaming in the Red Sea
, Royal Sovereign was unsuccessfully attacked by the Italian submarine Galileo Ferraris. Later that month, she returned to Atlantic convoy duties. These lasted until August 1941, when periodic maintenance was effected in Norfolk
, Virginia. The Admiralty
decided in May 1941 to deploy a powerful fleet to be based in Singapore
to counter any Japanese attempt to invade Western colonies in Southeast Asia. Royal Sovereign and her sisters Revenge, Ramillies, and Resolution were assigned to the force. The unit was to have been assembled in Singapore by March 1942, though Royal Sovereign reached the theatre earlier. At the beginning of March 1942, Royal Sovereign, the heavy cruiser
, and several smaller vessels escorted the convoy SU.1 of twelve troopship
s transporting 10,090 soldiers. The convoy departed Colombo
on 1 March, bound for Australia. The convoy reached Fremantle
without incident on 15 March.
By the end of March 1942, the Eastern Fleet had been formed, under the command of Admiral James Somerville
. The fleet was centered on a pair of fleet aircraft carriers, the elderly carrier , and five battleships, four of which were Royal Sovereign and her sisters; the fifth was Warspite. The fleet also included seven cruisers and sixteen destroyers. Despite the numerical strength of the Eastern Fleet, many of its units, including the four Revenge class battleships, were no longer front-line warships. Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo
's powerful Kido Butai, composed of six carriers and four fast battleships, was significantly stronger than Somerville's Eastern Fleet. As a result, only the modernised Warspite could operate with the two fleet carriers; Royal Sovereign, her three sisters, and Hermes were kept away from combat to escort convoys in the Indian Ocean.
In late March, the code-breakers at the Far East Combined Bureau
, a branch of Bletchley Park
, informed Somerville that the Japanese were planning a raid into the Indian Ocean
to attack Colombo and Trincomalee
and destroy his fleet. He therefore divided his fleet into two groups: Force A, which consisted of the two fleet carriers, Warspite and four cruisers, and Force B, centered on Royal Sovereign and her sisters and the carrier Hermes. He intended to ambush Nagumo's fleet in a night action, the only method by which he thought he could achieve a victory. After three days of searching for the Japanese fleet without success, Somerville returned to Addu Atoll
to refuel. While refueling his ships, Somerville received a report that the Japanese fleet was approaching Colombo, which they attacked the following day, on 5 April, followed by attacks on Trincomalee on 9 April.
Following the raid in April 1942, Somerville withdrew Royal Sovereign and her three sisters to Mombasa
, where they could secure the shipping routes in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Royal Sovereign and her sisters departed from Addu Atoll early on the morning on 9 April, bound for Mombasa. Here they remained stationed until September 1943, with the exception of another long period in the dockyard in Philadelphia in late 1942. While Royal Sovereign was moored in Philadelphia, the American light cruiser , a badly-damaged veteran of the Battle of Cape Esperance
, shared a pier with her. During the refit, the ship's deck armour was increased by 2 inches (5.1 cm) and four of her 6 inches (15.2 cm) guns were removed. Royal Sovereign was sent back to the United States for a major overhaul in Philadelphia, from March to September 1943. She then returned to the Indian Ocean to resume her patrol duties. In January 1944, she left the Indian Ocean, bound for Britain.
. On 30 May 1944 she was transferred on loan to the Soviet Navy
as Arkhangelsk in lieu of war reparations from Italy. The ship left Britain on 17 August 1944 as part of the escort for the convoy JW 59, which contained thirty-three merchant vessels. Six days later, while still en route, the convoy was attacked by the U-boat
U-711. The submarine's captain incorrectly reported hits on Arkhangelsk and a destroyer, though his torpedoes had exploded prematurely. Under the impression that they had crippled the battleship, the Germans launched several submarine attacks on the ship while she was moored in Kola
. Anti-torpedo nets ensured that the attacks failed, however. The Germans then planned to use six Biber midget submarines to attack the ship, but mechanical difficulties eventually forced the cancellation of the plan. Regardless, Arkhangelsk had already departed Kola to patrol the White Sea
by the time the Bibers would have arrived. A Soviet crew commissioned the ship on 29 August 1944 at Polyarny
. Arkhangelsk was the largest ship in the Soviet fleet during the war. While in Soviet service, she was the flagship
of Admiral Gordey Levchenko
and was tasked with meeting Allied convoys in the Arctic Ocean and escort them into Kola.
Arkhangelsk ran aground in the White Sea
in late 1947; the extent of damage, if any, is unknown. The Soviet Navy returned the ship to the Royal Navy on 4 February 1949 after the former Italian battleship Giulio Cesare
was transferred to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet
. The Soviet Navy had initially sought to avoid sending the ship back, claiming that she was not sufficiently seaworthy to make the voyage back to Britain. After an inspection by a Royal Navy officer, however, the Soviet Navy agreed to return the vessel in January 1949. Upon returning to the Rosyth
naval base, Royal Navy personnel thoroughly inspected the ship and found much of her equipment to be unserviceable. It appeared to the inspectors that the main battery turrets had not been rotated while the ship was in Soviet service, and were jammed on the centreline. As a result of her poor condition, she was sold for scrap. The ship arrived at Inverkeithing, Scotland on 18 May to be broken up. The elevation mechanisms from her main battery gun turrets were later reused in the 250 feet (76 m) Mark I
radio telescope
at Jodrell Bank
, Cheshire
built in 1955–1957.
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
05) was a Revenge-class
Revenge class battleship
The Revenge class battleships were five battleships of the Royal Navy, ordered as World War I loomed on the horizon, and launched in 1914–1916...
(also known as Royal Sovereign and R-class) battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
displacing 28000 metric tons (27,557.7 LT) and armed with eight 15 inches (38.1 cm) guns in four twin turrets. She was laid down in January 1914 and launched in April 1915; she was completed in May 1916, but was not ready for service to participate in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
at the end of the month. She served with the Grand Fleet for the remainder of the war, but did not see action. In the early 1930s, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
and based in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
.
Unlike the s, Royal Sovereign and her sisters were not modernised during the interwar period. Only minor alterations to her anti-aircraft battery were effected before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in September 1939. Assigned to the Home Fleet, she was tasked with convoy protection until May 1940, when she returned to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was present during the Battle of Calabria
Battle of Calabria
The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...
in July 1940, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. By March 1942, she was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, but after the Indian Ocean raid
Indian Ocean raid
The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March-10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II...
by Admiral Nagumo's Kido Butai, she was withdrawn to eastern Africa to escort convoys. In January 1944, she returned to Britain, and in May the Royal Navy transferred the ship to the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
, where she was renamed Arkhangelsk. She then escorted Arctic convoys to Kola
Kola
Kola can refer to:*Kola nut, a genus of about 125 species of trees**Inca Kola, a cola soft drink made in Peru**Kola Real, a Peruvian soft drink**Kola Inglesa , a Peruvian soft drink...
until the end of the war. The Soviets returned the ship in 1949, after which she was broken up for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
.
Description and construction
Royal Sovereign was 624 in 3 in (190.27 m) long overall and had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 88 inch and a draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 28 inch. She had a designed displacement of 28000 tonnes (27,557.7 LT) and with a full combat load, she displaced 31000 t (30,510.3 LT). She was powered by four Parsons
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...
steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s with steam from eighteen oil-fired boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s. These were rated at 40000 shp and a top speed of 23 knots (12.5 m/s). She had a range of 4200 nautical miles (7,778.4 km) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (5.4 m/s).
The ship was equipped with eight BL 15-inch Mk I guns in four twin turrets, in superfiring pairs
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
fore and aft of the superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Fourteen BL 6-inch Mk XII
BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun
The BL 6 inch Gun Mark XII was a British 45 calibres naval gun which was mounted as primary armament on light cruisers and secondary armament on dreadnought battleships commissioned in the period 1914 - 1926, and remained in service on many warships until the end of World War II.-Design:This was a...
guns were mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s along the broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
of the vessel amidships. As built, her anti-aircraft armament consisted of two QF 3-inch 20 cwt Mk I
QF 3 inch 20 cwt
The QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships in World War I and submarines in World War II...
"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. guns.
In August-September 1924, the 3-inch guns had been replaced by a pair of QF 4-inch Mk V
QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun
The QF 4 inch Mk V gun was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.-Naval service:...
guns, and another pair was added during the ship's 1927–28 refit. These were replaced by eight QF 4-inch Mk XVI
QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun
The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.-Service:The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s...
guns in twin turrets during Royal Sovereigns 1937–38 refit. A pair of eight-barrel 2-pounder "pom-poms"
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
were added in 1932 abreast the funnel
Funnel (ship)
A funnel is the smokestack or chimney on a ship used to expel boiler steam and smoke or engine exhaust. They can also be known in as stacks.-Purpose:...
, and two four-barrel "pom-poms" were added in early 1942 atop 'B' and 'X' turrets. Ten 20 mm Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
guns were also added in 1941. Another six were added in 1943. Royal Sovereign was initially equipped with four 21 in (53.3 cm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s submerged on her beam, though the after pair were removed in 1932. The forward pair were also removed in 1937–1938, during the ship's last prewar refit.
Fire control
Royal Sovereign was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15 feet (4.6 m) rangefinderRangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
s. One was mounted above the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top
Top (sailing ship)
On a traditional square rigged ship, the top is the platform at the upper end of each mast. This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way...
above the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'X' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in March 1917. A 30 feet (9.1 m) rangefinder replaced the smaller one originally fitted in 'X' turret in 1919. Similarly, another large rangefinder was fitted in 'B' turret during the ship's 1921–22 refit. A simple high-angle rangefinder was added above the bridge during that same refit.
About 1930–31, a High-Angle Control System (HACS)
HACS
HACS, an acronym of High Angle Control System, was a British anti-aircraft fire-control system employed by the Royal Navy from 1931 onwards and used widely during World War II...
Mk I director replaced the high-angle rangefinder on the spotting top. During the 1932 refit two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the fire-control director in the spotting top. In the 1937–38 refit a HACS Mark III director replaced the Mk I in the spotting top and another was added to the torpedo-control tower aft. By 1942, a Type 279
Type 279 radar
The Type 279 radar was a British naval early warning radar developed during World War II from the Type 79.-External links:*...
air warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar, a Type 284 gunnery radar and two Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were installed. By September 1943, the Type 284 radar had been replaced by an improved Type 284B and two Type 282 radars had been fitted for the "pom-poms".
Protection
Royal Sovereigns armour scheme was based on that of the with a uniform waterline beltBelt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
13 inches (33 cm) thick, unlike the older ship's armour that tapered to 8 inches (20 cm) below the waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
. The armoured belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour
Krupp cemented armour
Krupp Cemented Armour is a further evolved variant of Krupp Armour, developed during the early years of the 20th Century. The process is largely the same with slight changes in the alloy composition: in % of total – carbon 0.35, nickel 3.90, chromium 2.00, manganese .35, silicon .07, phosphorus...
(KC) with its maximum thickness between 'A' and 'Y' barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s and thinned to four to six inches (102 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. Above this was a strake of armour 6 inches thick that extended between 'A' and 'X' barbettes. Transverse bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
s four to six inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes.
The gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s were protected by 11 to 13 in (279.4 to 330.2 mm) of KC armour, except for the turret roofs which were 4.75–5 in (12.1–12.7 ) thick. The barbettes ranged in thickness from 6–10 in (15.2–25.4 ) above the upper deck, but were only four to six inches thick below it. The forecastle
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...
deck was 1 inch (25 mm) thick, while the upper deck was 1–1.5 in (2.5–3.8 ) in thickness. The main deck was 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the magazines and machinery spaces and one inch elsewhere, except for the 2-inch-thick slope that met the bottom of the main belt. The middle deck was one inch thick over 'Y' magazine, but increased to two to four inches over the steering
Steering
Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which will allow a vessel or vehicle to follow the desired course...
machinery. The lower deck armour was forward of 'A' barbette and ranged in thickness from 1–2.5 in (2.5–6.4 ). The main conning tower had 13 inches of armour on the sides with a 3 inches (8 cm) roof. The torpedo control tower in the rear superstructure had six inches of armour protecting it. After the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
, 1 inches (2.5 cm) of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
s and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines.
To protect against underwater explosions, the ship was fitted with longitudinal bulkheads 1 to 1.5 inches thick that ran from the forward to the rear magazines. During her 1921 refit, Royal Sovereign was fitted with an anti-torpedo bulge
Anti-torpedo bulge
The anti-torpedo bulge is a form of passive defence against naval torpedoes that featured in warship construction in the period between the First and Second World Wars.-Theory and form:...
that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into a water-tight empty lower compartment and an upper compartment filled with water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The space between the tubes was filled with wood and cement.
Aircraft
The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraftReconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
could launch. During her 1932 refit, the platforms were removed from the turrets and a trainable catapult
Aircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
was installed on her quarterdeck
Quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...
, along with a crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
to recover a seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
. The catapult and crane were removed about 1936.
Construction
Royal Sovereign was laid down on 15 January 1914 at the Portsmouth DockyardHMNB Portsmouth
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...
. The ship was launched on 29 April 1915 and commissioned in May 1916. She was still working up during the Battle of Jutland and the end of the month, and so she was not present during the engagement.
First World War
On 30 May 1916, three weeks after her commissioning, Royal Sovereign was present in Scapa FlowScapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
when the fleet commander, Admiral John Jellicoe ordered the fleet to sea. Jellicoe purposely left Royal Sovereign in port due to the inexperience of her crew; as a result, she missed the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
the following day. In the months after the engagement, Royal Sovereign was quickly made ready for service with the fleet to further increase the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet over the German High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
.
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August 1916 to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from reaching the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s were sunk by German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
. The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.
In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40
Room 40
In the history of Cryptanalysis, Room 40 was the section in the Admiralty most identified with the British cryptoanalysis effort during the First World War.Room 40 was formed in October 1914, shortly after the start of the war...
cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral David Beatty
David Beatty
David Beatty may refer to:*David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty , UK admiral in the Royal Navy*David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty*David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty*David L. Beatty , Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky...
. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. This was the last time Royal Sovereign and the rest of the Grand Fleet would go to sea for the remainder of the war. On 21 November 1918, following the Armistice, the entire Grand Fleet left port to escort the surrendered German fleet into internment at Scapa Flow.
Inter-war period
The Royal MarinesRoyal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
detachment assigned to Royal Sovereign left the ship on 21 June 1919 to conduct exercises. The ship meanwhile went into drydock at Invergordon
Invergordon
Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...
in September. Post-war demobilization in 1919 saw some 500 men leave the ship while she was in dock. Upon returning to service in late 1919, the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. Conflicts between Greece and the crumbling Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
prompted the Royal Navy to deploy a force to the eastern Mediterranean. In April 1920, Royal Sovereign and her sister ship steamed to the region via Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. While in the Ottoman capital Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, Royal Sovereign and the other British warships took on White émigré
White Emigre
A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....
fleeing the Communist Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Among those refugees aboard Royal Sovereign was a princess of the Galitzine
Galitzine
For Orthodox clergyman and theologian, see Alexander Golitzin.The Galitzines are one of the largest and noblest princely houses of Russia. Since the extinction of the Korecki family in the 17th century, the Golitsyns have claimed dynastic seniority in the House of Gediminas...
family.
The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
cut the battleship strength of the Royal Navy from forty ships to fifteen. The remaining active battleships were divided between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
s and conducted joint operations annually. Royal Sovereign remained with the Atantic Fleet through 1926. On 4 October 1927, the ship was placed in reserve to effect a major refit. Four new rangefinders and eight searchlights were installed. On 15 May 1929, the refit was finished, and the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. The squadron consisted of Royal Sovereign, her sisters Resolution and , and , and based in Malta. By the 1930s, the five ships of the Queen Elizabeth class were rotated through extensive modernisation. Royal Sovereign and her sisters, however, were smaller and slower than the Queen Elizabeth-class, and so they were not extensively modernised in the inter-war period. The only changes made were augmentations to their anti-aircraft batteries.
Fleet exercises in 1934 were carried out in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, followed by a fleet regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
in Navarino Bay off Greece. In 1935, the ship returned to Britain for the Jubilee Fleet Review for King George V. In August 1935, Royal Sovereign was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, where she served as the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Rear Admiral Charles Ramsey
Charles Ramsey (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Charles Gordon Ramsey KCB was a Royal Navy officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland. He was later appointed aide de camp to King George VI. His portrait by Bassano, hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.-Naval career:Ramsey joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in...
. The ship served as a training vessel until 2 June 1937, when she was again placed in reserve for a major overhaul. This lasted until 18 February 1938, after which she returned to the 2nd Battle Squadron. In 1939, King George VI made a state visit to Canada; Royal Sovereign and the rest of the fleet escorted his ship halfway across the Atlantic and met it on the return leg of the voyage.
In early 1939, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
considered plans to send Royal Sovereign and her four sisters to Asia to counter Japanese expansionism. They reasoned that the then established "Singapore strategy
Singapore strategy
The Singapore strategy was a strategy of the British Empire between 1919 and 1941. It was a series of war plans that evolved over a twenty year period to deter or defeat aggression by the Empire of Japan by basing a fleet of the Royal Navy at Singapore. Ideally, this fleet would be able to...
", which called for a fleet to be formed in Britain to be dispatched to confront a Japanese attack was inherently risky due to the long delay. They argued that a dedicated battle fleet would allow for faster reaction. The plan was abandoned, however, because the new King George V class battleships
King George V class battleship (1939)
The King George V-class battleships were the most modern British battleships used during World War II. Five ships of this class were built and commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limiting all of the number,...
would not begin to enter service until 1941. In the last weeks of August 1939, the Royal Navy began to concentrate in wartime bases as tensions with Germany rose. Royal Sovereign steamed to Invergordon, where she joined her sisters Resolution and , , and the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
. By 31 August, the force joined , the flagship of Admiral Charles Forbes, the commander of the Home Fleet.
Second World War
On 31 August, the day before the German invasion of Poland, Royal Sovereign was assigned to a screening force in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gapGIUK gap
The GIUK gap is an area in the northern Atlantic Ocean that forms a naval warfare chokepoint. Its name is an acronym for Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, the gap being the open ocean between these three landmasses...
to patrol for German merchant ships that might be attempting to reach Germany. At the outset of war in September 1939, Royal Sovereign was assigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Escort Force, which was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was tasked with protecting convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s to Britain. Upon returning to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, she underwent a short refit. In May 1940, she moved to the Mediterranean Fleet. There she was based in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
with the battleships , , and , under the command of Admiral Andrew Cunningham
Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....
. On 25–27 June, she and her sister ship escorted two convoys from Alexandria to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. On 28 June, aerial reconnaissance located Italian destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s off Zakinthos; Admiral John Tovey took the 7th Cruiser Squadron. Royal Sovereign was left behind due to her slow speed. Cunningham spit his fleet into three groups; Royal Sovereign and Malaya were the core of Group C. She was present at the Battle of Calabria
Battle of Calabria
The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...
on July 18, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. Warspite bore the brunt of the action, as Royal Sovereign and Malaya lagged behind.
In mid-August 1940, while steaming in the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
, Royal Sovereign was unsuccessfully attacked by the Italian submarine Galileo Ferraris. Later that month, she returned to Atlantic convoy duties. These lasted until August 1941, when periodic maintenance was effected in Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia. The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
decided in May 1941 to deploy a powerful fleet to be based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
to counter any Japanese attempt to invade Western colonies in Southeast Asia. Royal Sovereign and her sisters Revenge, Ramillies, and Resolution were assigned to the force. The unit was to have been assembled in Singapore by March 1942, though Royal Sovereign reached the theatre earlier. At the beginning of March 1942, Royal Sovereign, the heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
, and several smaller vessels escorted the convoy SU.1 of twelve troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
s transporting 10,090 soldiers. The convoy departed Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
on 1 March, bound for Australia. The convoy reached Fremantle
Fremantle
Freemantle is a suburb of Southampton in England.Fremantle or Freemantle may also refer to:- Places :* Fremantle, the port city to the capital Perth, Western Australia...
without incident on 15 March.
By the end of March 1942, the Eastern Fleet had been formed, under the command of Admiral James Somerville
James Somerville
Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville GCB, GBE, DSO was one of the most famous British Admirals of World War II.-Early career:...
. The fleet was centered on a pair of fleet aircraft carriers, the elderly carrier , and five battleships, four of which were Royal Sovereign and her sisters; the fifth was Warspite. The fleet also included seven cruisers and sixteen destroyers. Despite the numerical strength of the Eastern Fleet, many of its units, including the four Revenge class battleships, were no longer front-line warships. Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo
Chuichi Nagumo
was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and one time commander of the Kido Butai . He committed suicide during the Battle of Saipan.-Early life:...
's powerful Kido Butai, composed of six carriers and four fast battleships, was significantly stronger than Somerville's Eastern Fleet. As a result, only the modernised Warspite could operate with the two fleet carriers; Royal Sovereign, her three sisters, and Hermes were kept away from combat to escort convoys in the Indian Ocean.
In late March, the code-breakers at the Far East Combined Bureau
Far East Combined Bureau
The Far East Combined Bureau, an outstation of the British Government Code and Cypher School, was set up in Hong Kong in March 1935, to monitor Japanese, and also Chinese and Russian intelligence and radio traffic...
, a branch of Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
, informed Somerville that the Japanese were planning a raid into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean raid
The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March-10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II...
to attack Colombo and Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
and destroy his fleet. He therefore divided his fleet into two groups: Force A, which consisted of the two fleet carriers, Warspite and four cruisers, and Force B, centered on Royal Sovereign and her sisters and the carrier Hermes. He intended to ambush Nagumo's fleet in a night action, the only method by which he thought he could achieve a victory. After three days of searching for the Japanese fleet without success, Somerville returned to Addu Atoll
Addu Atoll
Addu City is a city in Maldives consisting of the inhabited islands of the southernmost atoll of the archipelago....
to refuel. While refueling his ships, Somerville received a report that the Japanese fleet was approaching Colombo, which they attacked the following day, on 5 April, followed by attacks on Trincomalee on 9 April.
Following the raid in April 1942, Somerville withdrew Royal Sovereign and her three sisters to Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, where they could secure the shipping routes in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Royal Sovereign and her sisters departed from Addu Atoll early on the morning on 9 April, bound for Mombasa. Here they remained stationed until September 1943, with the exception of another long period in the dockyard in Philadelphia in late 1942. While Royal Sovereign was moored in Philadelphia, the American light cruiser , a badly-damaged veteran of the Battle of Cape Esperance
Battle of Cape Esperance
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , took place on 11–12 October 1942, and was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy...
, shared a pier with her. During the refit, the ship's deck armour was increased by 2 inches (5.1 cm) and four of her 6 inches (15.2 cm) guns were removed. Royal Sovereign was sent back to the United States for a major overhaul in Philadelphia, from March to September 1943. She then returned to the Indian Ocean to resume her patrol duties. In January 1944, she left the Indian Ocean, bound for Britain.
Service with the Soviet Navy
After returning to Britain, Royal Sovereign was sent to the naval base in Scapa FlowScapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
. On 30 May 1944 she was transferred on loan to the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
as Arkhangelsk in lieu of war reparations from Italy. The ship left Britain on 17 August 1944 as part of the escort for the convoy JW 59, which contained thirty-three merchant vessels. Six days later, while still en route, the convoy was attacked by the U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
U-711. The submarine's captain incorrectly reported hits on Arkhangelsk and a destroyer, though his torpedoes had exploded prematurely. Under the impression that they had crippled the battleship, the Germans launched several submarine attacks on the ship while she was moored in Kola
Kola
Kola can refer to:*Kola nut, a genus of about 125 species of trees**Inca Kola, a cola soft drink made in Peru**Kola Real, a Peruvian soft drink**Kola Inglesa , a Peruvian soft drink...
. Anti-torpedo nets ensured that the attacks failed, however. The Germans then planned to use six Biber midget submarines to attack the ship, but mechanical difficulties eventually forced the cancellation of the plan. Regardless, Arkhangelsk had already departed Kola to patrol the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
by the time the Bibers would have arrived. A Soviet crew commissioned the ship on 29 August 1944 at Polyarny
Russian Shipyard Number 10
Russian Shipyard No. 10—Shkval is located in Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, on the outermost western side of the Murmansk Fjord. In the West, it is more often referred to by the name of the town than its official name. As the first nuclear-powered submarines were delivered to the Northern...
. Arkhangelsk was the largest ship in the Soviet fleet during the war. While in Soviet service, she was the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Admiral Gordey Levchenko
Gordey Levchenko
Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1944.Born in Ukraine, a part of the Russian Empire, in 1897, Levchenko joined the Imperial Russian Navy in 1913 and participated in World War I...
and was tasked with meeting Allied convoys in the Arctic Ocean and escort them into Kola.
Arkhangelsk ran aground in the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
in late 1947; the extent of damage, if any, is unknown. The Soviet Navy returned the ship to the Royal Navy on 4 February 1949 after the former Italian battleship Giulio Cesare
Italian battleship Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare , motto Caesar Adest was a Conte di Cavour-class battleship that served in the Regia Marina in both World Wars before joining the Soviet Navy as the Novorossiysk. Her keel was laid down on 24 June 1910 at Cantieri Ansaldo, Genoa...
was transferred to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
. The Soviet Navy had initially sought to avoid sending the ship back, claiming that she was not sufficiently seaworthy to make the voyage back to Britain. After an inspection by a Royal Navy officer, however, the Soviet Navy agreed to return the vessel in January 1949. Upon returning to the Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
naval base, Royal Navy personnel thoroughly inspected the ship and found much of her equipment to be unserviceable. It appeared to the inspectors that the main battery turrets had not been rotated while the ship was in Soviet service, and were jammed on the centreline. As a result of her poor condition, she was sold for scrap. The ship arrived at Inverkeithing, Scotland on 18 May to be broken up. The elevation mechanisms from her main battery gun turrets were later reused in the 250 feet (76 m) Mark I
Lovell Telescope
The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire in the north-west of England. When it was constructed in 1955, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world at 76.2 m in diameter;it is now the third largest, after the...
radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
at Jodrell Bank
Jodrell Bank
The Jodrell Bank Observatory is a British observatory that hosts a number of radio telescopes, and is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
built in 1955–1957.