Queen Elizabeth class battleship
Encyclopedia
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy
. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England
. These majestic 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
, although the corresponding Bayern-class ships
were competitive except for being 2 knots (3.9 km/h) slower. As such, they are generally considered the first fast battleships.
The Queen Elizabeths were the first battleships to be armed with 15 inches (38.1 cm) guns, and were described in the 1919 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships as "the finest class of Capital Ships yet turned out." They saw much service in both world wars.
to equip the battleships of the 1912 construction programme. The move to the larger gun was accelerated by one or two years by the intervention of Winston Churchill
, now at the Admiralty
. Rather than waiting for prototype guns, the entire design was optimized on paper for the new weapon, and construction commenced immediately. In making this decision, the Admiralty ran a considerable risk, as a forced reversion to the 12 inches (30.5 cm) or 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) gun would have resulted in a ship with weakened striking power.
The initial intention was that the new battleships would have the same configuration as the preceding Iron Duke-class
, with five twin turrets and the then-standard speed of 21 knots (41.2 km/h). However, it was realised that, by dispensing with the so-called "Q" turret amidships, it would be possible to free up weight and volume for a much enlarged powerplant, and still fire a heavier broadside than the Iron Duke. The original 1912 programme envisaged three battleships and a battlecruiser, possibly an improved version of HMS Tiger
named Leopard. However, given the speed of the new ships, envisaged as 25 knots (49 km/h), it was decided that the battlecruiser would not be needed and a fourth battleship would be built instead. When the Federation of Malay States offered to fund a further capital ship, it was decided to add a fifth unit to the class (HMS Malaya).
The Director of Naval Construction
(DNC) advised that the concept would be feasible only if the ships were powered solely by oil. Previous classes, including those still in construction, used fuel oil, which was still relatively scarce, as a supplement to coal, of which the UK then commanded huge reserves. However, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill
, undertook to guarantee a supply of oil in wartime, thereby allowing the programme to proceed. The oil eventually was guaranteed by the negotiation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Convention.
Meanwhile, an investigation led by Admiral Jackie Fisher had worked through all the logistical problems associated with oil fuel instead of coal, and so oil fuel was installed. Oil has a much greater energy density, vastly simplified refuelling arrangements, requires no stokers, and emits much less smoke to obscure gun laying
, and makes the ships less visible on the horizon.
A further ship was authorized in 1914 and would have been named Agincourt (a name later applied to a dreadnought expropriated from Turkey
). Although most sources and several official papers in the class's Ships Cover describe her as a further repeat of the Queen Elizabeth design, one historian has suggested that Agincourt would have been built on battlecruiser lines. This design would have kept the Queen Elizabeth armament, but substituted thinner armour [down to 10 inches (254 mm) instead of 12 inches (304.8 mm), for example] in order to gain a 28 knots (54.9 km/h) top speed. Whatever the case, Agincourt was cancelled at the outbreak of war in 1914.
In some respects, the ships did not quite fulfil their extremely demanding requirement. They were seriously overweight, as a result of which the draught was excessive and they were unable to reach the planned top speed of 25 knots (49 km/h). In the event, the combination of oil fuel and more boilers provided for a service speed of about 23 knots (12.5 m/s), still a useful improvement on the traditional battle line speed of 21 knots (11.4 m/s) and just fast enough to be thought of as the first fast battleships. However, after Jutland Admiral John Jellicoe
was persuaded that the slowest ship of this class was good only for about 23 knots (45.1 km/h), he concluded that, since this should be considered as the speed of the squadron, it would not be safe to risk them in operations away from the main battlefleet.
Despite these problems, most of which were mitigated in service, the ships were well received and proved outstandingly successful in combat. The savings in weight, cost and manpower made possible by oil fuel only were convincingly demonstrated, as were the benefits of concentrating a heavier armament into fewer mountings.
The class was followed by the Revenge-class
, which took the Queen Elizabeth configuration and economized it back down to the standard 21 knots (41.2 km/h) battle line.
The intended successor to the Queen Elizabeths was to be an unnamed fast battleship with high freeboard, with secondary armament mounting clear of spray, a shallow draught and a top speed of at least 30 knots (58.8 km/h); however, First Sea Lord Fisher changed it to an even faster but less armoured battlecruiser
. Out of the class of four ships, only HMS Hood
was completed. Though armour was hastily added during construction that would have made her theoretically on a par with the Queen Elizabeths, the Royal Navy were well aware of the flawed reworking and always considered Hood a battlecruiser and not a fast battleship.
, with a thicker belt and improved underwater protection. The scale of deck armour was less generous, though typical of contemporary practice. However, four of the ships survived a considerable pounding at the Battle of Jutland
while serving as the 5th Battle Squadron
, so it should be judged as sufficient for its time.
, but this was addressed with the arrival of the superior "Green Boy" shells in 1918. The gun even remained competitive in World War II
after receiving further shell upgrades and mountings with greater elevation, and HMS Warspite would eventually record a hit during the Battle of Calabria
which to this day is one of the longest-range naval gunnery hits in history.
As designed, and implemented on Queen Elizabeth, the 6-inch Mk XII guns
were mounted in hull casemates, with six guns under director control on each side in casemates on the upper deck between B turret and the second funnel and two more in hull casemates on each side on the main deck aft below X and Y turrets, for a total of sixteen guns.
The mounting of the 6 inches (152 mm) secondary armament in hull casemates drastically reduced the reserve of buoyancy, since the casemates could take on water if submerged. In practice, the casemates would be flooded even in normal steaming if the sea was heavy. In addition, the ammunition supply arrangements for the 6-inch guns were relatively exposed; during the Battle of Jutland
this resulted in an ammunition fire aboard Malaya that nearly resulted in the loss of the ship.
The aft four casemate guns in Queen Elizabeth were soon found to be of little use and were removed and the casemates plated over, and the other ships were completed without them. The aft casemates were replaced in all ships with two guns protected by shields mounted on the forecastle
deck, one on each side. The ten guns which were hence no longer required for the Queen Elizabeths (two from each ship) were used in 1915 to arm the five M29 class monitor
s.
The forecastle-mounted guns were removed in late 1916, leaving the final configuration as twelve 6-inch guns in hull casemates until the 1930s. The secondary armament of the five ships received differing degrees of modernisation in the 1930s and is hence discussed on the individual ships' pages.
, Queen Elizabeth was detached from the squadron and took part in the Dardanelles Campaign
, but missed Jutland as she was undergoing dock maintenance.
At the Battle of Jutland
, four of the ships formed Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas
's 5th Battle Squadron, and in the clash with the German 1st Scouting Group under Admiral Franz von Hipper
they "fired with extraordinary rapidity and accuracy" (according to Admiral Scheer
, commander of the High Seas Fleet), damaging SMS Lützow
and Seydlitz
and a number of other German warships. These battleships were able to engage German battlecruisers at a range of 19,000 yards (17,400 m), which was beyond the maximum range of the Germans' guns. Three of the Queen Elizabeths received hits from German warships during the engagement, yet they all returned home. Warspite was the most heavily damaged, with her rudder jammed and taking fifteen hits, coming close to foundering.
armour, trunked funnels, new secondary armament and anti-aircraft armament, and many gunlaying and electronics upgrades. Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and Warspite were the most modernized, receiving the new "Queen Anne's mansion" block superstructure for the bridge, and dual-purpose secondaries in turret mountings.
, the class were showing their age, and the battleship
was becoming increasingly obsolescent in the face of air power.
Barham and Malaya, the least-modernized of the class, were at a disadvantage compared to modern battleships. In spite of this, Malaya prevented an attack on a transatlantic convoy by the modern German battlecruiser
s Scharnhorst
and Gneisenau
by her presence. Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, and Valiant, the more modernized of the class, fared better. With her modern fire control equipment, Warspite scored a hit on an Italian battleship during the Battle of Calabria
at a range of more than 26,000 yards, one of the longest range naval artillery hits in history.
Modern torpedo
es outclassed their torpedo belt protection: in November 1941, Barham, the least modernized of the quintet, was torpedoed by a U-boat and sank in five minutes, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, when her magazines detonated. Warspite survived a direct hit and two near-misses by a German glider bomb, while Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were repaired and returned to service after being badly damaged by limpet mines placed by Italian frogmen during a raid at Alexandria Harbour
in 1941.
by Italian frogmen and grounded in the shallow water of Alexandria Harbour in 1941. She was subsequently repaired, and served in the Far East until 1945.
, Crete
, and Salerno, where she was hit by a glider bomb
. She was never fully repaired, and became a coastal bombardment ship, covering the Normandy landings, and further operations in other parts of France
.
, and was mined and damaged at Alexandria in 1941. She was repaired, and served in the Far East until 1944. On 8 August 1944 whilst in the floating dock at Trincomalee
, Ceylon, she was severely damaged when the dock collapsed with the result that repairs were stopped.
. On 25 November 1941 she was struck by three torpedoes from U-331, commanded by Lieutenant Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen
, and went down with 850 of her crew. The filming of her turning over onto to her port side and subsequent explosion, is one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions caught on film.
s and was damaged by a torpedo from U-106 in 1941. Subsequently she escorted several convoys and supported various operations following the Normandy invasion
until she was decommissioned in 1945.
that was ordered by Brazil, sold to the Ottoman Empire while under construction, and seized for use by the Royal Navy before the beginning of the first World War.
(HMAS Australia
, an Indefatigable class battlecruiser
, served with the Royal Australian 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...
. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. These majestic battleships were superior in firepower, protection and speed to their Royal Navy predecessors of the Iron Duke-class
Iron Duke class battleship
The Iron Duke-class was a group of four dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy before the First World War. The class comprised four ships: , , , and...
as well as preceding German classes such as the König-class
König class battleship
The König class was a group of four battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine on the eve of World War I. The class was composed of , , , and . The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914, the class operated as a unit throughout World War...
, although the corresponding Bayern-class ships
Bayern class battleship
The Bayern class was a class of four super-dreadnought battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine . The class comprised , , Sachsen, and Württemberg. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I; Baden was laid down in 1913, Bayern and Sachsen followed in 1914, and...
were competitive except for being 2 knots (3.9 km/h) slower. As such, they are generally considered the first fast battleships.
The Queen Elizabeths were the first battleships to be armed with 15 inches (38.1 cm) guns, and were described in the 1919 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships as "the finest class of Capital Ships yet turned out." They saw much service in both world wars.
Design
Following the success of the , the Admiralty decided to develop a 15 inches (38.1 cm)/42 gunBL 15 inch /42 naval gun
The BL 15 inch Mark I succeeded the gun. It was the first British 15 inch gun design and the most widely used and longest lasting of any British designs, and arguably the most efficient heavy gun ever developed by the Royal Navy...
to equip the battleships of the 1912 construction programme. The move to the larger gun was accelerated by one or two years by the intervention of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, now at 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...
. Rather than waiting for prototype guns, the entire design was optimized on paper for the new weapon, and construction commenced immediately. In making this decision, the Admiralty ran a considerable risk, as a forced reversion to the 12 inches (30.5 cm) or 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) gun would have resulted in a ship with weakened striking power.
The initial intention was that the new battleships would have the same configuration as the preceding Iron Duke-class
Iron Duke class battleship
The Iron Duke-class was a group of four dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy before the First World War. The class comprised four ships: , , , and...
, with five twin turrets and the then-standard speed of 21 knots (41.2 km/h). However, it was realised that, by dispensing with the so-called "Q" turret amidships, it would be possible to free up weight and volume for a much enlarged powerplant, and still fire a heavier broadside than the Iron Duke. The original 1912 programme envisaged three battleships and a battlecruiser, possibly an improved version of HMS Tiger
HMS Tiger (1913)
The 11th HMS Tiger was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in 1913. Tiger was the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy at the start of the First World War although she was still being finished when the war began...
named Leopard. However, given the speed of the new ships, envisaged as 25 knots (49 km/h), it was decided that the battlecruiser would not be needed and a fourth battleship would be built instead. When the Federation of Malay States offered to fund a further capital ship, it was decided to add a fifth unit to the class (HMS Malaya).
The Director of Naval Construction
Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
(DNC) advised that the concept would be feasible only if the ships were powered solely by oil. Previous classes, including those still in construction, used fuel oil, which was still relatively scarce, as a supplement to coal, of which the UK then commanded huge reserves. However, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, undertook to guarantee a supply of oil in wartime, thereby allowing the programme to proceed. The oil eventually was guaranteed by the negotiation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Convention.
Meanwhile, an investigation led by Admiral Jackie Fisher had worked through all the logistical problems associated with oil fuel instead of coal, and so oil fuel was installed. Oil has a much greater energy density, vastly simplified refuelling arrangements, requires no stokers, and emits much less smoke to obscure gun laying
Gun laying
Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land or at sea against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, where firing data is calculated and applied to the sights...
, and makes the ships less visible on the horizon.
A further ship was authorized in 1914 and would have been named Agincourt (a name later applied to a dreadnought expropriated from Turkey
HMS Agincourt (1913)
HMS Agincourt was a dreadnought built in the early 1910s. The ship was originally ordered by Brazil, but the collapse of the rubber boom plus a lessening of the rivalry with Argentina led to her resale while still under construction to the Ottoman Empire who renamed her as Sultan Osman I...
). Although most sources and several official papers in the class's Ships Cover describe her as a further repeat of the Queen Elizabeth design, one historian has suggested that Agincourt would have been built on battlecruiser lines. This design would have kept the Queen Elizabeth armament, but substituted thinner armour [down to 10 inches (254 mm) instead of 12 inches (304.8 mm), for example] in order to gain a 28 knots (54.9 km/h) top speed. Whatever the case, Agincourt was cancelled at the outbreak of war in 1914.
In some respects, the ships did not quite fulfil their extremely demanding requirement. They were seriously overweight, as a result of which the draught was excessive and they were unable to reach the planned top speed of 25 knots (49 km/h). In the event, the combination of oil fuel and more boilers provided for a service speed of about 23 knots (12.5 m/s), still a useful improvement on the traditional battle line speed of 21 knots (11.4 m/s) and just fast enough to be thought of as the first fast battleships. However, after Jutland Admiral John Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
was persuaded that the slowest ship of this class was good only for about 23 knots (45.1 km/h), he concluded that, since this should be considered as the speed of the squadron, it would not be safe to risk them in operations away from the main battlefleet.
Despite these problems, most of which were mitigated in service, the ships were well received and proved outstandingly successful in combat. The savings in weight, cost and manpower made possible by oil fuel only were convincingly demonstrated, as were the benefits of concentrating a heavier armament into fewer mountings.
The class was followed by the 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...
, which took the Queen Elizabeth configuration and economized it back down to the standard 21 knots (41.2 km/h) battle line.
The intended successor to the Queen Elizabeths was to be an unnamed fast battleship with high freeboard, with secondary armament mounting clear of spray, a shallow draught and a top speed of at least 30 knots (58.8 km/h); however, First Sea Lord Fisher changed it to an even faster but less armoured battlecruiser
Admiral class battlecruiser
The Admiral-class battlecruisers were a class of four British Royal Navy battlecruisers designed near the end of World War I. Their design began as a improved version of the s, but it was recast as a battlecruiser after Admiral John Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet, pointed out that there was...
. Out of the class of four ships, only HMS Hood
HMS Hood (51)
HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four s ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be...
was completed. Though armour was hastily added during construction that would have made her theoretically on a par with the Queen Elizabeths, the Royal Navy were well aware of the flawed reworking and always considered Hood a battlecruiser and not a fast battleship.
Armour
Armour protection was modified from the previous Iron Duke-classIron Duke class battleship
The Iron Duke-class was a group of four dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy before the First World War. The class comprised four ships: , , , and...
, with a thicker belt and improved underwater protection. The scale of deck armour was less generous, though typical of contemporary practice. However, four of the ships survived a considerable pounding at 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...
while serving as the 5th Battle Squadron
British 5th Battle Squadron
The British 5th Battle Squadron was a squadron consisting of battleships. The 5th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During the First World War, the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet.-August 1914:...
, so it should be judged as sufficient for its time.
Main armament
The 15 inches (381 mm) gun turned out to be a complete success in service. It was reliable and extremely accurate, being able to drop tight groups of shells at 20000 yards (18,288 m). Poor shell design reduced its effectiveness at the Battle of JutlandBattle 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...
, but this was addressed with the arrival of the superior "Green Boy" shells in 1918. The gun even remained competitive in 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...
after receiving further shell upgrades and mountings with greater elevation, and HMS Warspite would eventually record a hit 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...
which to this day is one of the longest-range naval gunnery hits in history.
Secondary armament
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...
were mounted in hull casemates, with six guns under director control on each side in casemates on the upper deck between B turret and the second funnel and two more in hull casemates on each side on the main deck aft below X and Y turrets, for a total of sixteen guns.
The mounting of the 6 inches (152 mm) secondary armament in hull casemates drastically reduced the reserve of buoyancy, since the casemates could take on water if submerged. In practice, the casemates would be flooded even in normal steaming if the sea was heavy. In addition, the ammunition supply arrangements for the 6-inch guns were relatively exposed; during 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...
this resulted in an ammunition fire aboard Malaya that nearly resulted in the loss of the ship.
The aft four casemate guns in Queen Elizabeth were soon found to be of little use and were removed and the casemates plated over, and the other ships were completed without them. The aft casemates were replaced in all ships with two guns protected by shields mounted on 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, one on each side. The ten guns which were hence no longer required for the Queen Elizabeths (two from each ship) were used in 1915 to arm the five M29 class monitor
M29 class monitor
The M29-class comprised five monitors of the Royal Navy, all built and launched during 1915.The ships of this class were ordered in March, 1915, as part of the Emergency War Programme of ship construction...
s.
The forecastle-mounted guns were removed in late 1916, leaving the final configuration as twelve 6-inch guns in hull casemates until the 1930s. The secondary armament of the five ships received differing degrees of modernisation in the 1930s and is hence discussed on the individual ships' pages.
World War I
In World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Queen Elizabeth was detached from the squadron and took part in the Dardanelles Campaign
Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
The naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign of the First World War were mainly carried out by the Royal Navy with substantial support from the French and minor contributions from Russia and Australia. The Dardanelles Campaign began as a purely naval operation...
, but missed Jutland as she was undergoing dock maintenance.
At 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...
, four of the ships formed Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas
Hugh Evan-Thomas
Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas GCB, KCMG, MVO was a British Royal Navy officer.During World War I he commanded the 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, flying his flag in HMS Barham, and fought at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916.-Background:Evan-Thomas' family came from...
's 5th Battle Squadron, and in the clash with the German 1st Scouting Group under Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
they "fired with extraordinary rapidity and accuracy" (according to Admiral Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
, commander of the High Seas Fleet), damaging SMS Lützow
SMS Lützow
SMS Lützow"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the second built by the German Kaiserliche Marine before World War I. Ordered as a replacement for the old protected cruiser , Lützow was launched on 29 November 1913, but not completed until 1916...
and Seydlitz
SMS Seydlitz
SMS Seydlitz"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a 25,000-metric ton battlecruiserAdmiral Alfred von Tirpitz referred to the ship as a large cruiser in his annual budgets in an attempt to reduce opposition from the Reichstag; the ship was not referred...
and a number of other German warships. These battleships were able to engage German battlecruisers at a range of 19,000 yards (17,400 m), which was beyond the maximum range of the Germans' guns. Three of the Queen Elizabeths received hits from German warships during the engagement, yet they all returned home. Warspite was the most heavily damaged, with her rudder jammed and taking fifteen hits, coming close to foundering.
Between the wars
Between the wars, the ships received considerable upgrades, including new machinery, small-tube boilers, deck armour upgrades, torpedo beltTorpedo belt
The torpedo belt was part of the armouring scheme in some warships of between the 1920s and 1940s. It consisted of a series of lightly armoured compartments, extending laterally along a narrow belt that intersected the ship's waterline...
armour, trunked funnels, new secondary armament and anti-aircraft armament, and many gunlaying and electronics upgrades. Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and Warspite were the most modernized, receiving the new "Queen Anne's mansion" block superstructure for the bridge, and dual-purpose secondaries in turret mountings.
World War II
By World War IIWorld 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...
, the class were showing their age, and the 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...
was becoming increasingly obsolescent in the face of air power.
Barham and Malaya, the least-modernized of the class, were at a disadvantage compared to modern battleships. In spite of this, Malaya prevented an attack on a transatlantic convoy by the modern German 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...
s Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
and Gneisenau
German battleship Gneisenau
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935...
by her presence. Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, and Valiant, the more modernized of the class, fared better. With her modern fire control equipment, Warspite scored a hit on an Italian battleship 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...
at a range of more than 26,000 yards, one of the longest range naval artillery hits in history.
Modern torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es outclassed their torpedo belt protection: in November 1941, Barham, the least modernized of the quintet, was torpedoed by a U-boat and sank in five minutes, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, when her magazines detonated. Warspite survived a direct hit and two near-misses by a German glider bomb, while Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were repaired and returned to service after being badly damaged by limpet mines placed by Italian frogmen during a raid at Alexandria Harbour
Raid on Alexandria (1941)
The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy forces attacking Royal Navy forces in the harbour of Alexandria.-Background:...
in 1941.
Ships
| Name | Pennant Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers... |
Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS Queen Elizabeth (1913) HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth-class of dreadnought battleships, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England. She saw service in both World Wars... |
00 | Portsmouth Dockyard | 21 October 1912 | 16 October 1913 | January 1915 | Broken up 1948 |
| HMS Warspite | 03 | HMNB Devonport HMNB Devonport Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England... |
31 October 1912 | 26 November 1913 | March 1915 | Decommissioned 1947. Ran aground and partially scrapped at Prussia Cove. |
| HMS Valiant HMS Valiant (1914) HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. She was laid down at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914... |
Fairfield Shipyard, Clydebank Clydebank Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and... |
31 January 1913 | 4 November 1914 | February 1916 | Broken up 1948 | |
| HMS Barham | 04 | John Brown Shipyard, Clydebank Clydebank Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and... |
24 February 1913 | 31 October 1914 | October 1915 | Sunk by a U-boat, 25 November 1941 |
| HMS Malaya | Armstrong Shipyard, Tyneside Tyneside Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on... |
20 October 1913 | 18 March 1915 | February 1916 | Broken up 1948 |
HMS Queen Elizabeth
took part in the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915 bombarding forts, but missed Jutland in 1916. She became the Admiral Beatty's flagship when he assumed command of the Grand Fleet. In World War II she was minedRaid on Alexandria (1941)
The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy forces attacking Royal Navy forces in the harbour of Alexandria.-Background:...
by Italian frogmen and grounded in the shallow water of Alexandria Harbour in 1941. She was subsequently repaired, and served in the Far East until 1945.
HMS Warspite
suffered severe damage at Jutland, being hit by at least 15 heavy shells. She lost 14 dead and 32 wounded, firing a total of 259 shells. In World War II, she took part in many battles, including Narvik, Cape MatapanBattle of Cape Matapan
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second World War naval battle fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
, Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
, and Salerno, where she was hit by a glider bomb
Fritz X
Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400...
. She was never fully repaired, and became a coastal bombardment ship, covering the Normandy landings, and further operations in other parts of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
HMS Valiant
received no hits at Jutland but suffered one wounded and fired 288 shells. In World War II, she took part in the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-KebirDestruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir
The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation Catapult and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was a naval engagement fought at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of what was then French Algeria on 3 July 1940...
, and was mined and damaged at Alexandria in 1941. She was repaired, and served in the Far East until 1944. On 8 August 1944 whilst in the floating dock at 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,...
, Ceylon, she was severely damaged when the dock collapsed with the result that repairs were stopped.
HMS Barham
was named after Lord Barham, First Lord of the Admiralty. The Barham received five hits at Jutland, suffering 26 dead and 46 wounded and fired 337 shells. In World War II, she fought at Cape MatapanBattle of Cape Matapan
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second World War naval battle fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
. On 25 November 1941 she was struck by three torpedoes from U-331, commanded by Lieutenant Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen
Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen
Commander Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen was a German Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
, and went down with 850 of her crew. The filming of her turning over onto to her port side and subsequent explosion, is one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions caught on film.
HMS Malaya
was hit eight times at Jutland, suffering 63 dead and 68 wounded and fired 215 shells. In World War II she escorted convoyConvoy
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 and was damaged by a torpedo from U-106 in 1941. Subsequently she escorted several convoys and supported various operations following the Normandy invasion
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
until she was decommissioned in 1945.
HMS Agincourt
HMS Agincourt was to be the sixth member of the Queen Elizabeth-class. She was authorized in 1913, and intended for completion in late 1916, but was cancelled after the outbreak of the First World War. She is not to be confused with the HMS AgincourtHMS Agincourt
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Agincourt, named after the Battle of Agincourt of 1415, and construction of another was started but not completed....
that was ordered by Brazil, sold to the Ottoman Empire while under construction, and seized for use by the Royal Navy before the beginning of the first World War.
Other ships
The Canadian Naval Aid Bill of 1913 intended to provide the funds for three modern battleships, which most likely would have been three more members of the Queen Elizabeth-class, in much the same way as Malaya had been funded. The bill met with stiff opposition in Parliament, and was not passed. It is unclear if these ships would have served in the Royal Navy (as with outright gifts like Malaya or the battlecruiser New Zealand), or if they would have served in the Royal Canadian NavyRoyal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
(HMAS Australia
HMAS Australia (1911)
HMAS Australia was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1913...
, an Indefatigable class battlecruiser
Indefatigable class battlecruiser
The Indefatigable class were the second class built of British battlecruisersThe Indefatigable-class ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911 when they were redesignated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used...
, served with the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
).
External links
- Troels Hansen, Queen Elizabeth class and Battle of Jutland
- Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships