Federated Malay States paid for ship

HMS Malaya was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, built by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co., according to the naval ship archive www.naval-history.net.

The ship was launched on March 18, 1915, and commissioned on Jan 28, 1916.

It is learnt that the battleship, part of the Fifth Battle Squadron at Jutland, was built with money from the Federated Malay States (Selangor, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Pahang), totalling £2,945,709.

Weighing approximately 33,020 tonnes, the ship had a top speed of 25 knots and served in World War 1 and World War 2.

HMS Malaya was involved in the Battle of Jutland (also called the Battle of the Skagerrak) between the British and the Germans in the North Sea, under Royal Navy Grand Fleet Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, on May 31, 1916.

On Nov 17, 1922, HMS Malaya sailed with the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, from Istanbul to Malta, where he sought exile.

HMS Malaya served in the Mediterranean during World War 2, escorting convoys and operating against the Italian fleet in 1940.

Part of Operation Grog in Genoa, it fired a missile, or a 15inch armour-piercing shell, that failed to detonate at the Genoa cathedral.

In 1944, the battleship was decommissioned and it was turned into an accommodation ship for a torpedo school.

It was later sold to Metal Industries to be scrapped in 1948.

HMS Malaya’s connection to the Malay archipelago was more than just its name.

During the battleship’s short visit to Malaya in 1921, its crew engaged in friendly matches of football, rugby, hockey, sailing and golf with local clubs.

The ship stopped at Port Swettenham (now Port Klang), Singapore, Melaka, Penang and Port Dickson.

It was reported that three months after the visit, the FMS government chief secretary received a letter from HMS Malaya captain H.T. Buller, who presented two silver challenge trophies for football and rugby as tokens for the warm reception he and his crew had received during their stay.