Queen Elizabeth class

2023-02-01 -

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH

HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of her class of five dreadnoughts designed to act as fast response ships which would confront the most powerful warships of opposing European navies. The Queen Elizabeth class was based on the blueprint of an original dreadnought, HMS Iron Duke, but with a radical increase in armament and propulsion, and an intended speed of 25 knots.

Named after the last Tudor monarch of England, her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard in October 1912 and the ship launched a year later. On completion in January 1915, she headed to the Mediterranean to conduct sea trials which were interrupted by the Admiralty’s decision to deploy Queen Elizabeth as the flagship to the Commander Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, for the imminent amphibious landings in the Dardanelles.

In April Queen Elizabeth took part in bombarding enemy shore fortifications and assisting in repelling attacks with artillery support but sustained three hits from the antiquated Turkish battleship Hayreddin Barbarossa. This was previously the Imperial German battleship SMS Kurfurst Friedrich Wilhelm which was sold to the Ottomans in 1910. While the shells did not penetrate the ship’s armoured belt, it was considered prudent to sail further out of range of the Turkish ships and shore batteries and, after taking part in additional artillery support missions, the ship escorted the returning troop carriers home on Britain’s withdrawal from the straits.

While undergoing repairs to the hull in dry dock at Rosyth in Scotland, the Queen Elizabeth was not present at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. On completion she acted as flagship of the Fifth Battle Squadron before a further overhaul and recommissioning in 1917. During the inter-war period the ship underwent two substantial rebuilds which resulted in a new bridge, foretop and a catapult to accommodate a Supermarine Walrus seaplane. Additionally, new anti-aircraft guns were sited across the upper deck and a modernised fire control system installed, while armoured protection was increased over magazines and machinery spaces. Decommissioned in 1937, the ship was hastily recommissioned in 1941, having been transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet at Rosyth and in May of that year was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. Initially tasked with convoy escort duties to Malta, Queen Elizabeth was detached to the central

Mediterranean to defend Crete against German invasion, participating in the evacuation of British and ANZAC troops when the island fell.

Designated as Flagship Second Fleet in May 1941, the ship spent the next few months on patrol before berthing in the port of Alexandria in Egypt in preparation for Christmas. The ship was one of a number of vessels attacked while alongside, by Italian combat swimmers of the Decima Flottiglia MAS piloting two Siluro a Lenta Corsa Human Torpedoes. Both Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were severely damaged, with Queen Elizabeth almost grounded although not sunk. The Italian commandos were captured and the decision was made to pass the ship off as still fully operational to ensure Axis forces were not alerted to the weakened state of the Royal Navy’s regional presence. Having undergone hurried repairs in Alexandria, the Queen Elizabeth sailed to the US Navy yard at Norfolk, Virginia where full repairs

HMS Queen Elizabeth / HMS Warspite

Class: Queen Elizabeth

Displacement: 33,260 tonnes

Length: 643ft 9in

Beam: 90ft 7in

Draft: 33ft 7in

Speed: 24 knots

Range: 5,754 miles

Crew: 951 men (1,262 as flagship)

Armament: 4 x twin 15in guns • 12, 14 or 16 x single 6in guns • 2 x single 3in AA guns • 4 x 21in torpedo tubes

Armour: Deck – 1in-3in, Waterline belt - 13in

HMS VALIANT

The fourth ship of the Queen Elizabeth class to enter service, Valiant was constructed at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan and commissioned on 19 February 1916. Detailed to join the 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, Valiant scored hits on the German light cruiser Von Moltke and continued to engage units of the German High Seas Fleet without further result. The ship served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets throughout the 1920s and her crew participated in the Invergordon mutiny of 1931. Then, in 1935, she was once again transferred to the Mediterranean. In company with Admiral Somerville’s Force H, Valiant took part in the attack on the Vichy French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of French Algeria which sank Brittany and heavily damaged several other vessels.

After battling elements of the Italian fleet at Matapan, Valiant sustained serious damage when frogmen of the Decima Flotigglia MAS placed mines beneath the hull on 19 December 1941. Although almost immobilised Valiant was not as heavily damaged as her sister ship Queen Elizabeth and was eventually sent to Durban in South Africa to be repaired. After a period of patrolling off the coast of East Africa, the ship returned to Devonport for refit before joining Force H once more for the assault on Sicily.

In early 1944 Valiant joined the Eastern

Fleet and bombarded Japanese coastal defences on Indonesia before an accident in dry dock at Trincomalee in Ceylon severely damaged her inner screws and rudder and she was detached to Alexandria to undergo maintenance. Unable to transit the Suez Canal due to steerage problems, ship's divers removed the shafts and inner screws leaving them at the bottom of Suez Bay. Valiant returned to Britain, decommissioning in July 1945, just prior to the end of hostilities, and spent her remaining service as a training ship for marine engineers at Devonport. On 11 August 1948, after long and distinguished service, Valiant sailed for the last time to the breakers yard at Cairnryan, south west of Glasgow.

HMS BARHAM

Built by John Brown at Clydebank, Barham was named in honour of Admiral Charles Middleton, Baron of Barham and a contemporary of Lord Nelson. The third of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships, HMS Barham launched on 31 October 1914 and on completion of sea trials joined the 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. The squadron spent the early part of WWI on sweeps of the North Sea and participated with great success in the Battle of Jutland. During the battle Barham, working in tandem with sister ship Valiant, achieved 24 hits on five German light cruisers but also received six hits with losses of 26 killed and a further 46 wounded.

In July 1918 on completion of refitting at Roysth, the ship provided naval gunfire support for the raid on the German zeppelin base at Tondern which destroyed two airships.

Between 1931 and 1934 Barham underwent a comprehensive refit and joined the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet before being attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1935. On 12 December while sailing to rendezvous with the Home