Renown class
HMS RENOWN
Originally intended as an enhanced variant of the Revenge class battleship, HMS Renown was the lead ship of a class of two, her sister ship being the ill-fated HMS Repulse. The ship’s keel was laid in January 1915 at the Fairfield yard in Govan, however, her construction was delayed awaiting an Admiralty decision on her progress and she was finally commissioned in September of 1916. Renown served as part of the Grand Fleet during hostilities and, though not involved in combat operations, she was present at the surrender of Germany’s High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on 21 November 1918.
Transferred to the Atlantic Fleet, Renown underwent a pre-deployment refit in June 1919 for the Prince of Wales’ tour of the USA and Canada, after which she returned for a more extensive refit ready for a similar role which saw the addition of such comforts as a cinema and tennis courts. During the early 1920s Renown continued as a surrogate Royal Yacht embarking the Prince of Wales once more for visits to Australia and New Zealand between March and October 1920 and India, the Philippines and Japan in late 1921.
After another major reconstruction in 1936, this time based on the Warspite design, Renown was recommissioned in August 1939 and was despatched to the South Atlantic in the hunt for the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. Although she failed to locate the German vessel, Renown encountered the blockade runner SS Watussi and sank her having recovered her passengers and crew.
While supporting operations in Norway, Renown confronted the German sister ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and was slightly damaged by German shells.
Returning fire, Renown achieved hits on Gneisenau causing the German vessels to break contact and withdraw.
After repairs, Renown joined Force
H in the Mediterranean as flagship and participated in the indecisive Battle of Spartivento against the Italian Regia
Marina and bombarded Genoa in February 1941. Recalled to the Atlantic to aid the search for Bismarck, Renown located the German battleships’ supply vessel Gonzenheim which was then torpedoed by the light cruiser HMS Neptune.
Renown returned to the Mediterranean in 1942 as flagship of the carrier escort group Force W then transferred to Force H to support Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa.
The ship refitted between February and June 1943, receiving updated radars and further anti-aircraft weaponry, and returned Prime Minister Winston Churchill back to Britain from the Quebec Conference in September heading on to the Cairo Conference in November. Tasked to join the Eastern Fleet, she arrived in Ceylon in January 1944 and in April bombarded Japanese oil facilities off Sumatra and the city of Sabang with further artillery attacks on the Nicobar and Andaman Islands mid October. Succeeded as flagship by HMS Queen Elizabeth, Renown sailed to Durban for refit in December 1944 but was reactivated due to concerns that the remaining Kriegsmarine capital ships might attempt a final confrontation in the Atlantic. When this threat failed to materialise, Renown was placed in reserve in May 1945 and her main armament removed. The decision to scrap Renown was announced on 21 January 1948 and she was towed to Faslane in the August to be broken up.
HMS REPULSE
The second of the two Renown class battlecruisers to be built, Repulse was commissioned shortly after the Battle of Jutland in August 1916 and saw front line action only once during WWI at the Battle of Heligoland Bight, in November 1917. After the initial success of the first operation at Heligoland Bight, which was intended to prevent German mine countermeasures forces from clearing a route into the North Sea for her capital ships and submarines, the Admiralty made the decision to mount a second attack upon the German navy’s minesweepers and escorting vessels. The
HMS Renown / HMS Repulse
Class: Renown
Displacement: 27,636 tonnes
Length: 794ft
Beam: 90ft
Draught: 27ft
Speed: 32 knots
Range: 4,600 miles
Crew: 953 men
Armament: 3 x twin 15in guns • 5 x triple 4in guns • 2 x 4in guns • 2 x 3in AA guns • 2 x 21in torpedo tubes
Armour: Deck – 1in-2.5in, Waterline belt – 3in-6in