HMS WARSPITE  Hit Counter
HMS WARSPITE. Queen Elizabeth Class 15" gun Battleship. One of a class of eight 35,000ton. battleships of the `Queen Elizabeth' class "HMS Warspite" entered service just in time to take part in the Battle of Jutland where she distinguished herself by having a steering failure at a crucial moment and circling out of control in front of the whole German fleet, drawing all their fire, although damaged she was not seriously hurt and after repairs saw service with the home fleet until armistice. Always in commission between the wars she was extensively re-fitted in the 1930's having a modern style bridge fitted, her gun control updated and boilers and engines replaced, this made her an extremely useful battleship, being relatively small yet heavily armed with a nippy turn of speed. On the outbreak of WWII she was stationed at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys,
her greatest moment being the second battle of Narvik during the Norwegian campaign, here she sailed up the fjord and sank several German heavy destroyers and merchant ships, a very bold move to take such a large vessel into a very confined waterway. She saw service in the Mediterranean where she helped the Malta convoys and took part in the battle of Taranto, by the end of the war she mounted over 100 x 20mm. Oerlikons as her wide beam made her an ideal anti-aircraft platform, at one time even firing wooden 15" practice shells as Stuka dive bombers (very effective method of putting them off target)  HMS WARSPITE was built at Devonport, Plymouth and launched 26th November 1913, Took part in the battle of Jutland and sustained 15 hits and was close to foundering. at the battle of Narvik in April 1940 HMS Warspite to part in the Battle of cape Matapan and in May 1941 took part in the battle of Crete, where is sustained damage by a heavy bomb hit. on the 16th September during the Landings at Salerno, she was hit by a German Glider bomb, she was towed to Gibraltar for temporary repairs and fully repaired at Rosyth in March 1944. In June 1944 she was deployed at Normandy with only three functioning main Turrets, she also took
part in the bombardment of Brest, Le Havre and Walcheren. She was sold for Scrap in early 1947, and during the voyage to the Breakers she ran aground at Mounts Bay, and was broken up were she stood.