BRITISH BATTLESHIPS of World War II 
| Pennant |
Name |
Commission |
Tonnage |
Guns |
Service |
End of War |
|
| 05 |
Royal Sovereign |
18April1916 |
27,500 |
4x2 -15" |
|
|
| 06 |
Revenge |
March1916 |
28,000 |
4x2 - 15" |
|
withdrawn Oct1943
|
| 07 |
Ramillies |
1 Sept1917 |
28,000 |
4x2 -15" |
|
|
| 08 |
Royal Oak |
1May 1916 |
29,150 |
4x2 -15" |
|
| 09 |
Resolution |
30Dec1918 |
29,150 |
4x2 -15" |
|
training ship 1944 |
| 00 |
Queen Elizabeth |
1915 |
33,000 |
4x2 -15" |
|
|
| ? |
Malaya |
1Feb1916 |
32,000 |
4x2 -15" |
|
withdrawn 1944 |
| ? |
Valiant |
19Feb1916 |
29,150 |
4x2 - 15" |
|
damage 8Aug'44 |
| 03 |
Warspite |
8March1915 |
33,400 |
4x2 -15" |
|
reserve1 Feb1945 |
| 04 |
Barham |
19Oct1915 |
29,150 |
4x2 -15" |
|
U-331 25Nov1941 |
| 28 |
Nelson |
Aug1927 |
33,900 |
3x3 -16" |
|
|
| 29 |
Rodney |
10Nov1927 |
33,950 |
3x3 - 16" |
|
reserve Dec1944 |
| 41 |
King George V |
11Dec1940 |
42,200 |
2x4,1x2 -14" |
|
|
| 53 |
Prince of Wales |
19Jan1941 |
43,700 |
2x4,1x2 -14" |
|
air 10Dec1941 |
| 17 |
Duke of York |
4Nov1941 |
42,500 |
2x4,1x2 -14" |
|
|
| 79 |
Anson |
22June1942 |
36,700 |
2x4,1x2 -14" |
|
|
| 32 |
Howe |
29Aug1942 |
36,700 |
2x4,1x2 -14" |
|
|
| 23 |
Vanguard |
|
46,000 |
4x2 -15" |
|
|
| Free Fench operating with Royal Navy after November 1942 |
|---|
| - |
Richelieu |
Spring1940 |
35,000 |
2x4 -15" |
|
|
| - |
Jean Bart |
Chr Mar'40 |
35,500 |
4 -15" |
|
Comm 1949 |
| Battle Cruisers |
|---|
| 51 |
Hood |
15May1920
6June1930 |
45,200
48,300 |
4x2 -15" |
|
Bismark 1941 |
| ? |
Repulse |
18Aug1916 |
31,600 |
3x2 - 15" |
|
air 10Dec1941 |
| ? |
Renown |
20Sept1916 |
32,000 |
3x2 -15" |
|
|
Monitors.
Whereas American monitors were predicessors to battleships, the British monitors of
WW2 were spair big guns, twin 15", with a ship built under them. Roberts, comm 27Oct41, and Abercrombie, comm 5/5/43, and displaced almost 8,000 tons, 373 feet long, 12 knots. Intended for shore bombardment and participated in North Africa and Italian campaigns. Other nations built monitors as mobile coastal defense guns -- Finland, Romainia, Spain,.
British Battleships undergoing Refit or Repair in the United States
Bold dates are pre-US entry to the war.
Resolution
24 September 1940. The next day, Resolution was torpedoed by the French submarine Bévéziers and badly damaged. Following repairs in the United States, Resolution departed in February 1942 for Colombo
Malaya
Damaged by a torpedo 20 March 1941. After temporary repairs were made, she continued to the New York Navy Yard, where she was docked for four months. On 9 July, the battleship left New York on trials and steamed to Halifax, Nova Scotia to provide protection for an urgent fast convoy.
Rodney
June 1941, she went to Boston, Massachusetts' South Boston Navy Yard, for engine repairs (till Sept?). This is significant because the United States would not formally enter the war for several months and the stateside docking of the Rodney illustrated the U.S. government's true sympathies in the growing global conflict.
Warspite
Warspite departed Alexandria in 1941 and began her journey to the USA to be repaired at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton. Repairs and modifications there began in August 1941 and ended in December, which included the replacement of her worn out 15 in guns. She was still at the shipyard when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. After working-up around the west coast of North America, Warspite departed the area to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean.
Queen Elizabeth
Mined 19Dec1941, after temporary repairs in June 1942, she steamed to the Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia in the United States. From September of that year until June 1943, she was comprehensively repaired.
Royal Sovereign
During 1942–43, Royal Sovereign underwent a refit in the United States.
On 30 May 1944 she was transferred on loan to the Soviet Navy as Arkhangelsk.
Richelieu
After French forces in Africa joined the Allies in November 1942, Richelieu sailed for refitting at the New York Navy Yard on 30 January 1943. The refit was declared complete on 10 October 1943.
Nelson
She supported the Normandy landings but hit two mines on 18 June 1944 and was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs. She returned to Britain in January 1945 and was then deployed to the Indian Ocean.
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About this page: British Battleships. A summary table of UK battleships in World War II.
Last updated: 25October 2009 -- 1st draft. add Monitors
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