BRITISH BATTLESHIPS of World War II    

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Pennant	Name	Commission	Tonnage	Guns	Service	End of War
05	Royal Sovereign	18April1916	27,500	4x2 - 15"		May'44 to Soviet Navy, Arkhangelsk
06	Revenge	March1916	28,000	4x2 - 15"		withdrawn Oct1943
07	Ramillies	1 Sept1917	28,000	4x2 - 15"		Normandy /S.France
08	Royal Oak	1May 1916	29,150	4x2 -15"		U-47 14Oct'39 Scapa Flow
09	Resolution	30Dec1918	29,150	4x2 - 15"		training ship 1944
00	Queen Elizabeth	Jan 1915	33,000	4x2 - 15"		Eastern Fleet
?	Malaya	1Feb1916	32,000	4x2 - 15"		withdrawn 1944
?	Valiant	19Feb1916	29,150	4x2 - 15"		damage 8Aug'44
03	Warspite	8March1915	33,400	4x2 - 15"		reserve 1Feb1945
04	Barham	19Oct1915	29,150	4x2 - 15"		U-331 25Nov'41
28	Nelson	Aug1927	33,900	3x3 - 16"		Indian Ocean
29	Rodney	10Nov1927	33,950	3x3 - 16"		reserve Dec1944
41	King George V	11Dec1940	42,200	2x4,1x2-14"		British Pacific Fleet
53	Prince of Wales	19Jan1941	43,700	2x4,1x2-14"		air 10Dec'41
17	Duke of York	4Nov1941	42,500	2x4,1x2-14"		British Pacific Fleet
79	Anson	22June1942	36,700	2x4,1x2-14"		British Pacific Fleet
32	Howe	29Aug1942	36,700	2x4,1x2-14"		British Pacific Fleet
23	Vanguard	12May'46	46,000	4x2 - 15"
Free Fench operating with Royal Navy after November 1942
-	Richelieu	June1940	35,000	2x4 - 15"		Indian Ocean
-	Jean Bart	Chr Mar'40	35,500	2x4 - 15"		Comm 1949
Battle Cruisers
51	Hood     as rebuilt	15May1920 06June1930	45,200 48,300	4x2 - 15"		Bismark1941
?	Repulse	18Aug1916	31,600	3x2 - 15"		air 10Dec1941
?	Renown	20Sept1916	32,000	3x2 - 15"		Indian Ocean



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 5June43, 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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