Topic: Ships of WWII Part Three: HMS Warspite

[Chris SI]

Queen Elizabeth class battleship

Very occasionally a ship or class of ship is remembered as being exceptional in quality or appearance: the combination of both is rare. With the 1912 'Queen Elizabeth'-class the British produced such ships; in the Warspite, the only one of the class to be massively reconstructed in the Thirties, they possessed a ship whose fighting record in two wars was outstanding.

Her reconstruction incorporated a tower superstructure, single funnel and aircraft that marred her profile but gave an impression of massive authority and strength. Her re-equipment with new boilers and geared turbines kept her speed at 24 knots but allowed extra armour to be worked into her, though the 'Old Lady' remained under-protected against air attack.

The Second World War began for the Warspite in the Mediterranean and she saw three wartime tours on the station, fighting at Calabria, Matapan, Crete and Salerno and leading the British fleet at the Italian surrender at Malta in September 1943. She was detached from Mediterranean duties for operations in the Atlantic and in 1940 off Norway where, on 13th April, in the company of aircraft and nine destroyers, she entered Narvik to destroy eight German destroyers in the Fjord and harbour.

In 1941 at Crete she received severe bomb damage and was sent to the US Navy Yard at Seattle for repairs, only rejoining the Mediterranean Fleet in time for Salerno after operations in the Indian Ocean with the Eastern Fleet. At Salerno she was almost, sunk by German radio-controlled bombs that blew out her bottom. Sent home for repairs she was detailed for shore-bombardment duties at Normandy before these were completed. Mined at Normandy she was patched up in time for the Walcheren operations.

In 1946 she was ordered to be scrapped, but en route for the breakers, she slipped her tow and ran aground at Prussia Cove, Cornwall, and was broken up in situ.

Specifications

Displacement: 30,600 tons
Guns: eight 15 in, eight 152-mm, eight 102-mm AA, four 40-mm pom poms
Armor:
Belt: 203 to 330-mm
Turrets: 127 to 330-mm
Decks: up to 76-mm
Machinery:
80.000 SHP
Speed:
24.5 knots.

[Mog]

Warspite and the Ark Royal are 2 of my favourite ships.

What's the url of your site, please? as this series is fascinating and a great idea.

[Chris SI]

URL sent via PM Mog.

[jualdeaux]

URL sent via PM Mog.

Could you send it to me also?

[Chris SI]

No problem, sent.

[el-Karnak]

URL sent via PM Mog.

Could you send it to me also?

Me too, please.

[Chris SI]

No problem, everyone is welcome to read them.

When you guys look, remember to search 'from the begining' as there are over 100 articles in there.

[Just plain old Punisher]

She was attacked several times by German submarines early on in the war, but due to faulty contact/magnetic fuses not a single torpedo exploded.

[IndyShark]

I love the Warspite! I think it is a shame the British did not save her as a memorial like the USS Texas. The Warspite would have looked cool sitting in London instead of the HMS Belfast.

[Chris SI]

Warspite was certainly worthy, as she had the most battlestars of any British capital ship in WWII (a battlestar is awarded for each battle a ship figths in, Warspite had 9).

[kmelew]

Wasn't the Warspite damaged during Jutland during the Run to the North?

[Chris SI]

She was there, part of the 5th Battle Squadron.