For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Three days later, Warspite met and led elements of the Italian Fleet, including Vittorio Veneto and Italia, into internment at Malta. HMS Valiant (M aritime Quest, click to enlarge) return to Contents List. The Warspite was damaged during the Battle of Crete during a German air attack. During Operation Neptune, it anchored off, In the aftermath of the Battle of Normandy, HMS Warspite supported allied land forces from 9 to 11 June, operating for the benefit of the Americans before cruising off. R.E. + 2.75 Postage. [74] The attack was carried out by Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77Fighter Wing 77). [10] In early December, Warspite was involved in another incident when, during an exercise, she collided with her sister ship Barham, which caused considerable damage to Warspite's bow. Jutland Memorial. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76mm) in thickness. RM 2BJY9BY - HMS Warspite twin screw armour clad cruiser Floated out of Dock at Chatham Yard 29th January 1884. [63] Pola was also sunk once her crew had been taken off. The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 inches (279 to 330mm) of KC armour and were supported by barbettes 710 inches (178254mm) thick. In 1943 she was badly damaged by an early guided missile, demonstrated how far naval warfare had changed since she was laid down in 1912. . By June 27th, she was finally severed and pulled inshore. [83] On 12 June, she returned to Portsmouth to rearm, but her guns were worn out so she was ordered to sail to Rosyth via the Straits of Dover, the first British battleship to have done so since the war began. Warspite took part in 15 major engagements, from Jutland in World War 1 to 14 actions in World War 2. After 1861 only a sample of crew lists and agreements and log books are held at The National Archives. This information will help us make improvements to the website. VALIANT. [83] On 17 July, she bombarded Catania in support of an unsuccessful attack by the 8th Army, although her steering problem temporarily delayed her taking up position. She underwent a short refit in Durban in April and returned to the UK in May 1943, having sailed approximately 160,000 miles since the war began. The turbines were rated at 75,000 shaft horsepower (56,000kW) and intended to reach a maximum speed of 25 knots (46.3km/h; 28.8mph). She has been noted as arguably the greatest battleship the Royal Navy ever possessed. The origins of the name are unclear, although it is probably from the Elizabethan-era spelling of the word 'spite' 'spight' in part embodying contempt for the Navy's enemies, but which was also the common name for the green woodpecker, suggesting the 'Warspight' would poke holes in enemy ships' (wooden) hulls. She took part in the battle of Jutland in 1916 and sustained between 13 and 15 hits after her steering gear jammed and she circled in front of the German fleet. ww2dbaseIn Jun 1944, with the Eastern Task Force, Warspite bombarded German positions on Sword and Gold beaches during the Normandy beaches. Message Board. Nicknamed 'The Old Lady', the Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship, served in both world wars and marked the climax of the race for naval supremacy between Britain and Germany. Battleship HMS Warspite, battleship HMS Barham, battleship HMS Valiant, carrier HMS Formidable, and nine destroyers of the British Mediterranean Fleet departed Alexandria, Egypt to hunt for an Italian fleet known to have departed bases in Italy. Bad luck with collisions and other incidents kept her more so in the shipyards than in battles. Before dawn, British warships searched for an Axis convoy off the Greek island of Milos; after sunrise, German aircraft spotted the ships, damaging HMS Naiad (6 killed), HMS Calcutta (14 killed), and HMS Kingston (1 killed) at 1000 hours. Class: Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, Armament (1944): 8x 381 mm guns, 10x 152 mm guns, 4x 102 mm guns, 32x 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, 16x 20 mm guns, 16x 12,7 mm machine guns, 4x 533 mm torpedo tubes, Displacement: 33,410 tons Later refloating herself she went hard aground a few yards away in Prussia Cove. The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd, Wednesfield, then negotiated a contract in August 1947 with Mr R Bennett, under which they were to advance monies against the vessel's much needed non-ferrous metal to be salvaged and delivered, estimated at 1,250 - 1,500 tons [see 'The August Agreement']. HMS Warspite - RN battleships of WW2 Warspite was the second of the class to commission, joining the 5th Battle Squadron with the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. The Captain spoke to the ships company telling. ww2dbaseWarspite was among a WW1-era battleship class whose existance had much to do with the influences of First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John "Jackie" Fisher and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. Over 125 aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica attacked the ships over the next three hours but caused no damage. Sub Lieutenant Herbert Annesley Packer was subsequently promoted for his command of "A" turret. Even $1 per month will go a long way! HMS Warspite is the third planned Dreadnought -class ballistic missile submarine. April, but these proved ineffectual and she returned to Scapa Flow prior to being redeployed to the Mediterranean on 28 April. In order to lighten the ship with the least possible delay it was decided to remover her 21-ton lower armour plates whole, and for this purpose a 25 ton crane was purchased. British battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Warspite shelled Italian defensive positions at Vlor, Albania overnight in support of Greek advances. At 1515 hours, 50 miles south of Italy, heavily escorted Italian convoy for Benghazi, Libya ran into an equally powerful British convoy for Malta. Meanwhile a search up and down the country was on-going for pumps, compressors, generators, cranes and steel air-lines and by April, 3 months after taking over, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd were contemplating their first major attempt to refloat HMS Warspite. 70.00 . [40] At the end of one anti-aircraft exercise, a junior midshipman independently discharged his pom-pom gun after a towing aircraft flew low overhead to display its attached target to the crew. [25] She signalled ahead for escorts and a squadron of torpedo boats came out to meet her. May 1953 saw the forward end begin coming away at the fracture. Tous droits rservs, Index of Allied warships during Operation Neptune. He served on the St Cyrus, a tug that was tender to the Repulse in the Atlantic fleet in 1930, on the Boyne in fishery protection and on St Issey in 1935 in the Mediterranean fleet, all based at Chatham and with him as Boatswain. In Apr 1942, the Japanese attacked Ceylon in force, sinking cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire and carrier Hermes; Warspite and other ships were dispatched to intercept the Japanese fleet, but they failed to locate it. The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and the free to access part of the website is funded by donations from our visitors. Warspite and a British destroyer during Second Battle of Narvik, 13 Apr 1940. Warspite was launched on November 26, 1913, and entered service on March 8, 1915. [19], The crew regained control of Warspite after two full circles. On 16 Sep, she was attacked by a squadron of German aircraft and struck by three FX-1400 guided bombs. Feb. 9, 2011. It is kept in the City Hall of Narvik. [62] Warspite, Valiant and Barham closed on the unsuspecting Italian ships and aided by searchlights, destroyed the heavy cruisers Fiume and Zara and two destroyers at point blank range. She was hit directly once; a second near-miss ripped open the torpedo bulges while the third missed altogether. [60] On 28 March, the British cruisers encountered the Italian fleet and were forced to turn away by the heavy guns of Vittorio Veneto. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources. It was towed to Gibraltar before finalizing the repairs to Rosyth in Great Britain in March 1944. To HMS Warspite went the honor of being the first ship to open fire on D-Day, with her shells pummeling a German gun battery that showed signs of life. By June 1944 HMS Warspite had been deployed at Normandy and with only three functioning main turrets she took part in the bombardment of Brest, Le Havre and Walcheren Island. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. HMS Warspite was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. We place some essential cookies on your device to make this website work. One of her boiler rooms and the X turret could not be repaired, remaining out of action for the remainder of her career. [48] Her Fairey Swordfish float-plane sank the German U-boat U-64 with 250lb bombs, becoming the first aircraft to sink a U-boat in the war. Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named Warspite. The firm previously employed had used 27 four tool compressors, WM had the advantage of being able to use 2 jet compressors, loaned by the Ministry of Supply, and had expert advice from Rolls Royce Ltd. On May 12th 1952, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd succeeded in lifting HMS Warspite and managed to move her inshore by a quarter of a mile. Denomination: 03 H.M.S. [4], The Queen Elizabeth class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381mm) Mk I guns in four twin-gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. [83], At 0500 on 6 June 1944, Warspite was the first ship to open fire,[94] bombarding the German battery at Villerville from a position 26,000 yards offshore, to support landings by the British 3rd Division on Sword Beach. [1]:6. She returned to Normandy on 9 June to support American forces at Utah Beach and then, on 11 June, she took up position off Gold Beach to support the British 69th Infantry Brigade near Cristot. ww2dbaseDespite pleas to convert her into a museum ship, Warspite was sold for scrap in 1947. She was towed to Gibraltar for temporary repairs and then fully repaired at Rosyth in March 1944. During this time the diver - Mr Jim Craig - was repairing and sealing where necessary. She continued bombardment duties on 7 June, but after firing over 300 shells she had to rearm and crossed the Channel to Portsmouth. The American forces near Battipaglia were in a precarious situation following German counter-attacks. After the Battle of Jutland, 1 inch of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazines and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines. [28] Early in April 1918 she joined the Grand Fleet in a fruitless pursuit of the German High Seas Fleet which had been hunting for a convoy near Norway. Gebirsgger Division troops repulsed the attack. Killed fourteen personnel on board and made sixteen injured: it was so damaged that his crew temporarily lost control. On March 27, 1941, it took part in the battle of Cape Matapan and engaged several Italian buildings which were severely hit and destroyed. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Mr Frank Wilson undertook this task with the help of Messrs Neil Macdonald and Neil Macquarrie as salvage engineers and Mr Duncan Nicholson [see file 5, (N)] as engineer in charge of plant. Warspite was among a WW1-era battleship class whose existance had much to do with the influences of First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John "Jackie" Fisher and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. Although there were proposals to retain her as a museum ship, the Admiralty approved Warspite's scrapping in July 1946 and she sailed from Spithead into Portsmouth to have her guns removed. This decision exposed Warspite and made her a tempting target; she was hit multiple times, but inadvertently diverted attention from the armoured cruiser Warrior, which had been critically damaged whilst attacking the leading elements of the German fleet. Memorial to the Warspite at Marazion, Cornwall. Samuel Hopkins served with the Royal Navy aboard HMS Warspite in WW2. Despite the use of 24 compressor tanks pumping air into her tanks, the salvage failed. Hi Ady thanks for that - excellent info. HMS Warspite. Captain Philpotts avoided reprimand on this occasion, but was moved to a shore-based job as Naval Assistant to the new First Sea Lord, Admiral Jellicoe. About our [20] The rangefinders and the transmission station were non-functional and only "A" turret could fire, albeit under local control with 12 salvos falling short of their target. Subsequent air attacks damaged the battleship and the cruiser Pola, slowing the former and crippling the latter. [34], Additionally, her superstructure was radically altered, allowing two cranes and an aircraft hangar to be fitted. Samuel died from an accidental explosion on board HMS Warspite, Able Sea. There is no question when the old lady lifts her skirts she can run. . Dennis Spencer. One of her 15-inch tompions and her chapel door are held by the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. [18] Captain Phillpotts decided to maintain course, in effect circling, rather than come to a halt and reverse. ww2dbaseIn Jun 1943, Warspite once again returned to the Mediterranean and joined Force H at Gibraltar. Many do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those that do survive are held . QUEEN ELIZABETH-Class battleship ordered from Fairfield, Govan Glasgow after approval of design in June 1912. The ship was laid down on 31st October 1912 and launched on 26th November 1913. British battleship HMS Warspite hit Italian battleship Giulio Cesare at the range of 24 kilometers, making it one of the longest naval gun hits of the war. Warspite had turned towards Valletta on the exercise's conclusion and the shells hurtled towards the city. [83] The U.S. VIII Corps eventually captured "Festung Brest" on 19 September, but by then Warspite had moved on to the next port. HTML tags are not allowed. On the advice of the salvage firm, all hopes of taking HMS Warspite to the breakers yard were abandoned. She was withdrawn from service at the end of 1944 . The Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation run by volunteers. Warspite's fast group set sail to intercept on 4 April, detecting the Japanese attack on the cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire and later, a scouting aircraft from the cruiser Tone. A large crowd and the media watched on as the salvage crew set to work. [37], After completion of the refit, Warspite was recommissioned under the command of Captain Victor Crutchley. Stanley Braithwaite HMS Warspite, L.Sea. At the end of WW1, she was among the ships of the Grand Fleet that received the surrendering German High Seas Fleet. [37] These delays and the work required to rectify them also affected the crew's leave arrangements and led to some sailors airing their views in national newspapers, angering Pound. A storm in April 1947 sank it in Mount Bay and, despite multiple efforts to refloat it, its wreck remained there until 1950. In 1946, deemed a total loss and judged entirely unrecoverable, HMS Warspite was sold for scrap by the underwriters to a Mr Richard Bennett [by 1947 Mr R Bennett had set up 'Western Salvage Co Ltd', of Penzance & Bristol.] Repaired throughout the First World War after various additional incidents, it was engaged in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the Interwar period. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/royal-navy-service.asp, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Highflyer_(1898, http://www.plymouthdata.info/Royal%20Naval%20Barracks.htm, RootsChat.com, Europa House, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 5BT United Kingdom. The main armament could be controlled by 'B' turret as well. Her ship's wheel was given by King George VI to King Haakon VII of Norway in 1947, who later gave it to the City of Narvik. 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