HMS King George V (41)
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- This article is about the WWII battleship, for the WWI ship of the same name see HMS King George V (1911).
 HMS King George V in 1941 |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | King George V-class battleship |
| Name: | HMS King George V |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Laid down: | 1 January 1937 |
| Launched: | 21 February 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 11 December 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | 1949 |
| Struck: | 1957 |
| Fate: | sold for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 42,200 tons (1941) |
| Length: | 745 ft (227 m) |
| Beam: | 103 ft (31 m) |
| Draught: | 32.6 ft (9.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 8 Admiralty three-drum small-tube boilers with superheaters 4 Parsons single-reduction geared turbines 4 three-bladed propellers, 14 ft 6 in diameter (4.42 m) 125,000 shp |
| Speed: | 28.0 knots (1941 trials) |
| Range: | 5400+ nm at 18 knots (11.9 tons/hour fuel burn) |
| Complement: | 1,314 to 1,631 |
| Armament: | 10 × 14 inch (356 mm) mk VII guns 16 × 5.25 inch (133 mm) guns 64 × 2 pounder pom-pom (40 mm) |
| Armour: | Main belt: 14.7 in (374 mm) lower belt: 5.4 in (137 mm) deck: up to 5.38 in (136 mm) main turrets: 12.75 in (324 mm) barbettes: 12.75 in (324 mm) |
| Aircraft carried: | 4 Supermarine Walrus seaplanes, 1 double-ended catapult |
| Notes: | Pennant number 41 |
The second HMS King George V (pennant number 41) was the lead ship of the King George V class of battleships of 1939.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
Following the tradition of naming the first battleship constructed in the reign of a new monarch after the current monarch, she was originally to be named King George VI (after George VI). However the King instructed the Admiralty to name the ship in honour of his father, George V. King George V was built by Vickers-Armstrong at Walker's Naval Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne and laid down on 1 January 1937, launched on 21 February 1939, and commissioned on 11 December 1940.
[edit] Operational History
King George V began convoy escort duties in February 1941. The ship also took part in a search for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the Kriegsmarine Operation Berlin. The search was unsuccessful. The German raiders operation lasted exactly two months, and they sank 22 Allied vessels. The journey of 17,800 nautical miles in 59 days was a record for German capital ships.[1]
The ship was made was the flagship of the Home Fleet under the command of Admiral Sir John Tovey after the destruction of HMS Hood, and was involved in the chase and the sinking of Hood's victor, the German battleship Bismarck. On 27 May 1941, she fired 339 14 inch and 660 5 and a quarter inch shells at Bismarck[2]. King George's shell fire helped decimate Bismarck's Superstructure and knock out its main armament. At 10:39 that morning, Bismarck sank.
While escorting convoy PQ-15 to Murmansk on 1 May 1942, King George V collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship with 49 crew, and bow damage to the battleship.
In the Mediterranean, King George V covered the Operation Husky landings at Sicily, as well as transporting the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, back to Britain from the Tehran Conference.
From 1944 until the surrender of Japan, King George V served with the British Pacific Fleet, and was present off Japan during the official surrender ceremony.
She was recommissioned as flagship of the Home Fleet in 1946. Just three years later, King George V was decommissioned into the Reserve Fleet and subsequently scrapped at Dalmuir in 1957.
[edit] Refits
During her career, King George V was refitted on several occasions, in order to bring her equipment up-to-date. The following are the dates and details of the refits undertaken.
| Dates | Location | Description of Work |
|---|---|---|
| Early 1941 | Type 271 Radar added | |
| December 1941 | Removal of UP mountings; addition of 1 4-barrelled 2 pdr Pom-pom, 1 8-barrelled 2 pdr Pom-pom, and 18 20 mm Oerlikons; UP directors were replaced with pom-pom directors; the Type 271 radar was replaced with the Type 273; 5 Type 282 radars were also added | |
| May-June 1942 | Liverpool | Damage from the collision with HMS Punjabi repaired; external degaussing coil replaced with an internal coil; 4 Type 285 radars added; FM2 MF D/F added |
| Late 1943 | 20 20 mm Oerlikons added | |
| February-July 1944 | Liverpool | Removal of 1 4-barrelled 2 pdr Pom-pom, 12 20 mm Oerlikons, Type 273 radar and HF/DF; addition of 3 8-barrelled 2 pdr Pom-poms, 6 2-barrelled 20 mm and 2 4-barrelled 40 mm Bofors; the Type 279 radar replaced by the Type 279B, the Type 284 with the Type 274; addition of the Types 277, 293, 2 × 282, and 285 radars, and the RH2 VHF/DF; removal of the aircraft and catapult equipment, replaced with new superstructure upon which the ship's boats were relocated. |
| 1945 | Removal of 2 20 mm Oerlikons, 2 40 mm Bofors added |
[edit] References
- Uboat.net - King George V
- HMS King George V Service histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War Two
- Chesneau, Roger (2004) Ship Craft 2: King George V Class Battleships. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-211-9
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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