HMS Warspite was a Queen Elizabeth class
battleship. During WWII Warspite gained the nickname "The Grand Old
Lady" after a comment made by Admiral Cunningham in 1943.
Warspite commissioned in 1915 and joined
the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet
In 1916, Warspite and the 5th Battle
Squadron temporarily augmented Vice-Admiral David Beatty's Battlecruiser Force.
Between 31 May and 1 June 1916, Warspite fought with the squadron in the
Battle of Jutland- the largest encounter between Britain and Germany during the
war. Warspite sustained fifteen hits, incurring such considerable damage
that she almost foundered. Her steering jammed while attempting to avoid her
sister-ship Valiant. Warspite’s captain decided to maintain course, in
effect circling, rather than come to a halt and reverse. This decision exposed Warspite.
The manoeuvres made Warspite a tempting target and inadvertently diverted
attention from the badly-damaged cruiser, Warrior. This gained her the
admiration of Warrior's crew. The crew regained control of Warspite
after two full circles.
During the battle, Warspite had 14 killed
and 16 wounded; among the latter warrant officer Walter Yeo, who became one of
the first men to receive facial reconstruction using plastic surgery. Although
extensively damaged, Warspite could still sail under her own volition,
and was ordered home and whilst on her journey to Rosyth, Warspite came
under attack from a U-Boat. The U-boat fired three torpedoes, all of which
missed their target. Warspite later attempted to ram a surfaced U-boat.
Upon the completion of her repairs, Warspite
rejoined the 5th Battle Squadron. Warspite was rocked at her moorings in
Scapa Flow when the battleship HMS Vanguard, exploded with the loss of hundreds
of her crew when an ammunition magazine detonated.
In April 1940, Warspite provided support
during the Norwegian Campaign, engaging German shore batteries and warships in
the Second Battle of Narvik. In the battle, Warspite and accompanying
escorts destroyers sought to neutralise a force of eight German destroyers
trapped near Narvik. Warspite's Fairey Swordfish sank U-64, becoming the
first aircraft to sink a U-boat in the war.
During the summer of 1940, Warspite was
transferred to the Mediterranean theatre and fought in several engagements.
During the Battle of Calabria she was credited with achieving the longest range
gunnery hit from a moving ship to a moving target in history. This was a hit on
the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare.
On 27 March 1941 Admiral Cunningham, flying his
flag in Warspite, exited Alexandria harbour with his capital ships after
being notified that an Italian battle fleet was at sea. In the ensuing Battle
of Cape Matapan, Warspite, Valiant, and Barham, aided by
radar, destroyed the heavy cruisers Fiume
and Zara in a devastating barrage.
On 21 April 1941, still under Cunningham's command,
Warspite attacked the harbour of Tripoli in company with her
sister-ships Barham and Valiant, the cruiser Gloucester and various destroyers.
In June 1943, Warspite joined Force H in
Gibraltar, and took part in the invasion of Sicily, in July, along with the
battleships Nelson, Rodney and Valiant, and the carriers Formidabe and Illustrious. Warspite began her bombardment of Sicily on 17
July, when she poured heavy fire onto German positions at Catania
Between 8 September and 9 September, Force H,
covering the landings at Salerno, came under fierce German air-attack, but shot
down many German planes. On 10 September Warspite led the Italian Fleet
into internment at Malta after their surrender
After arriving back off Salerno, Warspite
bombarded German positions, with nine out of her 12 salvos accurately delivered
to the battleship's targets in the vicinity of Altavilla Disaster soon struck Warspite,
for on the 16th she was attacked by a squadron of German aircraft, armed with
an early guided missile. She was hit three times, one of them striking
near her funnel, ripping through her decks and causing immense damage, making a
large hole in the bottom of her hull, and crippling much of Warspite as
it did so. Although the damage had been considerable, Warspite's
casualties amounted to nine killed and 14 wounded. She reached Malta on 19
September and undertook emergency repairs before being towed to Gibraltar.
On 6 June 1944, Warspite provided naval
gunfire support for the Normandy landings. She formed part of the Eastern Task
Force and concentrated her fire on German positions near Sword Beach. Despite
"X" turret still being inoperable, Warspite remained off
Normandy in support of American forces and the British at Gold Beach. She later
sustained heavy damage from a magnetic mine while steaming to Rosyth to have
her guns replaced. Partial repairs, sufficient for her to return to action,
enabled Warspite to resume her bombardment duties. Warspite
bombarded Brest, Le Havre ad Walcheren, the latter in support of an amphibious
assault in November. Warspite was placed in Reserve on 1 February 1945.
Although there were proposals to retain her as a
museum ship, the Admiralty approved Warspite's scrapping in July 1946. In
April 1947, Warspite departed Portsmouth for scrapping