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HMS Warspite (1913)

Career
Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:	November 26, 1913
Commissioned:
Decommissioned:
Fate:	Scrapped in 1947
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	27,500
Length:	196.9m
Beam:	27.6m
Draught:	10.08m
Propulsion:
Speed:	23.5 knots
Range:
Complement:	925 (in 1936)
Armament:	8 15-inch guns 12 6-inch guns
Aircraft:	1
Motto:

A Legend is born

HMS Warspite was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy (RN). Warspite was launched on 26 November, 1913 at Devonport Royal Dockyard, with First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, as well as many thousands of local people, being present at the launching. She was commissioned on the 8th March 1915. She was, and is, one of the most famous and glamorous of names in the Royal Navy. Warspite would, during the Second World War, gain the nickname 'The Old Lady', after a comment made by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in 1943.

Warspite, and the rest of the class, was the product of two men, both significant figures in the UK's history. One was Admiral Sir John 'Jackie' Fisher, who was First Sea Lord when the first all big-gun battleship, HMS Dreadnought, came into existence. The other was Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, who was paramount in getting the Queen Elizabeths off the drawing board and into the water; but he was also influenced in a number of decisions about the Queen Elizabeths by Lord Fisher, who had been persuaded to come out of retirement by Churchill.

Warspite's first commanding officer upon commissioning in 1915, during the First World War, was Captain Edward Montgomery Phillpotts. Warspite joined the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, and undertook a number of acceptance trials – including gunnery trials, which saw Winston Churchill being present when she fired her massive 15-in gun, and was no suitably impressed by the 15-in gun's accuracy and power. In late 1915, Warspite grounded in the Forth causing some damage to her hull. It had happened because she had unfortuntely been led by her escorting destroyers down the small ships channel. Upon the completion of her damage repairs, Warspite rejoined the Grand Fleet – this time as part of the newly formed 5th Battle Squadron, which had been created for the Queen Elizabeths. Before the year was over, in early December, Warspite was involved in another bit of bad luck when, during an exercise, she collided with her sister-ship Barham, causing considerable damage to Warspite.

Jutland

In 1916, Warspite, and the rest of the 5th Battle Squadron, were temporarily transferred to David Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet. On the 31st May that year, Warspite took part in her first, and largest, engagement in her career, the Battle of Jutland. During the battle, Warspite fired over 200 15-in shells, engaging a variety of German vessels, including battlecruisers and battleships. Warpite received fifteen hits from main armament guns from the German capital ships, which resulted in considerable damage to Warspite, so much so that she came close to foundering. During the battle, Warspite's steering jammed after she had attempted to avoid collision with her sister-ship Valiant. The Captain of the Warspite decided to stay on course, in effect going round in circles, rather than stop and reverse, a decision that would no doubt of made Warspite a sitting duck. Warspite's astonishing manoevres saved the crew of HMS Warrior, for the Germans switched their attention from the badly damaged cruiser, to the more tempting target of a battleship in difficulty. She gained eternal affection from the crew of Warrior, who believed Warspite's actions were intentional. The crew finally regained control of Warspite after two full circles, though the actions undertaken to stop her circling, had the negative aspect of potentially taking her straight to the German High Seas Fleet. And so, the order was given for Warspite to stop to enable repairs, which, after the crew had done the best they could to repair her, she was underway once more. Warspite would, after the Battle of Jutland, be plagued with steering problems for the rest of her life.

During the battle, many acts of bravery were displayed by the crew of Warspite, who also acted very professionally despite the pounding the ship had received. She sadly suffered fourteen killed and many wounded during the battle. The Germans had claimed the Warspite to of been sunk, but German hopes of Warspite's demise was not to be. She had sailed, despite being damaged quite considerably, for home, after being ordered to by Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, who was commander of the 5th Battle Squadron, flying his flag in Barham. Warspite would not return quietly, however, for on her journey home, on the 1st June, she came under attack from a German U-boat which fired two torpedoes at her, both fortunately missing the target. Another attack occurred soon after, with one torpedo being launched against Warspite, that one also missing. Only a short while after that incident, Warspite confronted a U-boat directly in front of her, possibly the same U-boat that had attempted to sink her a number of times in a short space of time. Warspite, though still damaged, attempted to ram the U-boat, but the boat escaped. Warspite safely reached Rosyth, and wher her damage would be repaired.

Armistice

Upon the completion of those repairs, Warspite returned to the Grand Fleet, rejoining the 5th Battle Squadron. Further misfortune soon struck Warspite, when she collided once more with a sister-ship, this time HMS Valiant, forcingWarspite to receive yet more repairs. In June 1917, Warspite continued to chalk up her collision score, when she collided with Destroyer. The following month, Warspite was quite literally rocked at her moorings in Scapa Flow, when HMS Vanguard, a St. Vincent-class battleship, blew up, after an explosion had occurred in one of her ammunition magazines, and which sadly resulted in many hundreds of lives being lost from Vanguard.

In 1918, Warspite suffered another unfortunate incident, when she suffered a fire in one of her boiler rooms, causing her damage, and forcing her to received more repairs. Later that year, the moment, no doubt, all of her crew had waited for, finally arrived. On the 21st November, Warspite, along with the rest of the Grand Fleet, set sail to confront the defeated and demoralised German High Seas Fleet. It was an astonishing spectacle, with over two hundred Allied warships, the majority being of the Grand Fleet, present to meet the High Seas Fleet at the Firth of Forth. The High Seas Fleet would mostly be scuttled by the Germans in 1919 while in internment at Scapa Flow.

Inter-War

In 1919, Warspite joined the 2nd Battle Squadron, part of the newly formed Atlantic Fleet. She would spend much of her time in the Meditrerranean while part of that Fleet. In 1924, Warspite took part in a Royal Fleet Review at Spithead, with King George V present at the event, and which displayed the awesome might of the Royal Navy and many new advances that had been achieved, mainly thanks to the First World War, though the traditions of the RN were still prominent in the spectacle. Later that year, Warspite began a modernisation program, though only a partial modernisation, which included the additions of new small calibre guns, as-well as increased armour protection, and the alteration of parts of her superstructure. The modernisation was completed in 1926. That same year, after spending so much time in the Mediterranean as part of the Atlantic Fleet, Warspite was finally based there when she became the flagship of Commander-in Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, as-well as also acting as flagship of the Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet.

In 1930, Warspite left the sunny climes of the Mediterranean, returning home to join rejoin the Atlantic Fleet. The following year, in September,Warspite was present at Invergordon where the Fleet had converged for naval exercises. It was to be quite a notorious moment in Royal Navy history, for the Invergordon Mutiny occurred. Around several hundred sailors from various warships of the fleet launched a two-day strike. The mutiny came about in response to proposals by the Commission on National Expenditure, which stated that pay cuts of 10% should be made for all officers and men. The anger increased further when a number of newspapers published widely exaggerated reports on the cuts, some claiming that they would even be as high as 25%. No matter what cuts were made, such decisions were unacceptable to the lower ranks, who were already badly paid, especially considering the vital work they did for the defence of the UK, the Empire and Commonwealth.

Warspite's crew were involved in the first trouble, though were not the trouble makers. A number of sailors were making speeches about the cuts at the canteen ashore. A number of patrols were landed from Warspite, including the commanding officer of the battleship. The patrols soon restored calm and order in a peaceful manner, with the men being returned to their ships. Further incidents occurred, with some battleships, as-well as the battlecruiser HMS Hood, and smaller vessels, being severely affected after their crew had refused to obey orders, whereas Warspite had little trouble from her crew. The aftermath of the mutiny resulted in a number of court martials against instigators of the mutiny, with many others simply being discharged from the service.

In 1934, Warspite got another face-lift, receiving a complete modernisation, rather than the partial one in 1924. She would be completely rebuilt, from the interior to the exterior. Her superstructure was radically altered, allowing an aircraft hangar to be fitted, and changes were also made to her armament and propulsion systems and much more. The modernisation was completed in 1937, Warspite returning to active service that same year. She deployed once more to the Mediterranean, becoming flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. However, she was delayed for a number of months due to problems with her propulsion machinery, and with the steering blight left over from Jutland in 1916, still causing Warspite problems. She was further hit by two unforunate incidents, when at one she came close to hitting a passenger liner with shells, and subsequently fired, accidentally, into the Maltese city of Valletta with her anti-aircraft guns (AA). War was nearing by late 1938, and the tranquility her crew enjoyed at their base in Malta was coming to an end.

Peace Shattered

In June 1939, just months away from war, Vice Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham replaced the previous Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He would become bonded to Warspite, his flagship, and to her crew, and where Warspite would find fame and horror during the Second World War. In September that year, on the 3rd, war was declared, the UK was once more at war with Germany, but not Italy, yet. Warspite subsequently left the Mediterranean to join the Home Fleet. Warspite become involved in a variety of hunts for German capital ships who were intent on emulating the actions of the commerce raiders of WWI. Warspite, however,, made no contact with any German capital ship during her searches.

In 1940, Warspite was retuning to the Mediterranean, yet it was not to be, for the Norwegian Campaign had begun, and her presence was needed there. Warspite soon proved her worth in the campaign during an operation against a large number of German destroyers trapped in the port of Narvik, and which would become known as the Second Battle of Narvik. Vice -Admiral William 'Jock' Whitworth, leader of the operation, transferred his his flag in Warspite, on the day the battle commenced. A large amount of Royal Navy destroyers were to take part in the battle, who would engage the German destroyers, supported by the powerful Warspite.

Warspite's Fairey Swordfish, quite a fragile looking, yet vitally important bi-plane, hit and sunk the German U-boat, U-64, making it the first aircraft to sink a U-boat in WWII. The German destroyers were soon engaged by the British destroyers, causing fierce fighting to erupt. One German ship, the Koellner, which had already been heavily damaged by British destroyer, was ripped apart by thundering broadsides from Warspite. The RN destroyers truly got into the fray, chasing after the German destroyers which were attempting to escape their inevitable destruction. Warspite made attacks on the Roeder and Giese, the former of which was destroyed by its own crew, while Giese was destroyed by the RN destroyers and Warspite. The battle was a complete success, the objective of eliminating all eight destroyers was completed with minimal loss. After remaining in the area for other duties, Warspite finally returned home safely from Norway. She was not to get any respite though, for now the Mediterranean awaited her.

The Fight for the Mediterranean

See HMS Warspite (1913) continued

Queen Elizabeth-class battleship

Queen Elizabeth | Warspite | Valiant | Barham | Malaya

List of battleships of the Royal Navy