HMS King George V (41)

The second HMS "King George V" (pennant number 41) was the lead ship of the "King George V" class of battleships of 1939.

Construction

Following the tradition of naming the first battleship constructed in the reign of a new monarch after the current monarch, she was planned 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.

Operational History

"King George V" began convoy escort duties in February 1941. The ship also took part in an unsuccessful search for the German warships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" during the "Kriegsmarine" Operation Berlin.

The ship was made 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" opponent, the German battleship "Bismarck". On 27 May 1941, she fired 339 x 14 inch and 660 x 5.25 inch shells at "Bismarck" [ [http://www.navweaps.com/index_inro/INRO_Bismarck_p2.htm Bismarck's Final Battle] ] ."King George's" shell fire helped decimate "Bismarck's" Superstructure and knock out its main armament. At 10:39 that morning, "Bismarck" sank.

, 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.

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.

References

* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4070.html Uboat.net - King George V]
* [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-01BB-KGV.htm 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

ee also

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/king_george_v/hms_king_george_v.htm Maritimequest HMS King George V Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.prdobson.com/project/hms-king-george-v-1939/ P.R. Dobson's 3D Recreation of HMS King George V]