Based at Chatham docks where he was acting Boatswain from 1928. [75] She was able to make it back to port under her own steam, but the damage could not be repaired in Alexandria and it was decided that she would have to be sent to Bremerton on the west coast of the United States. Renovated from 1934 to 1937, the Warspite became the flagship of the British fleet in the Mediterranean. 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 Gold Beach to support the British. 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. [107] Timbers from the ship would also be used to create commemorative souvenirs of various types, such as ashtrays and letter openers. [28] In June 1917, Warspite collided with a destroyer, but did not require major repairs. [103] The stone was unveiled by Admiral Sir Charles Madden and prayers were read by a former crew member. However, time had taken its toll and more modern ships were required to continue the war in the Far East. George Edward Joseph "Cabby" Harris HMS Warspite, Able Sea Samuel Edward Hopkins HMS Warspite (d.2nd August 1943). This information will help us make improvements to the website. Our Denomination: 03 H.M.S. [13], Following the German raid on Lowestoft in April 1916, Warspite and the 5th Battle Squadron were temporarily assigned to Vice-Admiral David Beatty's Battlecruiser Force. One of her 15-inch tompions and her chapel door are held by the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. Retained after World War I, it moved between postings in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. ww2dbaseIn Jan 1942, Warspite became the flagship of Admiral Sir James Somerville of the Eastern Fleet, who relocated the Eastern Fleet's base from Ceylon to the Maldives. Courage, RN), HMS Hyperion (Cdr. In 1939 he became Command Boatswain on HMS Pembroke and in 1940 joined HMS Warspite. HMS Warspite " The Old Lady". HMS Warspite. After dark, British battleships HMS Barham, HMS Valiant, and HMS Warspite moved in within 3.5 kilometers of the Italian cruisers undetected, opening fire at 2330 hours on the unsuspecting Italians. Original framed ww2 picture - HMS Warspite February 1944. Warspite was detached to refuel at Malta on 12 July, the first visit by a British battleship since December 1940. [108], This Warspite earned 15 of the 25 battle honours awarded to Royal Navy ships of this name.[109]. [54][55] The shell pierced Giulio Cesare's rear funnel and detonated inside it, blowing out a hole nearly 6.1 meters (20ft) across, while fragments started several fires and their smoke was drawn into the boiler rooms, forcing four boilers off-line as their operators could not breathe which reduced the ship's speed to 18 knots (33km/h; 21mph). She remained in Norwegian waters, participating in several shore bombardments around Narvik on 24 If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Crew list photos of HMS Warspite Directory of Names Jutland Memorial - H.M.S. Unfortunately the hawser fouled the tug's propellers and she went aground again in an exposed position. List of ships with the same or similar names, Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Warspite&oldid=1140497126, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 09:44. 1000/1/3 - Records of the The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd, Wednesfield, and its subsidiary companies. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. British ship. She repeated this process on 12 September for her opponent from the Battle of Calabria, Giulio Cesare. Many do not survive at all whilst significant proportions of those that do survive are held . 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. . Three days later, Warspite met and led elements of the Italian Fleet, including Vittorio Veneto and Italia, into internment at Malta. [70], During the Battle of Crete, Warspite was used as a floating anti-aircraft battery and[71] like many other ships, suffered severe damage from German air attacks on 22 May. To save his cruisers Cunningham ordered an air attack, prompting Iachino to retreat. Layman, RN), HMS Havock (Lt.Cdr. Albert Edward Harding HMS Warspite (d.22nd May 1941). Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project. Her final task was to support an Anglo-Canadian operation to open up the port of Antwerp, which had been captured in September, by clearing the Scheldt Estuary of German strongholds and gun emplacements. The destroyers and cruisers on both sides continued shooting for half an hour but with Malaya and Royal Sovereign coming into range, the Italian fleet disengaged. On the way back to Rosyth, she set off a magnetic mine, causing heavy damage, but was able to return without further incidents. [67] Cunningham rejected this plan, but on 21 April he sailed with Warspite to bombard the harbour in company with Barham and Valiant, the cruiser Gloucester and several destroyers. They were to dismantle the remaining 25,000 tons of steel, non-ferrous metal etc. When the Second World War broke out, it was deployed in April 1940 as part of the Norwegian campaign and took part in numerous coastal batteries as well as German warships. October 1, 1926: HMS Warspite firing the finishing gun at the Stokers Cutter race during the Fleet Regatta at Volo, Greece. [83] Warspite returned to Britain in March 1944 to continue her repairs at Rosyth. The depth charge and A/S bombs exploded close to Warspite. Between 8 and 9 September, Force H, covering the landings at Salerno, came under fierce German air-attack and narrowly avoided being torpedoed. ww2dbaseWarspite served mostly in the Mediterranean Sea in the years following WW1. He is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. British ship. See 1000/1/3/3/1 and 1000/1/3/3/2/1 for photographs of salvaging of HMS Warspite. [34], Between March 1934 and March 1937, she underwent a major reconstruction in Portsmouth at a cost of 2,363,000. Feb. 9, 2011. British ships rescued 905 Italian sailors but hurriedly departed at daybreak, fearing Luftwaffe attack; the Royal Navy would provide coordinates of remaining survivors to Italian ship Gradisca to continue to rescue. + 2.75 Postage. Hi guys just wondering if any of you armed forces experts could point me in the right direction. 124.73 + 14.97 Postage. 925-951 . Repaired throughout the First World War after various additional incidents, it was engaged in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the Interwar period. 2. [93] She left Greenock on 2 June 1944 with six 15-inch guns, eight 4-inch anti-aircraft guns and forty pom poms, joining Bombardment Force D of the Eastern Task Force of the Normandy invasion fleet off Plymouth two days later. Copyright 2004-2023 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, See all 8 photographs of Battleship Warspite, 24 boilers, 4 direct drive turbines, 4 shafts, 2 oil driven and 2 turbine driven dynamos, 1 reciprocating engine driven dynamo, 8,600nm at 12.5 knots, 3,900 nm at 21 knots, 4x2 381mm, 12x152mm, 4x2 102mm, 4x8 2-lb AA, 4x4 0.5cal machine guns, 4-11in belt, 4-6in bulkheads, 4.25-13in turrets, 4-10in barbettes, 3-11in conning tower, 6in torpedo conning tower, 1-3in deck. from the vessel, which was at the time lying at Prussia Cove with a rock piercing her hull. and useful information about WW2. ww2dbaseIn Jun 1944, with the Eastern Task Force, Warspite bombarded German positions on Sword and Gold beaches during the Normandy beaches. At 5:30 AM the whole bombardment fleet . She continued bombardment duties on 7 June, but after firing over 300 shells she had to rearm and crossed the Channel to Portsmouth. However, by August the battleship was finally beached off St Michaels Mount and after further salvage another attempt was made to refloat her in November. Had posted this querie in my local Fife forum (within this website) and got help finding his file - great! [88], On 14 September, Force H was recalled to the UK to begin preparations for the invasion of France, but Warspite and Valiant were detached to provide support for Allied forces at Salerno. Twelve of the fourteen BL 6-inch (152mm) Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the forecastle deck near the aft funnel and were protected by gun shields. She returned to Salerno on 15 Sep to continue the naval bombardment aimed to assist the Allied ground forces ashore. [102], A memorial stone was placed near the sea wall at Marazion and later moved a short distance. Warspite recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. [104][105] Her nameplate was held by the pub, The Wink, in Lamorna, Cornwall[106] but has since been sold at auction. As soon as the plates were landed on the deck they were cut into quarters and then sent by The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd's own barge to their Penzance Siding Depot to be railed to Sheffield. She had a normal displacement of 32,590 long tons (33,110t) and displaced 33,260 long tons (33,794t) at deep load. [83], In August, she was involved in Operation Stab, a simulated attack on the Andaman Islands to distract the Japanese from U.S. preparations to attack Guadalcanal. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. Over 125 aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica attacked the ships over the next three hours but caused no damage. George Douglas Blake HMS Warspite, Cmmd.Boatswain. Have you found an error with this catalogue description? HMS Liverpool was hit by a dud, but it still killed 1 and wounded 2. She was damaged by German aircraft during the Battle of Crete in mid-1941 and required six months of repairs in the United States. Cmmd.Boatswain. Able Sea. [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. RootsChat.com is a totally free family history forum to help you. All Census Lookups are Crown Copyright, National Archives for academic and non-commercial research purposes only. A storm in April 1947 sank it in Mount Bay and, despite multiple efforts to refloat it, its wreck remained there until 1950. The goal of this 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. The fleets did not meet; Warspite withdrew to Addu Atoll and then to Kilindini on the East African coast to protect the convoy routes. Albert Edward Harding HMS Warspite (d.22nd May 1941) Albert Harding, Royal Navy, born 24th January 1901 in Wealdstone, Middlesex, took the King's shilling at about the age of 15 and served in the Royal Navy from that time, during WW1. As the light faded the Grand Fleet crossed ahead of the German battle line and opened fire, forcing the High Seas Fleet to retreat and allowing Warspite to slip away. Further attempts were made to refloat, but it was found impossible to lift the ship again in one piece. [51] The Second Naval Battle of Narvik was considered a success. [83] The U.S. VIII Corps eventually captured "Festung Brest" on 19 September, but by then Warspite had moved on to the next port. Further misfortune struck soon afterwards, when she collided with Valiant after a night-shooting exercise, necessitating more repair work at Rosyth. Her superstructure was radically altered, allowing an aircraft hangar to be fitted, and changes were also made to her armament and propulsion systems. 10thFeb 2023 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. Also off Norway, Warspite's Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber sunk German submarine U-64, making it the first U-boat sinking by aircraft in WW2. During the interwar period the ship was deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, often serving as flagship, and was thoroughly modernised in the mid-1930s. 70.00 . Crew complement. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. The latest HMS Warspite was the third of Britain's nuclear-powered submarines, and the second (and final) of the Valiant class. At 0400 hours, British destroyers HMS Jervis and HMS Nubian approached damaged Italian cruiser Pola, captured her crew, and sank her with torpedoes. She was the sixth RN warship to bear this name which was introduced in 1759 for a . HMS Valiant Crew List. She was badly damaged by German radio-controlled glider bombs during the landings at Salerno and spent most of the next year under repair. 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. The remains of the masts lie in the yard at Porthenalls House, Prussia Cove and one portion was erected on a headland, overlooking Prussia Cove. American tugs towed her to Malta then to Gibraltar for emergency repairs, then she sailed on her own back to Rosyth for permanent repairs. [1]:6. Completed during the First World War in 1915, she was assigned to the Grand Fleet and participated in the Battle of Jutland. If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. In the subsequent months she was damaged twice, first running aground in the Forth then colided with battleship Barham. Jutland Memorial. Dad left behind two photograph albums (one is with my son and the other with my nephew) containing scenes of battles, burials at sea and a couple of certificates - one collected the first time he crossed the dateline and the other (from memory) collected as part of the first . By Dec 1944, Royal Navy warship involvement in the Atlantic was reduced to very little, and she was decommissioned on 1 Feb 1945 before the European War had ended. One hit might have been obtained on a 8" cruiser. 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 Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation run by volunteers. In the summer of 1940, Warspite returned to the Mediterranean Sea. On January 1, 1945, after good and loyal services, HMS Warspite was placed in reserve and then definitively retired from service. One of her boiler rooms and the X turret could not be repaired, remaining out of action for the remainder of her career. ww2dbaseDespite pleas to convert her into a museum ship, Warspite was sold for scrap in 1947. She was hit directly once; a second near-miss ripped open the torpedo bulges while the third missed altogether. Their efforts to end the circular motion placed her on a course which took her towards the German fleet. [21] Rather than continue, Warspite was stopped for ten minutes so the crew could make repairs. Engaged in the Mediterranean Sea, it participated in the Battle of Calabria during which it carried out one of the most important long-distance shots in history by touching the Italian Ciulio Cesare more than 23 kilometers away. [81], Warspite joined the Eastern Fleet as flagship of Admiral Sir James Somerville, who had commanded her in 1927. [72] A 500lb bomb damaged her starboard 4-inch and 6-inch batteries,[73] ripped open the ship's side and killed 38 men. [32] In 1930, Warspite rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. [14] On 31 May, Warspite was deployed with the squadron to fight in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval encounter between Britain and Germany during the war. The ship had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,260km; 5,754mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22.2km/h; 13.8mph). - HMS Warspite during the Second World War -. [98] Her skeleton crew of seven was saved by the Penlee Lifeboat W. & S. There were several attempts to refloat her but the hull was badly damaged. HMS Warspite was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. He and 18 naval ratings killed in action were committed to the deep at 20.00 hours (Latitude 35 degrees 50', Longitude 22 degrees 17'). Lava's technical capabilities. [80] She joined the Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee in March 1942. [64] Having established by aerial reconnaissance that the rest of the Italian fleet had escaped, Warspite returned to Alexandria on 29 March, surviving air attacks without suffering casualties. Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo used five carriers and four battleships in the Indian Ocean raid a naval sortie into the Indian Ocean in April, attacking Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. My grandfather James Shackleton Illingworth served aboard HMS Warspite in around 1914-1918 and was stationed at Scapa Flow i believe. HMS Valiant (M aritime Quest, click to enlarge) return to Contents List. [18] This action gained her the admiration of Warrior's surviving crew, who believed that Warspite's movement had been intentional. 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. Warspite later attempted to ram a surfaced U-boat. Casualties were minor at 9 killed and 14 wounded, but the ship was crippled as one of them pierced the hull. Let us know. The shells landed harmlessly at a gunnery range where a platoon of the Green Howards was exercising. R.E. Home. 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. [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. Thank you. All were sunk during the action. Accompanied by sister ships Barham and Valiant at the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March 1941, they sank two Italian heavy cruisers in a notable night time engagement. For this and other reasons, Warspite gained the nickname the "Grand Old Lady" after a comment made by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in 1943 while she was his flagship. 26 . At this stage only individual photographs of sailors are being added and not group photographs. She made it back to Scapa Flow and from there to Devonport for more repair work, rejoining the fleet on Christmas Eve 1915. Churchill was present when she conducted her first gunnery trials in 1915. On March 27, 1941, it took part in the battle of Cape Matapan and engaged several Italian buildings which were severely hit and destroyed. On her return, Admiral Cunningham inadvertently coined the nickname by which she would be known thereafter when he signalled: "Operation well carried out. The Kriegsmarine had its back broken in this campaign as almost half its destroyer strength had been destroyed by the Royal Navy. Samuel died from an accidental explosion on board HMS Warspite, Able Sea. Warspite returned home in mid-1943 to conduct naval gunfire support as part of Force H during the Italian campaign. [33] In March 1933, she was rammed in fog by a Romanian passenger ship off Portugal, but did not require major repairs. (d.23rd May 1941). In early June, she was sent to hunt the Japanese auxiliary cruisers Aikoku Maru and Hkoku Maru near the Chagos Archipelago but failed to find them. We'd like to use additional cookies to remember your settings and understand how you use our services. Sponsored. Repairs to her propeller shafts and the replacement of the guns took until early August; she sailed to Scapa Flow to calibrate the new barrels with only three functional shafts, limiting her top speed to 15 knots,[83] although by now the Admiralty considered her main role was that of a bombardment vessel. If you provide contact details, we will be in touch about your request within 10 working days. These included the Atlantic convoys, Narvik, Norway, Calabria, the Mediterranean, the Malta convoys, Matapan, Crete, Sicily, Salerno, the English Channel, Normandy and the Bay of Biscay.