All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. [82], During May and June, Warspite continued to act as Somerville's flagship, carrying out exercises with other elements of the fleet and shore-based aircraft in Ceylon. 150 miles off Cape Matapan, Greece at 0635 hours, Italian seaplane spotted a group of four Allied cruisers, and three Italian cruisers moved in to attack, engaging in combat at 0812 hours, to be joined by the big guns of Italian battleships at 1055 hours; after the morning's exchange of shellfire, all four Allied cruisers were damaged by near misses. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. On 16 Sep, she was attacked by a squadron of German aircraft and struck by three FX-1400 guided bombs. When the contract with the salvage firm expired, they withdrew their machinery and equipment, effectively meaning The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd had to start from scratch, building up a salvage crew and acquiring the necessary equipment. In Jun 1939, Vice Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham came abroad as the new commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. She returned to Malta at high speed on 18 July, avoiding several air attacks during the night. In May 1941, she was damaged off Crete by German dive bombers. Able Sea. 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. Crew List With Additional Information. October 1, 1926: HMS Warspite firing the finishing gun at the Stokers Cutter race during the Fleet Regatta at Volo, Greece. RM 2BJY9BY - HMS Warspite twin screw armour clad cruiser Floated out of Dock at Chatham Yard 29th January 1884. ww2dbaseWW2 began for Britain on 3 Sep 1939, and Warspite was immediately set sail for the Atlantic from the Mediterranean. Her crew numbered 1,025 officers and ratings in 1915 and 1,220 in 1920. Home. 70.00 . Warspite destroyed the heavily damaged Z13 Erich Koellner with broadsides, while damaging Z17 Diether von Roeder and Z12 Erich Giese. One of her 15-inch tompions and her chapel door are held by the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. privacy policy. Over 125 aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica attacked the ships over the next three hours but caused no damage. Their efforts to end the circular motion placed her on a course which took her towards the German fleet. 2nd June 1944. [24] Although she had been extensively damaged, Warspite could still raise steam and was ordered back to Rosyth during the evening of 31 May by Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, commander of the 5th Battle Squadron. Ship Interest Groups. [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. This refit gave the Admiralty a virtually new warship, replacing internal machinery and significantly changing the battleship's appearance and capabilities. Division One and Two rendezvoused in the Gulf of Sirte on 9 July and covered the assembling convoys. [26], Upon the completion of her repairs, Warspite rejoined the 5th Battle Squadron. The futility of the mission and the exposure of his battleships led to a tense exchange of letters between Cunningham and Churchill. Initially, Warspite was based in Ceylon, forming a fast group with the aircraft carriers Formidable and Indomitable, four cruisers and six destroyers. 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. [34], Between March 1934 and March 1937, she underwent a major reconstruction in Portsmouth at a cost of 2,363,000. A Queen Elizabeth -class battleship, Warspite was completed in 1915 and fought at Jutland the following year. On January 1, 1945, after good and loyal services, HMS Warspite was placed in reserve and then definitively retired from service. She was withdrawn from service at the end of 1944 . The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in July 1917. Us that the great assault was at last to take place and . At 0400 hours, British destroyers HMS Jervis and HMS Nubian approached damaged Italian cruiser Pola, captured her crew, and sank her with torpedoes. It was repaired in the United States and later deployed to the Indian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean in June 1943 in order to participate in the H force in Operation Husky in Sicily and Operation Avalanche. It was finally demolished the same year. The latest HMS Warspite was the third of Britain's nuclear-powered submarines, and the second (and final) of the Valiant class. Results were unsatisfactory and expenses too high and so The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd directly took over on Jan 25th 1952 [see last letter in file 2 (insurance)]. 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. Cmmd.Boatswain. Shortly after, HMS Gloucester (722 killed) and HMS Fiji (257 killed) were also sunk. 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. [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. During this time the diver - Mr Jim Craig - was repairing and sealing where necessary. The British Mediterranean Fleet departed Alexandria, Egypt to escort a supply convoy to Malta. Arnold Thomas Charles. [17] When the squadron turned to join the Grand Fleet, the damage from a shell hitting the port-wing engine room caused Warspite's steering to jam as she attempted to avoid her sister ships Valiant and Malaya. [68] The raid was ineffectual, partly because of poor visibility created by dust from an earlier RAF bombing raid;[69] the fleet returned to Alexandria without damage. The bombs that did hit her struck near the funnel, cutting through her decks and making a 20-foot hole in the bottom of her hull, crippling her. The ships were fitted with four submerged 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. At the Battle of Calabria on 9 Jul 1940, her shell traveled a distance of 26,000 yards to hit Italian battleship Giulio Cesare. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Even $1 per month will go a long way! The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 inches (279 to 330mm) of KC armour and were supported by barbettes 710 inches (178254mm) thick. Want to find out more about your relative's service? RootsChat.com is a totally free family history forum to help you. The remainder of Warspite's cruise was uneventful. 124.73 + 14.97 Postage. 26 . ww2dbaseBetween Aug and Dec 1941, Warspite received repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in the United States. Between 1924 and 1926, she was modernized, receiving an array of small caliber guns among other changes. [12] In late 1915, Warspite was grounded in the River Forth causing some damage to her hull; she had been led by her escorting destroyers down the small ships channel. HMS Warspite Crew List Page Discussion English Read View source View history More Read View source View history From Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project (Index of Ship Interest Groups)- (Index of Crew List Photographs)- (Index of Crew Lists) Last updated on: HMS Warspite bombarded on the German Villerville Battery in Normandie, France at the range of 26,000 yards at 0500 hours, northeast of Sword Beach. [83] Warspite returned to Britain in March 1944 to continue her repairs at Rosyth. [83] Although the Italians had surrendered, the Germans had anticipated this and moved forces into position to block the Allied landings. On March 27, 1941, it took part in the battle of Cape Matapan and engaged several Italian buildings which were severely hit and destroyed. After entering service in 1967 she collided with a Soviet submarine the following year. [34], Additionally, her superstructure was radically altered, allowing two cranes and an aircraft hangar to be fitted. Mr Frank Wilson undertook this task with the help of Messrs Neil Macdonald and Neil Macquarrie as salvage engineers and Mr Duncan Nicholson [see file 5, (N)] as engineer in charge of plant. As it made its way to Rosyth in order to change its guns, it hit a magnetic mine and after short repairs it resumed service off Normandy. Aided by her compressor and two jet engines from an experimental aircraft the hulk was finally moved 130 feet (40m) closer to shore and by the summer of 1955, on-site scrapping resulted in her disappearance from view. -. Captain Packer was mentioned in despatches for his actions bringing the ship to Malta,[92] the second time he had limped into port on board a heavily damaged Warspite. photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. Bad luck with collisions and other incidents kept her more so in the shipyards than in battles. THE NAVY LIST - HMS WARSPITE. [21] Rather than continue, Warspite was stopped for ten minutes so the crew could make repairs. [83] Her surface radar was replaced in Durban in October and Captain Packer, her former Assistant Gunnery Officer at Jutland, took command in January 1943. [22], Warspite was hit fifteen times during the battle,[23] and had 14 killed and 16 wounded; among the latter warrant officer Walter Yeo, who became one of the first men to receive facial reconstruction via plastic surgery. Launched. Jutland Memorial. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small [61] Vittorio Veneto escaped to the west as dusk fell but the British pursued through the night, first detecting Pola on radar and then two of her sister ships. Further misfortune struck soon afterwards, when she collided with Valiant after a night-shooting exercise, necessitating more repair work at Rosyth. American tugs towed her to Malta then to Gibraltar for emergency repairs, then she sailed on her own back to Rosyth for permanent repairs. 7.3 The distribution of the surviving lists. [31] In 1927, under the command of Captain James Somerville, she struck an uncharted rock in the Aegean and was ordered to return to Portsmouth for repairs. Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project. Exactly when the platforms were removed is unknown, but no later than Warspite's 19341937 reconstruction. 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. She was hit directly once; a second near-miss ripped open the torpedo bulges while the third missed altogether. Killed fourteen personnel on board and made sixteen injured: it was so damaged that his crew temporarily lost control. Warspite later attempted to ram a surfaced U-boat. On March 27, 1941, it took part in the battle of Cape Matapan and engaged several Italian buildings which were severely hit and destroyed. Warspite had turned towards Valletta on the exercise's conclusion and the shells hurtled towards the city. 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. Churchill was suitably impressed with their accuracy and power. In 1946, deemed a total loss and judged entirely unrecoverable, HMS Warspite was sold for scrap by the underwriters to a Mr Richard Bennett [by 1947 Mr R Bennett had set up 'Western Salvage Co Ltd', of Penzance & Bristol.] Admiral Cunningham took the fleet to sea on 7 July to meet two convoys travelling from Malta to Alexandria, knowing that part of the Italian fleet was escorting its own convoy to Tripoli. At 5:30 AM the whole bombardment fleet . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [99], In 1950, an attempt to re-float her was tried. On January 1, 1945, after good and loyal services, HMS Warspite was placed in reserve and then definitively retired from service. On Sat July 29th, 1950, the salvage firm had a success; they floated the ship and began to tow her away from Prussia Cove. She was powered by two sets of Parsons steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. The battleship 03 H.M.S. First, it is aiming to offer interesting Before dawn, British warships searched for an Axis convoy off the Greek island of Milos; after sunrise, German aircraft spotted the ships, damaging HMS Naiad (6 killed), HMS Calcutta (14 killed), and HMS Kingston (1 killed) at 1000 hours. 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. Hi guys just wondering if any of you armed forces experts could point me in the right direction. British ship. [65], The Battle of Cape Matapan had a paralysing effect on the Regia Marina, providing the Royal Navy with an opportunity to tighten its grip on the Mediterranean, as evidenced by the unequal Battle of the Tarigo Convoy near the Kerkennah Islands on 16 April. [39] Warspite finally entered Grand Harbour, in Malta, on 14 January 1938 and continued gunnery practice and training. HMS Valiant Crew List. 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. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. It was repaired in the United States and later deployed to the Indian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean in June 1943 in order to participate in the H force in Operation Husky in Sicily and Operation Avalanche Before Salerno. Meanwhile four destroyers from the 4th Destroyer Division, Mediterranean Fleet, the HMS Hotspur (Cdr. [47] On 13 April, Vice-Admiral William Whitworth hoisted his flag in Warspite and led nine destroyers, three sweeping mines and six in an offensive role, into Ofotfjord to neutralise a force of eight German destroyers trapped near the port of Narvik. Lava's technical capabilities. It was finally demolished the same year. [102], A memorial stone was placed near the sea wall at Marazion and later moved a short distance. The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and the free to access part of the website is funded by donations from our visitors. [60] On 28 March, the British cruisers encountered the Italian fleet and were forced to turn away by the heavy guns of Vittorio Veneto. British battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Warspite shelled Italian defensive positions at Vlor, Albania overnight in support of Greek advances. Anxious to ensure that the Germans did not acquire an additional 200 warships, the Allies insisted that the Regia Marina must sail for Allied ports. 70.00 + 2.75 Postage. Dennis Spencer. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Early in 1949, in order to safeguard their financial commitments, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd took over the vessel and entered into a contract with a firm of salvage contractors, 'P Bauer (Salvage) Ltd', London. [10] After undergoing repairs for two months at Rosyth and Jarrow, she rejoined the Grand Fleet, this time as part of the new 5th Battle Squadron which had been created for Queen Elizabeth-class ships. 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