HMS Duke of York (17)

HMS Duke of York in March 1942, while escorting Convoy PQ 12
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Duke of York
NamesakeGeorge VI (previously the Duke of York)[1]
Ordered16 November 1936
BuilderJohn Brown and Company, Clydebank
Laid down5 May 1937
Launched28 February 1940
Commissioned4 November 1941
DecommissionedNovember 1951
Stricken18 May 1957
IdentificationPennant number: 17
FateScrapped in 1957 at Shipbreaking Industries, Ltd., Faslane, Scotland
General characteristics
Class and typeKing George V-class battleship
Displacement42,076 long tons (42,751 t) deep load
Length
  • 745 ft 1 in (227.1 m) (overall)
  • 740 ft 1 in (225.6 m) (waterline)
Beam103 ft 2 in (31.4 m)
Draught34 ft 4 in (10.5 m)
Installed power
  • 8 Admiralty 3-drum small-tube boilers
  • 110,000 shp (82,000 kW)
Propulsion4 sets Parsons geared turbines
Speed28.3 knots (52.4 km/h; 32.6 mph)
Range15,600 nmi (28,900 km; 18,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement1,556 (1945)
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Armour
  • Main Belt: 14.7 inches (370 mm)
  • Deck: 5–6 inches (127–152 mm)
  • Main turrets: 12.75 inches (324 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 10–12 inches (254–305 mm)
  • Conning tower: 3–4 inches (76–102 mm).[3]
Aircraft carried4 × Supermarine Walrus seaplanes
Aviation facilities1 × double-ended catapult

HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing combat service during the Second World War. In mid-December 1941, Duke of York transported Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the United States to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Between March and September 1942 Duke of York was involved with convoy escort duties, including as flagship of the Heavy Covering Force of Convoy PQ-17, but in October she was dispatched to Gibraltar where she became the flagship of Force H.

In October 1942, Duke of York was involved in the Allied invasion of North Africa, but saw little action as her role only required her to protect the accompanying aircraft carriers. After the invasion, Duke of York was involved in Operations Camera and Governor, which were diversionary operations designed to draw the Germans' attention away from Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. On 4 October, Duke of York operated with her sister ship Anson in covering a force of Allied cruisers and destroyers and the American carrier Ranger, during Operation Leader, which raided German shipping off Norway. The attack sank four merchant ships and badly damaged a further seven.

On 26 December 1943 Duke of York was part of a task force which encountered the German battleship Scharnhorst off the North Cape of Norway. During the engagement that followed, Scharnhorst hit Duke of York twice with little effect, but was herself hit by several of Duke of York's 14-inch shells, silencing one of her turrets and hitting a boiler room. After temporarily escaping from Duke of York's heavy fire, Scharnhorst was struck several times by torpedoes, allowing Duke of York to again open fire, contributing to the eventual sinking of Scharnhorst after a running action lasting ten-and-a-half hours. In 1945, Duke of York was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet as its flagship, but arrived too late to see any action before Japan surrendered. After the war, Duke of York remained active until she was laid up in November 1951. She was eventually scrapped in 1957.

  1. ^ Naval History – HMS Duke of York (Accessed 13 August 2014)
  2. ^ Chesneau, pp. 54–55
  3. ^ Konstam, p. 22