HMS Queen Elizabeth (1913)

Queen Elizabeth in the Firth of Forth during the Second World War
History
United Kingdom
NameQueen Elizabeth
NamesakeElizabeth I
BuilderHM Dockyard, Portsmouth
Cost£3,014,103
Laid down21 October 1912
Launched16 October 1913
CompletedJanuary 1914
Commissioned22 December 1914
Decommissioned1948
Stricken7 July 1948
IdentificationPennant number: 10 (1914); 97 (Jan 18); 00 (Apr 18)[1]
MottoSemper Eadem ("Always the Same")
FateScrapped, 1948
Badge
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeQueen Elizabeth-class battleship
Displacement
Length639 ft 9 in (195 m)
Beam90 ft 7 in (27.6 m)
Draught33 ft (10.1 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; 2 steam turbine sets
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range5,000 nmi (9,260 km; 5,750 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement1,262 (1920, as a flagship)
Armament
Armour

HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of her class of five dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s, and was often used as a flagship. She served in the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet, and participated in the inconclusive action of 19 August 1916. Her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. She and the other super-dreadnought battleships were the first of their type to be powered by oil instead of coal. Queen Elizabeth later served in several theatres during the Second World War, and was scrapped in 1948.

  1. ^ {{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J J |title=British Warships 1914–1919 |date=1972 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |page=34}