It was laid down on January 1, 1937 at the Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard in Tyne. Launched on February 21, 1939, and officially entered service on December 11, 1940. In January 1941, before reaching full combat readiness, the battleship made a crossing of the Atlantic, delivering a new British ambassador to the United States. On the way back, the King George V covered the convoy. In March 1941, he participated in a raid on the Lofoten Islands.
In May 1941, he was involved in an operation against the German battleship Bismarck. On May 27, 1941, together with the battleship Rodney, he entered into battle with the Bismarck and fired 339 main caliber shells and 660 universal caliber shells at the enemy. Subsequently, he operated in the North Atlantic, covering the operations of the British fleet, as well as Arctic convoys. On May 1, 1942, during one of these operations, he rammed his own destroyer Punjabi. The destroyer sank, from the explosion of the depth charges on it, the battleship received serious damage to the bow.
After the repair, the King George V again became the flagship of the Home Fleet and covered the Arctic convoys. In the summer of 1943, he moved to the Mediterranean Sea and was included in Formation H. On July 10-11, 1943, he conducted diversionary artillery preparation off the coast of Sicily, before the Allied landings on this island. In the first half of 1944, she underwent repairs and was sent to the Pacific Ocean and included in the British Navy Task Force, which operated jointly with the US Navy. In July 1945, he bombarded the suburbs of Tokyo with the main caliber. September 2, 1945 participated in the surrender ceremony of Japan.
He returned to the UK in March 1946 after repairs in Australia. Then she became the flagship of the fleet, but already in 1947 she was put in for a new repair. In 1948-1949 he was part of the training squadron, in September 1949 he was put into reserve. April 30, 1957 was excluded from the lists of the fleet and at the beginning of 1958 was sold for scrap.
Battleships of the "King George V" type were created in the conditions of the beginning of the decline of the British Empire, when it could no longer afford the luxury of a "two-power" standard. In this situation, a bet was made on a not too powerful, but quite numerous type of ships. The King George V-class battleships became the largest series of capital ships of the 1930s and 1940s.
If we consider a purely battleship complex, then "King George V" looks modest in comparison with contemporaries, primarily due to the short-sighted choice of artillery weapons. By itself, the armor protection of the battleships looked good on paper, but did not provide reliable protection against 380 - 460 mm shells. The invulnerability zones, that is, the ranges of distances at which the side armor no longer breaks through, but the deck armor does not yet break through, were very limited for the King George V. In fact, only clearly underarmed Scharnhorst-class ships did not pose a particular threat to the Kings. The British battleships looked especially bad in comparison with the Iowa and Yamato.
However, the formal calculations of invulnerability zones and the realities of hostilities differed markedly. In practice, the British battleships of this type did not look like a clear weak side in battles with the enemy. Combat experience has shown that tabular armor penetration is far from everything.
For battleships with an all-or-nothing defense scheme, the majority of hits in any case fell on unarmored parts of the hull, superstructures and gun mounts. NONE of the shells from both sides in the battle between Bismarck and the Prince of Wales hit the main armor belt or the main armor deck. In the second battle with the same battleship and in the battle of the Duke of York with the Scharnhorst, the German ships were clearly put out of action without breaking through the cellars and vehicles (with the exception of a fatal hit in the KO glacis on the Scharnhorst). Nevertheless, both German battleships had practically lost their course by the end of the battle, so the British 14-inch was enough to “finish off” the enemy. In naval combat during the Second World War, the state of fire control systems played a huge, perhaps even a major role.
- Kofman V.L. Battleships of the type "King George V".
Each weapon is good only when it is used correctly. In this regard, the British naval commanders of the Second World War were generally at their best, thanks to which, not the most perfect, but quite reliable and skillfully used battleships of the King George V type played a noticeable and very positive role in the armed struggle at sea.
About Model:
I bought the good old Tamiya… I don’t remember when, probably at the beginning of my passion for ship modeling. Time passed, hands did not reach, new interesting models appeared, and King George V was still on the shelf, waiting in the wings. The ship is significant, maybe not “elegance” and “swiftness” itself, but it worked “high-quality” for the British Empire (which is why I write that the merits of the ship are often a promise for making a model) During the wait, King George V acquired photo-etched from WEM (not much younger than the model, as a result - rather primitive), barrels for all artillery: main, universal calibers, 40mm Pom-Poms and 20mm Orlikons (there are whole installations with a chiseled pedestal, etc.) from Master Models, resin Bofors from Arsenal and ladders , portholes, lanyards for rigging from Norh Star.
The impetus for the construction of the model was 2 things: I managed to organize a working (ship-modeling) place at work and information that the Pontos company makes its fashionable-cool etching for this type of boats, with the usual rich set of masts, resin, wooden decks, etc. charms that are hard to resist.
He began construction with an eye to a complete cut, or rather, everything large: the hull, the main and universal caliber, the hulls of superstructures - Tamiya, everything else is either a replacement or revision.
A partial description of the work can be found here http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_38283_start_0.html
The rigging was made from wire from mobile phone chargers, I won’t try again, it’s a very difficult material, I don’t advise.
Paints: Tamiya Acrylic
Futura
Wash, Tamiya enamel
Final varnish Akan.
As for the pleasure of working with the model ... I won’t say anything, it was necessary to do something like this.
The model tried to build at the end of the war, 45g. Tamiya, in the box, it's more like a military King George V.
For a long time I haven’t posted any of my works on the net: work, repairs, family ... But I’m doing something, here “King George V” is ready, though already for half a year. I ask you to love and favor, noble firewood, I’m unlikely to take on such ones again.
Laid down in 1937, launched in 1939. Standard displacement 36,000 tons, normal 40,000 tons, total 44,400 tons. Maximum length 227.1 m, width 31.4 m, draft 9.7 m. Power 4 -shaft steam turbine plant 110,000 l. s., speed 28 knots. Armor: main belt in the middle 356-381 mm, in the bow and stern 140-114 mm, upper belt 25 mm, turrets and barbettes 406 mm, armored deck 127-152 mm, wheelhouse 76 mm. Armament: ten 356-mm, sixteen 133-mm universal guns, from thirty-two to seventy-two 40-mm anti-aircraft guns. A total of 5 units were built: “King George V”, “Prince of Wales” (1940), “Duke of York” (1941), “Hove” (1942) and “Anson” (1942) .
Launched on February 21, 1939, and officially entered service on December 11, 1940. In January 1941, even before reaching full combat readiness, the battleship made a crossing of the Atlantic, delivering a new British ambassador to the United States. On the way back, the King George V covered the convoy. In March 1941, he participated in a raid on the Lofoten Islands.
In May 1941, he was involved in an operation against the German battleship Bismarck. On May 27, 1941, together with the battleship Rodney, he entered into battle with the Bismarck and fired 339 main-caliber and 660 universal-caliber shells at the enemy. Subsequently, he operated in the North Atlantic, covering the operations of the British fleet, as well as Arctic convoys. On May 1, 1942, during one of these operations, he rammed his own destroyer Punjabi. The destroyer sank, from the explosion of the depth charges on it, the battleship received serious damage to the bow.
After the repair, the King George V again became the flagship of the Home Fleet and covered the Arctic convoys. In the summer of 1943, he moved to the Mediterranean Sea and was included in Formation H. On July 10-11, 1943, he conducted diversionary artillery preparation off the coast of Sicily, before the Allied landings on this island. In the first half of 1944, she underwent repairs and was sent to the Pacific Ocean and included in the British Navy Task Force, which operated jointly with the US Navy. In July 1945, he bombarded the suburbs of Tokyo with the main caliber. September 2, 1945 participated in the surrender ceremony of Japan.
He returned to the UK in March 1946 after repairs in Australia. Then she became the flagship of the fleet, but already in 1947 she was put in for a new repair. In 1948-1949 he was part of the training squadron, in September 1949 he was put into reserve. April 30, 1957 was excluded from the lists of the fleet and at the beginning of 1958 was sold for scrap.
Battleships of the "King George V" type were created in the conditions of the beginning of the decline of the British Empire, when it could no longer afford the luxury of a "two-power" standard. In this situation, a bet was made on a not too powerful, but quite numerous type of ships. The King George V-class battleships became the largest series of capital ships of the 1930s and 1940s.
If we consider a purely battleship complex, then "King George V" looks modest in comparison with contemporaries, primarily due to the short-sighted choice of artillery weapons. By itself, the armor protection of battleships looked good on paper, but it did not provide reliable protection against 380-460 mm shells. The invulnerability zones, that is, the ranges of distances at which the side armor no longer breaks through, but the deck armor does not yet break through, were very limited for the King George V. In fact, only clearly underarmed Scharnhorst-class ships did not pose a particular threat to the Kings. The British battleships looked especially bad in comparison with the Iowa and Yamato. 
However, the formal calculations of invulnerability zones and the realities of hostilities differed markedly. In practice, the British battleships of this type did not look like a clear weak side in battles with the enemy. Combat experience has shown that tabular armor penetration is far from everything.
For battleships with an all-or-nothing protection scheme, most hits in any case fell on unarmored parts of the hull, superstructures and gun mounts. NONE of the shells from both sides in the battle between Bismarck and the Prince of Wales hit the main armor belt or the main armor deck. In the second battle with the same battleship and in the battle of the Duke of York with the Scharnhorst, the German ships were clearly put out of action without breaking through the cellars and cars (with the exception of a fatal hit in the KO glacis on the Scharnhorst). Nevertheless, both German battleships had practically lost their course by the end of the battle, so the British 14-inch was enough to “finish off” the enemy. In naval combat during the Second World War, the state of fire control systems played a huge, perhaps even a major role.
— Kofman V.L. Battleships of the type "King George V".
Each weapon is good only when it is used correctly. In this regard, the British naval commanders of the Second World War were generally at their best, thanks to which, not the most perfect, but quite reliable and skillfully used battleships of the King George V type played a noticeable and very positive role in the armed struggle at sea. 
About Model:
I bought the good old Tamiya… I don’t remember when, probably at the beginning of my passion for ship modeling. Time passed, hands did not reach, new interesting models appeared, and King George V was still on the shelf, waiting in the wings. The ship is significant, maybe not “elegance” and “swiftness” itself, but it worked “high-quality” for the British Empire (which is why I write that the merits of the ship are often a promise for making a model) During the wait, King George V acquired photo-etched from WEM (not much younger than the model, as a result - rather primitive), barrels for all artillery: main, universal calibers, 40mm Pom-Poms and 20mm Orlikons (there are whole installations with a chiseled pedestal, etc.) from Master Models, resin Bofors from Arsenal and ladders , portholes, lanyards for rigging from Norh Star.
The impetus for the construction of the model was 2 things: I managed to organize a working (ship-modeling) place at work and information that Pontos makes its fashionable-cool etching for this type of boats, with the usual rich set of masts, resin, wooden decks, etc. charms that are hard to resist.
He began construction with an eye to a complete cut, or rather, everything large: the hull, the main and universal caliber, the superstructure hulls - Tamiya, everything else is either a replacement or a revision.
The rigging was made from wire from mobile phone chargers, I won’t try again, it’s a very complex material, I don’t advise.
Paints: acrylic Tamiya, Futura. Wash, Tamiya enamel. Final
HMS King George V
Historical data
general information
EU
real
dock
Booking
Armament
Ships of the same type
General information
british battleship HMS King George V was a representative of one of the latest and at the same time the most massive types of battleships of the British Navy. Battleship HMS King George V for all the time of his service, he took part in many famous battles of the Second World War - escorting Arctic convoys, pursuing and destroying a German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, participation in the Allied landing operation in Sicily (Operation Husky), escorting part of the surrendered Italian fleet (which included battleships Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio) to Malta, and also participated in operations in the Pacific region.
After World War II, the ship was mostly either in reserve or used as a training ship. In 1957, she was withdrawn from the fleet, and the next year she was sold for scrap.
History of creation
Design
HMS King George V and the rest of the ships of the series became the first English battleships designed after a long break, known in the history of shipbuilding as "battleship holidays".
The first studies of a 35,000-ton battleship involved the creation of a ship armed with eight 381-mm or 406-mm guns in four twin-gun turrets, with twelve 152-mm non-universal guns in casemates, 120- or 102-mm anti-aircraft artillery, 10 surface torpedo tubes and a maximum speed of 23 knots. The project did not receive development and was rejected at the stage of sketches.
Further design of new British battleships was associated with the same British policy to limit naval weapons. Expecting to limit the maximum displacement of the new battleships of the countries participating in the negotiations to 25,000 - 28,000 tons, and the caliber of artillery to 305 mm, they began designing battleships for these parameters. These works were started in 1934.
By 1935, 4 variants of the future battleship were prepared. Displacement ranged from 28,130 to 28,500 tons, armament of 8-10 305-mm guns, speed of about 23 knots, fairly solid armor. All projects were inferior to the already existing French battleship Dunkerque. As a result, the British Admiralty was convinced of the futility of trying to create a full-fledged battleship within the limited displacement and closed this line of work.
The final version of the project received the index 14-P. Its standard displacement slightly exceeded the contractual limit of 35,000 tons, reaching 36,727 tons.
Construction and testing
On April 21, 1936, the British Parliament authorized the construction of two battleships included in the 1936 program, which caused serious objections in naval and political circles. On July 29, an order was issued for their construction, although the Admiralty Council officially approved the project only on October 15, 1936. Thus, they wanted to buy time and put new battleships into operation as quickly as possible.
The ship was laid down on January 1, 1937 at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Tyne. Launched on February 21, 1939, officially entered service on December 11, 1940.
During high-speed tests with the power of the main power plant 108,290 hp. the ship was able to reach a speed of 28.4 knots.
Design description
Frame
Side and top view of the battleship HMS King George V
Fight with Bismarck
When Bismark out into the atlantic ocean HMS King George V sailed 22 May HMS Victorious, cruisers and destroyers in support of cruiser patrols. HMS King George V was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Tovey, who commanded the force. HMS King George V was at a distance of 300 to 400 kilometers on the morning of May 24, when HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Hood entered into battle with Bismark. heavy cruiser HMS Hood was sunk and HMS Prince of Wales was damaged and subsequently forced to retreat. The German battleship was also damaged, but continued to sail south.
At 10:10 on May 26 Bismark was discovered 690 nautical miles northwest of Brest by a US/British crew of a Catalina seaplane of the British Coastal Aviation Command. By 17:40 HMS Sheffield established visual contact with the German battleship and began pursuit. At 20:47 fifteen torpedo bombers with HMS Ark Royal launched an attack on the target and achieved hits that led to a decrease in the course of the pursued battleship.
May 27 at 08:00 am battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V approached Bismark at a distance of 39 km. At that time, visibility was only 19 km and sea waves reached 4-5 points. The wind was blowing from the northwest, equal to 6-7 points in strength. HMS Rodney kept heading north so as to fire on Bismark from a sufficient distance, while HMS King George V took aside.
The fire was opened at 08:47. Bismark returned fire, but his inability to evade and roll negatively affected his accuracy. The low speed (seven knots) also made the ship an easy target for heavy cruisers. HMS Norfolk and HMS Dorsetshire who pooled their firepower. At 09:02 a 203 mm projectile with HMS Norfolk hit the main rangefinder post on the foremast. At 09:08 a 406-mm projectile with HMS Rodney, hit both bow turrets of the battleship Bismark, Anton and Bruno, disabling the latter. Simultaneously, another hit destroyed the forward control post, killing most of the top officers. Ship's stern turrets Caesar and Dora continued firing at close range, but did not achieve hits.
At 09:21 Dora was hit. team Anton managed to fire one last salvo at 09:27. At 09:31 Caesar fired her last salvo and then went out of action. The close explosions of the shells of this volley damaged HMS Rodney, jammed torpedo tubes. battleship fire Bismark during the entire battle was focused on HMS Rodney, perhaps in the hope of achieving a success similar to that achieved in the confrontation with HMS Hood. When Admiral Guernsey watched this, he remarked: "Thank God, the Germans are firing at the Rodney."
After 44 minutes of battle, heavy guns Bismark fell silent. HMS Rodney came within direct range (approximately 3 km), while HMS King George V continued firing from a greater distance.
Bismark did not lower the battle flag. The British had no desire to leave the German battleship alone, but even that did not show signs of surrender, despite the unequal struggle. The reserves of fuel and shells of the British squadron were small. This created additional difficulties for battleships seeking to sink a combat unit like Bismark despite being outnumbered. However, when it became apparent that their enemy would not be able to reach the port, HMS Rodney, HMS King George V and the destroyers were called home. As a result of the battle HMS King George V fired 339 main caliber shells and 660 universal caliber shells at the enemy.
Arctic convoys
HMS King George V during Arctic convoys in 1942
Main guns of a battleship HMS King George V during arctic convoys
After the sinking of the battleship Bismark for Atlantic raids it was replaced by a newly built sistership Tirpitz. According to naval intelligence Tirpitz was supposed at the very beginning of November 1941, but instead of it, a pocket battleship was supposed to go to sea Admiral Scheer. The forces of the Home Fleet, led by Tovey, moved into position south of Iceland. They included only one battleship - HMS King George V and aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. The bitter lesson of the hunt for Bismark` om forced to turn to the help of overseas allies. For the first time in World War II, American battleships from Task Force 13, which included modernized USS Idaho and USS Mississippi, as well as 2 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers. The American connection covered the Danish Strait. However, waiting for the appearance Tirpitz were futile, he never went to sea.
On February 20, the transfer to the north of Norway took place Admiral Sheer and heavy cruiser Prince Eugene 5 destroyers in escort. The next day, British air reconnaissance discovered a German detachment entering Grimstad Fjord. Assuming that the Germans would remain there for some time, the Admiralty ordered Tovey to move out with the Home Fleet to strike at the ships in the parking lot or intercept them after leaving on their way. Joined Tovey's forces HMS King George V, aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, heavy cruiser HMS Berwick and 4 destroyers. However, the German detachment left the fjord in the evening of the same day, and the interception did not take place. Since March, the significant forces of the German fleet in northern Norway had directly threatened the northern convoys, so the British switched to their constant cover by the main forces of the Home Fleet.
The first opportunity to intercept German battleships appeared when escorting paired convoys: PQ-12, which left Reykjavik on March 1, 1942, and OR-8, which simultaneously left the Kola Bay. The fleet of the mother country took part in the cover for the first time. Having received air reconnaissance data, March 6 Tirpitz left Trondheim escorted by four destroyers. The British managed to decipher the radio interception data, and the submarine HMS Sea Wolf(type S) visually detected German ships. The Admiralty immediately gave the order to concentrate forces. The long-range cover of the convoys consisted of a battleship HMS Duke of York(flag of Vice Admiral Curtis), who went on his first combat campaign, a battlecruiser HMS Renown, cruisers HMS Kenya and 6 destroyers. They were joined by the main body of the Home Fleet under the command of Tovey: HMS King George V, aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, heavy cruiser HMS Berwick and 6 more destroyers.
| Table of arctic convoys escorted by battleship HMS King George V | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Departure of the convoy |
Joining a convoy as an escort |
Convoy number |
Detachment from the convoy |
Arrival of the convoy |
The British had an overwhelming superiority in forces and the advantages of being well informed over the blindly acting Germans. However, the weather made a difference. In conditions of poor visibility, the British fleet was unable to detect in time Tirpitz, which in turn missed the convoy OR-8 returning from the Soviet Union. The British had hope for aviation. March 9 "albacore" with HMS Victorious hit the battleship Tirpitz, however, he managed to dodge all the torpedoes. The mutual position of forces made intercepting the faster German battleship impossible, and the new British battleships were unable to repeat their success against the battleship. Bismark.
Convoy escort operations in the first half of 1942 followed one after another, and the Admiralty had to change cover forces. A pair of RO-15 - OR-11 in late April - early May was accompanied by a joint Anglo-American detachment under the command of Admiral Tovey. It included the flagship HMS King George V, American battleship USS Washington under the flag of Rear Admiral Giffen, HMS Victorious, US heavy cruisers USS Wichita and USS Tuscaloosa, British cruiser HMS Kenya and 8 destroyers - 4 on each side. The close cover consisted of 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Barrow. The German command never decided not to intercept.
Damaged battleship bow HMS King George V HMS Punjabi
During this period, a tragic incident occurred. During thick fog, the battleship HMS King George V rammed an allied destroyer HMS Punjabi type Tribal, which performed a maneuver to evade a floating mine. As a result of the collision, the destroyer was literally cut into two parts and immediately sank, and her depth charges exploded while diving near the stern of the battleship. HMS King George V received serious damage to the skin in the nose for 10-15 meters. A leak opened on it, and from the impact of exploding depth charges, most of the auxiliary equipment was disabled, including turbogenerators and contacts in power wiring. The battleship was left without power and had to be recalled and returned to base. His place in the cover forces was taken only by a sistership recently returned from a previous campaign. HMS Duke of York. For restoration work, the damaged battleship went to the shipyard of the company Cammel Laird in Liverpool, where he remained until the end of June 1942. After repairs, the ship returned to the base of the Home Fleet Scapa Flow and resumed regular service.
Covering Arctic convoys as part of the Home Fleet battleship HMS King George V resumed with convoy escort JW-53. As a result of air attacks on February 27 and 28, the convoy ships scattered over a large area. The British had to use their main forces, albeit in a somewhat strange role. March 9 and 10 HMS King George V surveyed the entire area in which the transports were highly dispersed. Thanks to powerful radar equipment, the battleship managed to assemble scattered ships into a standard-looking convoy.
In anticipation of operations against Italy, the Admiralty withdrew the battleship in May HMS King George V together with HMS Howe from the Home Fleet, transferring them to the Mediterranean region.
Mediterranean operations
Battleship involvement HMS King George V in combat operations in the Mediterranean began with Operation Husky, in which the battleship was assigned a supporting role. Early summer 1943 HMS King George V and HMS Howe were transferred to Gibraltar. Both battleships became part of the reserve group along with air defense cruisers HMS Dido and HMS Sirius and 6 destroyers. On July 10, during the landing, this group was south of Sardinia, simulating the possibility of an auxiliary landing and covering the northern flank of the landing force. On the night of July 11-12, both battleships fired at the coast in the Levanzo area, firing several dozen shots. A few days later, both battleships bombarded the island of Trapani. On this, the active participation of the battleship HMS King George V in operations in the Mediterranean ended. However, the ship remained there until autumn.
September 9, 1943 HMS King George V played the role of an escort, escorting to Malta a detachment of Italians surrendered to the Allies under the command of Admiral Da Zara as part of battleships Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio, 2 cruisers and a destroyer. After the capitulation of Italy, British ships of the line became completely unnecessary in the Mediterranean.
Pacific Theater of Operations
Battleship HMS King George V during the shelling of the Japanese islands. 1945
October 28, 1944 battleship HMS King George V left Scapa Flow for the Far East. The ship arrived at its destination on the 20th of November, where it became part of the British Pacific Fleet under the command of Admiral Fraser. At the end of November, the new connection consisted of battleships HMS King George V and HMS Howe and 4 newest heavy aircraft carriers ( HMS Indefatigable , HMS Victorious, HMS Illustrious and HMS Indomitable, 7 cruisers and three destroyer fleets. The line forces were commanded by Vice Admiral Rawlings. The first combat operations of the formed British formation with the participation of the battleship HMS King George V began only in January 1945.
HMS King George V in Tokyo Bay. The USS Missouri is in the background. 1945
January 16 Trincomalee left the compound TF-63 in the battleship HMS King George V and four new squadron carriers, three air defense cruisers and destroyers. On January 24, carrier-based aircraft attacked an oil refinery near the city of Palembang, damaging it and destroying almost fifty Japanese aircraft on the ground and in the air. January 29, the blow was repeated. On the same day HMS King George V took part in the interception of 12 enemy bombers that were trying to break through to the connection, and although most were shot down by a fighter patrol, several aircraft were attributed to the anti-aircraft guns of covering ships, including the ship of the line. After the successful, though strategically insignificant Operation Meridian, the British ships proceeded to the Australian port of Fremantle, arriving there on 4 February. From now on, they were intended for joint operations with the US Navy.
The landing on the island of Okinawa, which took place in early May, became the first serious joint venture of the Allies in the Pacific Ocean. HMS King George V and other most modern ships of the British Pacific Fleet became part of the Task Force TF-57 under the command of Rawlings. The threat from the large Japanese ships was reduced to zero and it became possible to use the heavy ships of the allies, including new ones, for shelling coastal targets. May 4, 1945 HMS King George V along with the sistership HMS Howe bombed the air base at Hirara, as well as the air defense positions of the air base just to the north on Miyako Island. As a result of the shelling, the air defense of the air base was completely suppressed, which made it defenseless against subsequent air attacks.
On May 28, the ship arrived at Apra Harbor on the island of Guam for refueling. The next day, the battleship was visited by Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. On May 30, the battleship left the harbor of the island of Guam and set off towards about. Manus. June 5 HMS King George V arrived in Sydney for maintenance and various maintenance work on board the ship. On June 28, the battleship was assigned to the Operational Connection TF-37. On the 29th, the battleship held joint exercises with cruisers HMS Gambia and HMS Black Prince, as well as the calibration of radars at a distance of 9 km. In the first week of July, the ship, in the process of preparing for combat operations, took part in various training actions in firing, command coordination during the battle.
HMS King George V returns to Portsmouth after the war. March 1, 1946
Early July HMS King George V as part of the operational unit TF-37 took part in the shelling of Tokyo. On July 17, 1945, as part of an American formation, he fired 267 shells at three industrial facilities in the Hitachi area, north of the Japanese capital. The operation took place at night, and the battleship fired very slowly, continuing to fire for three hours. On July 29, the battleship again participated in the shelling of the coast, now south of Tokyo, at Hamamatsu. 265 shells were fired in 40 minutes, while, despite the high density of industrial buildings, only 7 direct hits were noticed. volleys HMS King George V Hamamatsu were the last shots fired by British battleships in World War II. The lead battleship of the series entered Tokyo Bay on September 2 to take part in the surrender ceremony of the last enemy.
post-war period
In the post-war period HMS King George V remained in the Far East as support for the allied forces. In late 1945, the battleship visited Melbourne for refueling and minor repairs. On March 6, 1946, the ship arrived in the home waters of Portsmouth, where she assumed the role of the flagship of the Home Fleet until 1950.
With the end of World War II, the need for battleships in the fleet essentially disappeared, and the maintenance itself was not cheap. Therefore the battleship HMS King George V was put into reserve in 1950. 5 years later, in December 1955, he was transferred to a special one, and 2 years later they were scrapped by the company Arnott Young. On January 20, 1958, the ship's hull was towed to the Clyde for dismantling of equipment. The dismantling process was completed in Troon, where the ship was delivered in May 1959.
commanders
This ship in art
Battleship HMS King George V in Game World of Warships
Ship HMS King George V presented in the game World of Warships in the form of a Tier VII ship.
see also
Notes
Literature and sources of information
Links
Bibliography
- Dashyan A.V., Patyanin S.V., Tokarev M.Yu., Balakin S.A., Kofman V.L. M: Eksmo: Yauza, 2009. - 386 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-51001-6.
- Kofman V.L. Battleships of the type "King George V". - Moscow "Eastflot", 2007, - 109 p.
- Mikhailov A.A. Battleships of the type "King George V" (1937-1939). - Samara: ANO Eastflot, 2007. - ISBN 978-5-98830-022-9
Image gallery
HMS King George V in a cut.
HMS King George V
Scheme HMS King George V
HMS King George V off the coast of Iceland after a collision with HMS Punjabi
Scheme and description HMS King George V in English
HMS King George V in 1941
Battleship damage HMS King George V after a collision with an allied destroyer HMS Punjabi
Battleship HMS King George V enters Apra Harbor, Guam. 1945
HMS King George V while returning from the US. 1941
Battleship HMS King George V escorts the Italian fleet from Malta to Alexandria. 1943
Capitulated Italian fleet. View from under the main guns of the battleship HMS King George V during his escort from Malta to Alexandria. 1943
HMS King George V in dry dock before being put into reserve. 1951
HMS King George V at Captain Cook Dock, Sydney, October 1945
HMS King George V returns after escorting an Arctic convoy. View from an unknown British aircraft carrier. April 20, 1943
Video
| Videos from HMS King George V | |||
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HMS King George V parked in Halifax Bay. |
HMS King George V in the parking lot near the island of Guam |
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HMS King George V |
King and Queen on board HMS King George V in 1944 |
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Review HMS King George V from the air |
HMS King George V |
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| battleships | Queen Elizabeth Revenge |
Laid down in 1937, launched in 1939. Standard displacement 36,000 tons, normal 40,000 tons, total 44,400 tons. Maximum length 227.1 m, width 31.4 m, draft 9.7 m. Power 4 -shaft steam turbine plant 110,000 l. s., speed 28 knots. Armor: main belt in the middle 356-381 mm, in the bow and stern 140-114 mm, upper belt 25 mm, turrets and barbettes 406 mm, armored deck 127-152 mm, wheelhouse 76 mm. Armament: ten 356-mm, sixteen 133-mm universal guns, from thirty-two to seventy-two 40-mm anti-aircraft guns. A total of 5 units were built: “King George V”, “Prince of Wales” (1940), “Duke of York” (1941), “Hove” (1942) and “Anson” (1942) .
Launched on February 21, 1939, and officially entered service on December 11, 1940. In January 1941, even before reaching full combat readiness, the battleship made a crossing of the Atlantic, delivering a new British ambassador to the United States. On the way back, the King George V covered the convoy. In March 1941, he participated in a raid on the Lofoten Islands.
In May 1941, he was involved in an operation against the German battleship Bismarck. On May 27, 1941, together with the battleship Rodney, he entered into battle with the Bismarck and fired 339 main-caliber and 660 universal-caliber shells at the enemy. Subsequently, he operated in the North Atlantic, covering the operations of the British fleet, as well as Arctic convoys. On May 1, 1942, during one of these operations, he rammed his own destroyer Punjabi. The destroyer sank, from the explosion of the depth charges on it, the battleship received serious damage to the bow.
After the repair, the King George V again became the flagship of the Home Fleet and covered the Arctic convoys. In the summer of 1943, he moved to the Mediterranean Sea and was included in Formation H. On July 10-11, 1943, he conducted diversionary artillery preparation off the coast of Sicily, before the Allied landings on this island. In the first half of 1944, she underwent repairs and was sent to the Pacific Ocean and included in the British Navy Task Force, which operated jointly with the US Navy. In July 1945, he bombarded the suburbs of Tokyo with the main caliber. September 2, 1945 participated in the surrender ceremony of Japan.
He returned to the UK in March 1946 after repairs in Australia. Then she became the flagship of the fleet, but already in 1947 she was put in for a new repair. In 1948-1949 he was part of the training squadron, in September 1949 he was put into reserve. April 30, 1957 was excluded from the lists of the fleet and at the beginning of 1958 was sold for scrap.
Battleships of the "King George V" type were created in the conditions of the beginning of the decline of the British Empire, when it could no longer afford the luxury of a "two-power" standard. In this situation, a bet was made on a not too powerful, but quite numerous type of ships. The King George V-class battleships became the largest series of capital ships of the 1930s and 1940s.
If we consider a purely battleship complex, then "King George V" looks modest in comparison with contemporaries, primarily due to the short-sighted choice of artillery weapons. By itself, the armor protection of battleships looked good on paper, but it did not provide reliable protection against 380-460 mm shells. The invulnerability zones, that is, the ranges of distances at which the side armor no longer breaks through, but the deck armor does not yet break through, were very limited for the King George V. In fact, only clearly underarmed Scharnhorst-class ships did not pose a particular threat to the Kings. The British battleships looked especially bad in comparison with the Iowa and Yamato.
However, the formal calculations of invulnerability zones and the realities of hostilities differed markedly. In practice, the British battleships of this type did not look like a clear weak side in battles with the enemy. Combat experience has shown that tabular armor penetration is far from everything.
For battleships with an all-or-nothing protection scheme, most hits in any case fell on unarmored parts of the hull, superstructures and gun mounts. NONE of the shells from both sides in the battle between Bismarck and the Prince of Wales hit the main armor belt or the main armor deck. In the second battle with the same battleship and in the battle of the Duke of York with the Scharnhorst, the German ships were clearly put out of action without breaking through the cellars and cars (with the exception of a fatal hit in the KO glacis on the Scharnhorst). Nevertheless, both German battleships had practically lost their course by the end of the battle, so the British 14-inch was enough to “finish off” the enemy. In naval combat during the Second World War, the state of fire control systems played a huge, perhaps even a major role.
— Kofman V.L. Battleships of the type "King George V".
Each weapon is good only when it is used correctly. In this regard, the British naval commanders of the Second World War were generally at their best, thanks to which, not the most perfect, but quite reliable and skillfully used battleships of the King George V type played a noticeable and very positive role in the armed struggle at sea.
About Model:
I bought the good old Tamiya… I don’t remember when, probably at the beginning of my passion for ship modeling. Time passed, hands did not reach, new interesting models appeared, and King George V was still on the shelf, waiting in the wings. The ship is significant, maybe not “elegance” and “swiftness” itself, but it worked “high-quality” for the British Empire (which is why I write that the merits of the ship are often a promise for making a model) During the wait, King George V acquired photo-etched from WEM (not much younger than the model, as a result - rather primitive), barrels for all artillery: main, universal calibers, 40mm Pom-Poms and 20mm Orlikons (there are whole installations with a chiseled pedestal, etc.) from Master Models, resin Bofors from Arsenal and ladders , portholes, lanyards for rigging from Norh Star.
The impetus for the construction of the model was 2 things: I managed to organize a working (ship-modeling) place at work and information that Pontos makes its fashionable-cool etching for this type of boats, with the usual rich set of masts, resin, wooden decks, etc. charms that are hard to resist.
He began construction with an eye to a complete cut, or rather, everything large: the hull, the main and universal caliber, the superstructure hulls - Tamiya, everything else is either a replacement or a revision.
The rigging was made from wire from mobile phone chargers, I won’t try again, it’s a very complex material, I don’t advise.
Paints: acrylic Tamiya, Futura. Wash, Tamiya enamel. Final
In its short history, the battleship "Prince of Wales" fought only two battles, each time being under the threat of destruction: a mistake in the choice of main battery guns almost killed the battleship during the battle in the Denmark Strait, and weak air defense led to its death during the battle with the Japanese. The ship became a victim of systemic errors committed during its design due to the fault of the British Admiralty
The historian of British naval intelligence, Donald Maclahan, in his book Secrets of British Intelligence, noted that in the period between the two world wars, the British Admiralty firmly believed in two postulates:
- there will be no war in the next 10 years (moreover, after ten years this period was pushed back);
- all countries will strictly adhere to their international obligations.
It was these deeply erroneous postulates that played a fatal role in the fate of the battleship Prince of Wales and its crew.
The battleship "Prince of Wales", which was the second ship from the family of battleships "King George V" (in Russian literature, this type of ships often appears under the English name "King George V" in English or Russian transliteration), was laid down on January 1, 1937 at the shipyard of the company Cammel Laird at Birkenhead.
Specifications
Battleships of this type were designed and built with a fairly precise observance of the terms of the Washington Agreement of 1922, which provided for the construction of battleships with a standard displacement of 35,000 tons. The British began designing a new generation of battleships as early as 1928, since under the Washington Agreement, new battleships could be laid down in 1931. The battleship project was repeatedly finalized and under the 14-P index was finally approved only in January 1936, and on April 21, 1936, the British Parliament allocated funds for the construction of the first two battleships of the 14-P project. The decision to build battleships was to some extent a response to the available information about plans to build Bismarck-class battleships in Germany. The creation in the UK of battleships of this type can be considered partly the result of the good work of German intelligence. In the book of Donald Maclahan, the process of making a final decision on the construction of a British battleship, taking into account intelligence data about its potential enemy, is outlined as follows: July 1, 1936, the German embassy in London "confidentially informs the British Foreign Office" on the expected performance characteristics of the German F-type battleships under construction. According to the data received, the standard displacement of battleships was 35,000 tons (actually according to the project - 45,000 tons), length - 241.4 m, width - 36 m, draft - 7.9 m (actually according to the project - 10.4 m), artillery of the main caliber - 8 guns of caliber 380 mm, thickness of the main armor - 229 mm (actually according to the project - 306 mm), power - 80,000 hp. (actually according to the project - 150,000 hp), speed - 27 knots (actually according to the project - 30.3 knots). The German designers who developed fictitious documentation reduced the displacement of the battleship by simply reducing its draft and armor thickness, not forgetting to reduce the power plant power and speed accordingly. The level of British confidence in the source of information was so high that already on September 5, the head of the shipbuilding department of the Admiralty notes in a memo:
“The large (by 4.6 m) width of the German ship, compared to the King George V, is apparently dictated by a relatively small draft, which, in turn, is necessary due to the shallow depths of the Kiel Canal and the Baltic Sea.”
The final decision to approve our own battleship project was made after the verdict of the operational planning department:
"Projects of German battleships indicate, apparently, that at present, more than in the past, Germany's eyes are turned to the Baltic with its shallow shores and approaches to them."
Scheme and shadow projection of battleships of the type "King George V"
Source: "Handbook of the composition of the navies of the world. 1944"
(Voenmorizdat USSR)
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Ship |
Battleship Prince of Wales |
Battleship Prince of Wales |
Battleship "Bismarck" |
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A source of information |
A. E. Taras "Encyclopedia of battleships and battleships" |
"Handbook of the ship composition of the navies of the world. 1944 "(Voenmorizdat of the USSR) |
Sergei Patyanin "Kriegsmarine. Navy of the Third Reich |
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Standard displacement, tons |
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Full displacement, tons |
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Width, m |
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Draft, m |
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Speed, knots |
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Power reserve |
15,000 miles at 10 knots or 6,300 miles at 20 knots |
8525 miles at 19 knots |
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Undercarriage |
4 Parsons turbines |
8 Admiralty type steam boilers 4 Parsons turbines |
3 turbines and 12 steam boilers |
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Power, hp |
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Crew, man |
As can be seen from the above data, the battleship "Prince of Wales" was inferior to the "Bismarck" in speed and range.
Booking battleships of the "King George V" type can be considered a kind of progress in the development of British shipbuilding - for the first time, British shipbuilders abandoned the "all or nothing" principle. When designing battleships of the "King George V" class, they abandoned the inclined inner belt, limiting the armor to the central citadel, bow and stern, and on top of the extensive main belt, the side to the upper deck was covered with armor 25 mm thick, which protected from shell fragments.
In general, booking "Prince of Wales" and "Bismarck" was comparable with the exception of the conning tower.
In accordance with the ideas of the 30s, the artillery armament of battleships should have included:
- artillery of the main caliber (356-406 mm), designed to destroy enemy battleships;
- medium-caliber artillery (150–203 mm) designed to destroy enemy cruisers and destroyers;
- universal artillery (88-127 mm), designed to destroy both lightly armored surface targets and remote air targets;
- anti-aircraft guns (20–40 mm) designed to destroy high-speed air targets in the immediate vicinity of the ship.
Unlike the German designers who armed the Bismarck battleship according to the classical scheme, the British designed the artillery armament of the King George V-class battleships according to the scheme, which was gaining popularity at that time and proved itself well in the construction of cruisers. The scheme provided for the presence on the ship of the main caliber artillery located in the towers, universal medium-caliber artillery and anti-aircraft guns.
Initially, nine 381-mm guns in three three-gun turrets (two bow and one stern) were supposed to be installed on the battleship as main battery artillery. After British diplomats reported about the upcoming limitation of the artillery caliber of new battleships to 356 mm, the project was revised, limiting the main caliber to twelve 356 mm guns in three four-gun turrets. The revision of the armor in the direction of its strengthening led to the abandonment of the upper bow four-gun turret in favor of a two-gun one - this was required to compensate for the increased weight of the armor. The question why the British did not increase the caliber of their main guns when it became clear that there would be no caliber limit has no definite answer. According to one (official) version, the British authorities wanted to set a good example for other countries, according to another (more common) version, the transition to a new caliber would postpone the laying of battleships for another year, which would require re-consideration of the issue in Parliament.
Battleship Prince of Wales, May 1941. Well visible stern
four-gun main battery turret
Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com
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Ship |
Battleship Prince of Wales |
Battleship "Bismarck" |
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Number of guns |
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Caliber, mm |
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Barrel length in calibers |
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Placement of guns |
Two four-gun and one two-gun turret |
Four twin turrets |
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Firing range, m |
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Projectile weight, kg |
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The German battleship had a tangible superiority over the British in terms of main caliber guns: with a comparable firing range, the Prince of Wales could fire 150 main caliber shells with a total weight of 105 tons in 10 minutes, while the Bismarck fired 160 shells with a total weight of 128 tons.
When choosing medium-caliber guns, it was decided to install universal guns. At the same time, 152-mm guns were considered too heavy and slow-firing against air targets, and 114-mm guns were considered too weak against light ships. In the end, the choice fell on an intermediate caliber of 133 mm (5.25 inches), and these guns had yet to be developed. As a result, the choice turned out to be very unsuccessful: the guns turned out to be absolutely unsuitable for air defense. Initially, it was supposed to achieve a rate of fire of 12-16 rounds per minute through the use of automation, but already during the design it turned out that the projectile weighing 36.5 kg was too heavy for a unitary cartridge, which made it necessary to use separate loading and abandon automation. The technical documentation of the guns indicated a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute, but the projectile turned out to be too heavy for manual operations (it was very difficult for the feeding personnel to maintain a rate of fire for more than a few minutes), and in practice the rate of fire did not exceed 7–8 rounds per minute. Such a low rate of fire excluded the effective use of guns when firing at close range at high-speed low-flying targets (for example, at torpedo bombers). A long reach in height (15 km) at an elevation angle of 70 ° theoretically made it possible to conduct effective fire on high-flying targets, but their reliable defeat depended on the quality of the fire control system and the presence of a radar fuse, and the British Navy did not use these fuses until the end of World War II. received (a mechanical deceleration fuse was used, while the ammunition installer was always one salvo late).
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Ship |
Battleship Prince of Wales |
Battleship "Bismarck" |
Battleship "Bismarck" |
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The purpose of the guns |
Defeat surface targets |
Defeat surface and air targets |
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Number of guns |
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Caliber, mm |
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Barrel length in calibers |
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Placement of guns |
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Firing range, m |
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Projectile weight, kg |
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Rate of fire, rounds per minute |
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Estimated number of shells with 10-minute firing |
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Estimated mass of a 10-minute salvo, tons |
The universal artillery armament of the Prince of Wales turned out to be weaker than the classic armament of the battleship Bismarck: the mass of a 10-minute volley of medium-caliber guns of an English ship against a surface target was 59.5 tons versus 83.4 tons for the German battleship, and the number of medium-caliber shells issued for air targets - 1600 and 1920 pieces, respectively.
During the development of the project, it was planned to place four eight-barreled 40-mm anti-aircraft guns on the battleships (better known under the name "Pom-pom" - according to the characteristic sound when firing). According to the original design, the artillery mounts were to be supplemented by four quad mounts of 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. Already during the construction of the ship, machine guns were abandoned, replacing them with two more eight-barreled “pom-poms”.
48 barrels of light anti-aircraft artillery seemed to the designers of the British battleship a solid defense, but the very first battles revealed the insufficiency of light anti-aircraft weapons: anti-aircraft gunners simply technically could not fire at more than six targets at the same time. German shipbuilders preferred a more rational, so-called "two-echelon" arrangement of anti-aircraft guns: the first echelon consisted of more long-range two-gun installations of 37-mm anti-aircraft guns (8 pieces), the second echelon - faster-firing 20-mm anti-aircraft guns (12 pieces).
Aviation
In the 1930s, there was a certain fashion for the use of seaplanes to arm large surface ships (it was supposed to use aircraft for anti-submarine defense, reconnaissance and fire adjustment). In accordance with the trends of the time, the Prince of Wales and Bismarck were armed with seaplanes, which were launched using catapults (after completing the task, the seaplanes landed on the water and were lifted aboard by a crane).
As a result of strict adherence to international obligations, the British received a battleship, which, firstly, was inferior to the potential enemy in terms of artillery weapons of the main caliber, speed and range, and secondly, it had absolutely insufficient air defense. Founded at the design stage and then embodied in metal, the design flaws of the Prince of Wales played a fatal role in his combat service.
combat service
The Prince of Wales was commissioned on March 31, 1941, and on May 22 she went to sea to intercept the German battleship Bismarck. The English admirals clearly imagined that the actual firepower of the Prince of Wales was inferior to almost all of his contemporaries, and they allowed the ship to be used only as part of a formation, so the battleship went out to intercept the Bismarck along with the heavily outdated battlecruiser Hood. At first glance, the British ships had some fire advantage over the enemy. However, by the time of going to sea, the Prince of Wales not only had not completed combat training, but also had workers on board who were still eliminating the identified shortcomings in the main caliber artillery.
On the morning of May 24, following the "Hood", the battleship entered into battle with the German formation as part of the battleship "Bismarck" and the heavy cruiser "Prince Eugene". The course of this battle, better known as the "Battle of the Danish Strait", is described by historians almost every minute.
At 03:40, the English unit headed for rapprochement with the German raiders. At 0535 hours, the British ships made visual contact with the German ships. The British made a number of mistakes that nullified their theoretical superiority in firepower. Firstly, Vice Admiral Holland, the commander of the English unit, decided to fight at a distance of only 22.7 km (despite the fact that the main battery guns of the British battleships allowed firing at a distance of more than 30 km). There is a version that the admiral wanted to avoid hitting German shells on the relatively weakly protected deck of the Hood cruiser. However, this decision was rather controversial, since it allowed the Germans to use the guns of the Prince Eugene cruiser in battle. Secondly, the English ships were on a course in which they could not operate the stern towers of the main caliber. As a result, only six guns of the Prince of Wales and four guns of the Hood fought, and the mass of the estimated salvo was 134 tons versus 167 tons for the German ships. Thirdly, the targets were incorrectly identified. The British tried to focus their fire on the leading Prince Eugene, mistaking it for the Bismarck (according to one version, the British believed that they were dealing with two battleships).
At 5 hours 52 minutes the British opened fire from a distance of 22.7 km. On the "Prince of Wales" they realized the mistake in identifying the enemy and transferred the fire to the second German ship, achieving a hit on the battleship Bismarck.
At 05:55 the Germans returned fire. From the second salvo, they managed to cover the Hood ahead, and a strong fire broke out on the English cruiser.
At 0556 hours, the sixth salvo of the Prince of Wales inflicted serious damage on the Bismarck: the projectile pierced the fuel tanks, causing a copious leak of fuel and the flow of water into the tanks. "Bismarck" began to leave an oil trail.
At 5 hours 57 minutes, the Hood received hits from the second volley of the Prinz Eugen and the third volley of the Bismarck, fires began at the stern and amidships of the ship.
At 0559, the Bismarck was hit below the waterline by the ninth salvo of the Prince of Wales.
At 06:00, the German and British ships were at a distance of 16-17 km from each other. Seeing the unfavorable position of his position, Vice Admiral Holland ordered a course change of 20 degrees to port in order to activate the stern towers and fight on parallel courses. The battleship Bismarck is again hit by a heavy shell.
6 hours 01 minutes. At the beginning of the turn, Hood was hit by a heavy Bismarck shell. A column of flame rose behind the cruiser's bow superstructure, and the huge ship, breaking in half, went under the water. The British destroyer Elektra arrived in time to pick up only three sailors from a crew of more than 1,400 people.
At that moment, the Prince of Wales could only fire from two bow guns, as the guns of the four-gun bow turret were jammed. It was not possible to continue the battle under such conditions due to the overwhelming superiority of the enemy, and the battleship left the battle under a smoke screen, having received eight hits (five 381-mm shells from the Bismarck battleship and three 203-mm shells from the Prince Eugene).
The captain of the Bismarck, Lindemann, offered to give chase and sink the Prince of Wales. However, Admiral Lutyens took into account the damage received (one of the generators was disabled on the Bismarck, water began to flow into the boiler room No. 2, two fuel tanks were pierced, there was a trim on the bow and a roll to starboard) and decided not to pursue , but to interrupt the campaign and head for the German bases in the Bay of Biscay.
After repairs in May-July 1941, the Prince of Wales returned to service and in August of the same year delivered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Newfoundland to meet with US President Franklin Roosevelt.
