HMS Queen Elizabeth (1913)
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| Missing image HMS_Queen_Elizabeth_(Queen_Elizabeth-class_battleship).jpg HMS Queen Elizabeth | ||
| Career | 
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|---|---|---|
| Ordered: | ||
| Laid down: | 21st October, 1912 | |
| Launched: | October 16, 1913 | |
| Commissioned: | 1915 | |
| Decommissioned: | 1948 | |
| Fate: | Scrapped | |
| Struck: | July 7, 1948 | |
| General Characteristics (original configuration) | ||
| Displacement: | 27,500 tons standard, 33,400 tons full load | |
| Length: | 645 feet 9 inches (197 m) | |
| Beam: | 90 feet 6 inches (27.6 m) | |
| Draught: | 28 feet 9 inches (8.8 m) | |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 24 boilers, 4 shafts, 56,500 hp | |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h) | |
| Range: | 4,400 miles | |
| Complement: | 950–1300 | |
| Armament: | Eight 15-inch guns, sixteen 6-inch guns, two 3-inch guns, four 47mm guns, four 21-inch submerged torpedo tubes | |
HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth-class of Dreadnought battleships, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England. She was launched on 16 October 1913 at Portsmouth, Hampshire and entered service in January 1915 during World War I.
While still undergoing testing in the Mediterranean, the Queen Elizabeth was sent to the Dardanelles for the Allied attempt to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. The Queen Elizabeth was the only modern battleship to participate though a number of battlecruisers were also involved. She became the flagship for the preliminary naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, leading the first line of British battleships in the decisive battle of March 18, 1915. During the military invasion of the Gallipoli on April 25, the Queen Elizabeth was the flagship for General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. However, after the sinking of HMS Goliath by a Turkish torpedo boat on May 12, the Queen Elizabeth was immediately withdrawn to safety.
She joined Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron (consisting of Queen Elizabeth-class battleships) of the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow, but she missed the battle of Jutland due to being in dock for maintenance.
During World War II, she was part of the Mediterranean Fleet. She was mined and sunk by Italian frogmen on December 18, 1941 in shallow water at Alexandria, but raised and patched up for the journey to the US Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia where she was repaired and sent to the Pacific, where she served from 1944, taking part in raids on Japanese bases in Indonesia. She returned to Britain in July 1945 and was sold for scrap in March 1948.
See HMS Queen Elizabeth for other ships of this name.
External links
- Page on Queen Elizabeth at battleships-cruisers.co.uk (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_queen_elizabeth.htm)
| Queen Elizabeth-class battleship |
| Queen Elizabeth | Warspite | Valiant | Barham | Malaya |
| List of battleships of the Royal Navy |