HMS Nelson was built by
Armstrong and launched in September 1925. During the Second World War,
Nelson was in the Home fleet from 1939-1942, and in 1943 she was in
Force "H". Nelson was mined off the Scottish coast in December
of 1939 and was under repair until June of 1940. She was struck by an
Italian aerial torpedo on 27th September 1941 under repair until April
1942. 
HMS Nelson saw service in he Mediterranean up to 1943, she again
saw service off Normandy where she was again mined on 18th June 1944 .
[Note: H H Taylor an ex stoker of
the Nelson has sent us an email stating that on 18th June 1944, Nellie
was not mined as she was on Atlantic convoy duty. However, one of the
merchant ships did ram her on her port side.]
Although the
British fleet was the largest and most powerful in the world at the end of
world war 1, both the US and Japan had laid down capital ships that
outclassed anything in the Royal Navy. Britain therefore ordered four
battle-cruisers on 21 October 1921 and intended to order four battleships
during 1923. In designing these ships, Britain had the inestimable
advantage of not only having conducted intensive tests on her own and
German vessels, but also of having four years experience of battle
damage and operational requirements. Neither the US or Japan could match
this, and it is not surprising that the British designs were superior to
anything contemplated abroad. The battlecruisers would have been armed
with 3 triple 16.5in. (later 16in.) turrets, and would have had a speed of
33kts on a standard displacement of 47,200 tonnes. They were intended to
have had a 12in-14in armour belt inclined at 25deg and an 8in-9in armour
deck over the magazines. The battleships were to have a speed of
23.5kts, an armament of three triple 18in 45cal turrets and an armour
belt of 15in on a standard displacement of 48,770 tonnes.
Both designs were
to have had their main armament concentrated forward and their machinery
aft to shorten the armour belt and save weight. The bridge was to
have been between the second and third turrets. However, both types were
cancelled by the Washington Naval Treaty. This left Britain without any
modern 16in gunned battleships to counter the American Colorado
class and Japanese Nagato class. Britain was therefore allowed
to build two 16in gunned battleships, but their maximum standard
displacement was fixed at 35,360 tonnes. The best features from the
cancelled ships were worked into the design. The three 16in triple turrets
were mounted forward, and the bridge moved aft to shorten the hull, armour
belt and deck still farther. The beam was restricted to 106ft by the
dimensions of existing drydocks. For the first time on a British
battleship an all-or-nothing protection system was adopted and the
inclined armour belt was fitted about 25ft inboard, above the torpedo
bulkhead. The outer part of the hull could be filled with water to improve
the shock loading, and restrict damage. The secondary armament was
concentrated aft, and consisted of six twin 6in turrets. For the period a
powerful AA armament was mounted. To save weight a twin-screw arrangement
was adopted, and although Nelson
and Rodney
had a small turning circle, the use of twin-screws, the long fo'c's'le and
the tall tower bridge (adopted for the first time in a battleship)
made them very unhandy ships. Also the triple 16in turrets proved
troublesome, and the 16in gun itself was something of a disappointment
when compared with the excellent British 15in gun. However, Nelson and
Rodney were very powerful ships. They were better protected than most
subsequent battleships, and were superior in most respects to their
foreign contemporaries. Nelson and RODNEY formed the
basis of much inter-war designing -- the rebuilt US super- dreadnoughts
IDAHO, MISSISSIPPI and NEW MEXICO were given "Nelson- like"
tower masts, the French DUNKERQUE and STRASBOURG were based on Nelson,
and the Soviets and Japanese also tinkered with some all-guns-forward
designs.
The 16-inch Mk I
high velocity gun was never as successful as the previous 15-inch Mk I.
The 15-inch Mk I used a heavy low velocity shell to achieve its hitting
power, the 16-inch Mk 1 used a light shell at a higher velocity. This
however gave the barrels a short life of only 180 charges and a loss of
accuracy as the barrel wore.
Modifications were
made to improve the 16-inch Mk I but it never was as reliable or as
accurate as the 15-ich MK I. If the guns gave problems the triple mounting
gave just as much. Modifications being needed to the rollers due to
excessive ware, and overly complex shell handling arrangements. The
mounting compared unfavourably to the 15-inch MK I mounting. The 15-inch
mount allowed the guns to be fired every 25 seconds, the 16-inch MK I
every 45 seconds. Firing of X turret created damaged to the bridge and
limits on the firing arcs on this turret were imposed in peace time. The secondary 6-inch armament was
mounted in three twin turrets along each side the superstructure. These
had a dual anti-aircraft / surface role. The
main armoured belt was mounted internally and angled at 72 degrees. The
twin screw arrangement gave them a 670 yard turning circle, but the large
superstructure aft gave them poor low speed handling in any wind. Two
pom-poms were mounted on each side of the bridge and two on each side of
the after director tower. Two main directors controlled the 16" guns,
one fore and aft, and there is a rangefinder on the armoured conning tower
on the bridge face. There were two low-angle directors forward and two aft
for the 6" guns and the 4.7" guns were originally undirected.
There was a rangefinder for the 6" guns abeam the funnel. She
differed from Rodney in not carrying an aircraft / catapult, had different
masts and foretops and carried her boats in different places.
Burnham Thorpe,
Norfolk... All Saints Church. Just inside the entrance is the ship's crest
which was carried in HMS Nelson throughout the second world war.
The flags in the east corner came from HMS Indomitable, and were flown at
the Battle of Jutland. Those at the west end came from HMS Nelson
when she was taken out of service. You will find a few other HMS Nelson
relics here. The ships bell was taken to Newcastle
Town Hall after the Nelson was scrapped, and was transferred from the care
of Newcastle City Council to that of HMS Nelson Barracks, Portsmouth in
1974. It now hangs near the gate and is used as the watch bell.
The Flagship of the
Third Battle Squadron was entering the harbour. From her bow to the slowly
turning radar gear at her mastheads she gave the impression of enormous
power. Rising deck upon deck was her armament, 156 guns bristling in all
directions. Dominating them all were the 60-feet long barrels of the main
armament, their bores plugged with tampions decorated with the head of
Horatio Nelson. For this is the mighty battleship Nelson. It has
been nearly four years since Singapore had seen a British battleship.
Then, the Prince of Wales, with battle-cruiser Repulse, had put to sea,
but without air cover had been destroyed.
We would like to
thank Pete Knight for supplying the above text.
