|
The ''King George V''-class battleships were the most modern British battleships used during World War II. Five ships of this class were commissioned: (1940), (1941), (1941), (1942) and (1942). The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited all of the number, displacement, and armament of warships built following its ratification, and this was extended by the First London Naval Treaty but these treaties were due to expire in 1936. With increased tension between Britain, the United States, Japan, France and Italy, it was supposed by the designers of these battleships that the treaty might not be renewed and the ships of the ''King George V'' class were designed with this possibility in mind. All five ships would see combat during World War II, with ''King George V'' and ''Prince of Wales'' being involved in the action on 24 May to 27 May that resulted in the German battleship being sunk. Following this on 25 October 1941, ''Prince of Wales'' was sent to Singapore arriving on 2 December and becoming the flagship of Force Z. On 10 December, ''Prince of Wales'' was attacked by Japanese bombers and sank with the loss of 327 of its men. In the aftermath of the sinking, ''King George V'', ''Duke of York'', ''Howe'' and ''Anson'' provided escort duty to convoys bound for Russia. On 1 May 1942, King George V collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi, resulting in ''King George V'' being sent to Gladstone docks for repairs on 9 May, before returning to escort duty on 1 July 1942. On October 1942 ''Duke of York'' was sent to Gibraltar, as the new flagship of Force H and supported the Allied landings in North Africa in November. ''Anson'' and ''Howe'' would also provide cover for multiple convoys bound for Russia from late 1942 until 1 March 1943, when ''Howe'' provided convoy cover for the last time. In May 1943 ''King George V'' and ''Howe'' were moved to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Husky. The two ships bombarded Trapani naval base and Favignana on 11–12 July and also provided cover for Operation Avalanche on 7 September to 14 September. During this time ''Duke of York'' and ''Anson'' participated in Operation Gearbox, which was designed to draw attention away from Operation Husky. ''Duke of York'' was also heavily involved in the action that sank the German battleship on 25 December 1943. This battle was also the last time that British and German capital ships fought each other during World War II. In late March 1945, ''King George V'' and ''Howe'' were sent to the Pacific as part of Task Force 57. On 4 May 1945, ''King George V'' and ''Howe'' led a forty-five minute bombardment of Japanese air facilities in the Ryukyu Islands. ''King George V'' fired her guns in anger for the last time in a night bombardment of Hamamatsu on 29 July and 30 July 1945. ''Duke of York'' and ''Anson'' were also dispatched to the Pacific, but arrived too late to participate in hostilities. On 15 August ''Duke of York'' and ''Anson ''accepted the surrender of Japanese forces occupying Hong Kong and along with ''King George V'' were present for the official Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. Following the end of World War II, the ships were slowly phased out of service and by 1957 all of the ships had been sold off for scrap; a process that was completed by 1958. ==Design and description== The ''King George V'' class was the result of a design process that began in 1928. Under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, a "holiday" from building capital ships was in force through 1931. The battleships of the British Navy consisted of only those old battleships that had been kept after the end of World War I, plus the two new, but slow s. In 1928, the Royal Navy started considering the requirements for the warships that it expected to start building in 1931.〔Brown, p. 25〕 The First London Naval Treaty of 1930 extended the "shipbuilding holiday" through 1937. Planning began again in 1935, drawing on previous design work. The new class would be built up to the Treaty maximum displacement of 35,000 tons. Alternatives with 16-inch, 15-inch and 14-inch main guns were considered and the 15-inch armament was chosen. Most designs were intended to steam at 27 knots with full power, and it was decided that the likely decisive range in a battle would be from 12,000 to 16,000 yards. Armour and torpedo protection formed a much greater portion of the design than that of the previous Royal Navy battleships.〔Brown, pp. 28–29〕 In October 1935, the decision was made to use 14-inch guns. At the time, the United Kingdom was negotiating for a continuation of the Naval Treaties with the other parties of the London Treaty. The British Government favoured a reduction in the maximum calibre of battleship gun to 14 inches and in early October, the government learned that the United States of America would support this position if the Japanese could also be persuaded to do so. Since the large naval guns needed to be ordered by the end of the year, the British Admiralty decided on 14-inch guns for the ''King George V'' class.〔 The Second London Naval Treaty, a result of the Second London Naval Conference begun in December 1935, was signed in March 1936 by the United States, France and Britain and this set a main battery of 14-inch naval guns as the limit.〔Raven and Roberts, p. 275〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King George V-class battleship (1939)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|