HMS Valiant (1914)

Career
Pennant:	02
Ordered:	1912
Laid down:	January 31, 1913
Launched:	November 4, 1914
Commissioned:	February 19, 1916
Decommissioned:	July 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap, scrapped in 1950
Struck:	March 19, 1948
General characteristics (original configuration)
Displacement:	27,500 tons
Length:	645 ft 9 in (197 m)
Beam:	90 ft 6 in (27.6 m)
Draught:	28 ft 9 in (8.8 m)
Propulsion:	Steam turbines, 24 boilers, 4 shafts, 56,500 hp (42 MW)
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range:	4,400 miles
Complement:	950–1,220
Armament:	8 × 15 in (381 mm) guns, 14 × 6 in (152 mm) guns, 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns, 4 × 47 mm guns, 4 × 21 in (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes, After modernisation 10 x Twin 4.5" AA guns, 4 x Octuple 2 pdr pom-pom, 26 x Twin 20 mm Oerlikon

HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy. It was laid down at the Fairfield shipyards, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914. She was completed in February 1916.

World War I

In World War I she served in Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. She took part in the battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, where she escaped damage. However in August that same year she collided with HMS Warspite and was in repairs until September.

Inter War Period

Between 1929 and 1930 she underwent a major refit. Antitorpedo bulges were added, increasing beam to 31.70 m. The two funnels were trunked into one and a single octuple 2 pdr mountings were added. Two of the torpedo tubes removed, and the aircraft platforms were replaced by a single catapult. These modifications brought the maximum displacement up to 35,970 tons. In 1931 her crew participated in the Invergordon Mutiny. In 1936 a second octuple 2 pdr mounting was added. Between March 1937 and November 1939 she underwent a second major refit at Devonport. The machinery was changed to eight Admiralty 3 drum boilers with four Parsons steam turbines producing a total of 80,000 shp. Fuel load was 3,393 tons oil, and maximum speed was reduced to 23.5 knots despite the increase in power, due to the increase in displacement and draught. The secondary armament was changed to 20 × 4.5 inch Mk I dual purpose guns in 10 twin mountings and four octuple 2 pdr pom pom mountings. These modifications increased draught to 10 m and maximum displacement to 36,513 tons.

World War II

She was one of three capital ships to take part in the Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, and saw action at the Battle of Cape Matapan; she participated in actions during the battle of Crete, and was struck by two bombs. Along with her sister ship Queen Elizabeth, Valiant was mined and sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria harbour in December 1941. She had in fact only sunk a few feet to the bottom of the harbour and her decks remained clear. Although immobilised she was able to give the impression of full battlereadiness. She was raised, repaired in South Africa, and then returned to the Mediterranean to support the landings in Sicily (Operation Husky) and at Salerno (Operation Avalanche) in 1943. She was sent to the Far East in 1944 as part of the Eastern Fleet, taking part in raids against Japanese bases in Indonesia. On 8 August 1944 whilst in the floating dock at Trincomalee, Ceylon, she was severely damaged when the dock collapsed with the result that repairs were stopped and she had to return to the UK, where she was decommissioned in July 1945.

Post war

Valiant was a training ship at Devonport for the rest of her career. She was sold for scrapping in March 1948. See HMS Valiant for other ships of this name.

External links

• Royal Navy History, HMS Valiant, Institute of Naval History
• British Dreadnought Battleships
• Page on the ship at battleships-cruisers.co.uk
• Maritimequest HMS Valiant Photo Gallery