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HMS Nelson (28)

1927 WORLD WAR 2

HMS Nelson (28) History

The battleship HMS Nelson, ordered in 1922, along with its only sister ship HMS Rodney, represented the voyage to World War II (1939-1945). The keel was delivered on 28 December 1922 from Armstrong- Whitworth was laid and launched on September 3, 1925, and then commissioned on August 15, 1927.

The Washington Naval Treaty after World War I (1914-1918) limited the construction of British capital ships to these two ships.

So the engineers tested various configurations for their new boat. Standard displacement was limited to 35,000 tons, in addition to adding the caliber required for the 16" main weapon. Another challenge came from the twin's protection rating. The final design proved to be completely unique to World of Warships at the time - 9 x 16" guns The entire main gun armament is distributed on three separate turrets and all mounted forward of the main superstructure (including the bridge) with a "low-high-low" turret arrangement in the bow of the stern.

To balance the design, all 6" (152 mm) guns were located aft of the bridge, giving the new Nelson-class battleships a unique (if not odd) WWII battleship shape. Engineers also took advantage of another interesting feature in Nelson's design that remained relatively secret after the war, the bulkhead below the waterline that could be filled with water as needed.

Peacetime displacement, when filled up, prevents additional points of protection from detonating enemy torpedoes by spreading its damaging effects over a "buffer" area.

HMS Nelson was given the battle motto "Let him take the palm of his hand" (though depicted in true Latin form) and served under the pennant "28".

Upon completion, HMS Nelson officially displaces 34,500 tonnes under standard load, rising to 41,900 tonnes under full load. Her dimensions include a length of 710 feet, a beam of 106 feet, and a draft of 33 feet. Her crew consists of 1,360 personnel, including officers, soldiers and security personnel. The ship is equipped with a seaplane for over-the-horizon observation work, although the ship lacks catapult launch capability.

Her full armament consists of 9 x 16" (406 mm) BL Mk I guns in three triple-barreled turrets, 12 x 6" (152 mm) BL Mk XXII guns in six double-barreled turrets, 6 x 4.7" (120 mm) QF - Anti-aircraft (AA) guns in six single-barrel turrets, 48 ??x 2-pounder QF guns in six eight-barrel mounts, 16 x 40mm anti-aircraft guns in four, quad-barrel mounts and 61 x 20mm anti-aircraft guns for close defense armor protection will be key to Nelson's survival. As such, she stands 14" amidships, 6.75" on deck, 16" on each turret face, and a maximum 13.4" conning tower on the sides.

In addition to her weapons and armor, another key quality of the Nelson was her propulsion system when she reached the required speed in the British fleet. This is ensured by 8 superheated triple drum boilers feeding 2 Brown Curtiss single reduction gear turbines driving 2 shafts while producing an output of 45,000 hp. Under ideal conditions, this allows a maximum sea speed of 24 knots and a range of up to 7,000 knots at 16 knots.

Ultimately, however, Nelson was rather slow in the war and worked hard to track down the faster German battlecruisers and similar ships.

HMS Nelson served in the Royal Navy as the flagship of the British Home Fleet when the war came to Europe following the German invasion of neighbouring Poland in September 1939, and has continued to serve as the Home Fleet. When the HMS Spearfish was damaged near Horns Reef, Nelson (along with others including the Ark Royal) provided a vital escort mission while searching for the displaced and wounded. Further action in the North Sea made these ships slower overall compared to German warships.

On October 30, 1939, the German submarine U-56 hit Nelson with three torpedoes, but all three torpedoes surprisingly turned out to be duds and Nelson escaped possible damage. Nelson's luck ran out in December when a magnetic mine struck her hull as she entered Ewe Loch, off the coast of Scotland.

This forced the ship to be repaired in Portsmouth until August 1940.

In April 1941, Nelson was assigned to protect a convoy of convoys in the Atlantic Ocean, and in May she became part of a British task force attempting to provide a reef for the fabulous battleship KMS Bismarck of the German Navy. In June, Nelson became part of Force H, adding much-needed firepower to the critical convoy sailing from the Mediterranean to Malta.

On 27 September 1941, due to the extensive Italian naval activity in these waters, Nelson suffered torpedo damage while returning to her home waters via Gibraltar and required further repairs. It was only completed in May 1942.

Nelson returned to the field in November 1942, using her weapons to support the Allied invasion of North Africa during Operation Torch, before participating in the landings in Sicily in July 1943. From there it headed to the Italian coast to provide cover for further amphibious landings by Allied personnel.

With the noose on the Italian peninsula finally tightened, the Italians accepted their formal surrender on the deck of the Nelson in September 1943.

Over the next month, Nelson joined many other Allied warships with additional anti-aircraft armaments to improve her point defense network. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, she joined the fleet that took part in the Allied invasion of northern France. However, on June 18, Nelson was unfortunately hit by two mines, causing enough damage to have to be repaired again.

This time, the ship waded across the Atlantic to the United States, where workers were making repairs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

In January 1945, Nelson joined the Allied naval forces in the Indian Ocean to help establish naval supremacy in the Pacific while Europe was more or less in control. After Germany's surrender in May 1945, Japan remained the last major Axis power in the war.

Japan then surrendered in September, officially ending all official fighting in World War II.

After the war, Nelson was again granted flagship status of the Home Fleet (at Scapa Flow) and returned to British waters in November 1945. From July 1946 she was given a new assignment as a training ship for the Training Squadron (Portland). She held this position until her official retirement in February 1948 (along with her sister HMS Rodney).

Both ships were then moored in the Firth of Forth and briefly used for aerial bombardment training, with Nelson's hull scrapped in 1949 - an incongruous end for such a famous British warship. In any case, her naval career is now completely over.