The Gray Monk

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March 11, 2004

Another signal ...

Signal from C-in-C Force H to C-in-C Mediterranean after the transfer of HMS Valiant to the Mediteranean Fleet from Force H in exchange for the aging and unmodernised HMS Malaya.

"Thank you for this (three corrupt code groups) I understand she has trouble with her tubes."

The Queen Elizabeth Class of 15 inch gun Battleships had originally consisted of five ships, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Warspite, Barham and Malaya. The last was paid for by the Colony of Malaya and always flew the Malayan "Jack" when going into battle. The Class was laid down in 1913 and completed by 1915, fighting as the 5th Battle Squadron at Jutland and performing extremely well.

As a class they were "modernised" in 1925 - 28 with the after 6 inch broadside battery being suppressed and anti-torpedo "bulges" built out from the hull. They were given eight 4 inch high angle mountings and I have already commented on the position of the magazines for these! Their original boilers were also replaced with lighter and more efficient units which gave a slight increase in performance speed, and their original twin funnels were trunked togethr into a single rather ugly and prominent funnel, by ducting the forward uptakes aft to join the after funnel.

Between 1934 and 1940 Warspite, then Queen Elizabeth and finally Valiant were all given a complete modernisation which saw, in the latter pair, the complete suppression of the 6 inch broadside batteries (retained in Warspite because the 5.25 inch twin mountings weren't available in time) by HA/LA twin 5.25 inch turrets. Barham and Malaya were not modernised. This had tragic consequences for Barham and Malaya was plagued throughout the war by condensers that were suffering from age and "condenseritis" and boilers that had, quite simply, worn out. Thus, effectively, Admiral Somerville's Force H was being reduced by the addition of a ship that was no longer able to keep her place in the line of battle with any reliability.

His reference to her with three corrupt code groups was perhaps a little unfair, she did her best to serve a nation that was paying in blood for the folly of constant cheese pairing of budgets in the inter-war years by a Civil Service who know the cost of every paper clip, but the value of absolutely nothing.

Posted by The Gray Monk at March 11, 2004 12:38 AM

Comments

Posted by: Jeannie Fiona Macaulay at March 11, 2004 01:50 AM

Posted by: The Gray Monk at March 12, 2004 09:45 PM