LOSSES
BY YEAR and AREA
|
Year
|
Atlantic
|
Europe
|
Mediterranean
|
Far
East
|
|
1939
|
-
|
battleship
Royal Oak
|
-
|
-
|
|
1940
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
1941
|
battlecruiser
Hood
|
-
|
battleship
Barham
|
battleship
Prince of Wales
battlecruiser
Repulse
|
BATTLESHIPS
1. Queen Elizabeth class,
BARHAM,
MALAYA,
QUEEN
ELIZABETH, VALIANT,
WARSPITE,
5 ships - 31,000 tons, 24 knots, 8-15in,
1,120 crew, 1915-16, 1 lost:
BARHAM
(Capt
G
C Cooke+), 25th November 1941, Eastern
Mediterranean, N of Sidi Barrani (32.34N,
26.24E) - torpedoed by German ‘U.331’
(Tiesenhausen). Sailing with Mediterranean
Fleet as Force A from Alexandria to cover
sorties by Malta and Alexandria-based
cruiser forces against Italian convoys
heading for Libya. Turned over and
exploded with 865 men lost and some 450
survivors (Casualty
List) (Mediterranean
- North African Campaign)
HMS
Queen Elizabeth (Maritime Quest)
2. Royal Sovereign class,
RAMILLIES,
RESOLUTION,
REVENGE,
ROYAL
OAK,
ROYAL
SOVEREIGN, 5 ships - 29,000
tons, 21 knots, 8-15in, 1,150 crew, 1916-17.
'Royal Sovereign' loaned to Russia in 1944
as 'Arkangelsk, 1 lost:
ROYAL OAK (Capt
W H Benn+), 14th October 1939, Western
Europe at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands,
north of Scotland (58.55N, 02.59W) –
torpedoed by German ‘U.47’ (Prien).
Detached from Home Fleet to guard Fair
Isle passage during sortie of German
battlecruiser 'Gneisenau'. Afterwards at
anchor in the NE corner of Scapa Flow, one
mile offshore when torpedoed with 833 men
dead. She still lies at the bottom of
Scapa Flow as a War Grave (Casualty
List) (Home
Fleet Operations)
HMS Ramillies
(Maritime Quest)
3. Nelson class,
NELSON,
RODNEY,
2 ships (both survived) - 34,000 tons, 23
knots, 9-16in, 1,300 crew, 1927
4.
King George V class,
ANSON,
DUKE
OF YORK, HOWE,
KING
GEORGE V,
PRINCE
OF WALES, 5 ships - 35,000
tons, 29 knots, 10-14in, 1,550 crew,
1940-42, 1 lost:
PRINCE OF WALES
(Capt J C Leach+), 10th December 1941, South East Asia,
off Kuantan, Malaya in the South China Sea
(03.34N, 104.27E) - as many as 5 or 6
torpedoes from Japanese Navy land-based
aircraft (Nells and Bettys).
Flagship of Adm Sir Tom Phillips, returning to Singapore
with battlecruiser 'Repulse'
(also sunk) from planned attacked against
reported Malay landings. Went down at 1323
local time; 330 crew lost, 1,285 survivors
of whom 3 died of wounds. Destroyers
rescued the survivors. (Casualty
List)
(Japanese
Conquests - Sinking of Force Z)
HMS Anson (CyberHeritage)
BATTLECRUISERS
5. Repulse class,
RENOWN,
REPULSE,
2 ships - 32,000 tons, 29 knots, 6-15in,
1,200 crew, 1916, 1 lost:
REPULSE
(Capt
W
G Tennant), 10th December 1941. As for
'Prince of Wales' but hit by 5 torpedoes;
512 crew lost, 796 saved but 3 died of
wounds (Casualty
List) (Japanese
Conquests - Sinking of Force Z)
HMS Repulse (Maritime
Quest)
6. HOOD
- 42,000 tons, 31 knots, 8-15in, 1,350 crew,
1920, lost
HOOD
(Capt
R
Kerr+), 24th May 1941, North Atlantic,
west of Iceland in Denmark Strait (63.21N,
32.47W) - by 15in gunfire of German
battleship 'Bismarck'. Sailing with
'Prince of Wales' to intercept 'Bismarck'
during her planned commerce-raiding sortie
into the Atlantic. 'Hood' exploded and
broke in two, 1,415 crew lost and only 3
men rescued. ‘Bismarck’ was sunk three
days later (Casualty
List) (Battle
of the Atlantic - Hunt for the
'Bismarck')
HMS Hood (Maritime Quest)
MONITORS
7. Marshall Ney class,
MARSHALL SOULT, 1 ship - 6,700 tons, 9
knots, 2-15in, 190 crew, comp 1915. Disarmed
1940, base ship.
8. Erebus class,
EREBUS,
TERROR,
2 ships - 8,000 tons, 12 knots, 2-15in, 190
crew, comp 1915, 1 lost:
TERROR
(Cdr
H
J Haynes), 24th February 1941, Eastern
Mediterranean, off Derna, Cyrenaica -
German bombers. Bombed by Ju.87
divebombers on the 22nd in Benghazi
harbour and damaged by near misses. Sank
off Derna on the 24th on tow to
Alexandria. There were no casualties
(Mediterranean
- North African Campaign)
HMS Erebus
(NavyPhotos)
9. Roberts class,
ROBERTS,
ABERCROMBIE,
2 ships - 8,000 tons, 12 knots, 2-15in, 450
crew, comp 1941/43
HMS
Abercrombie (NavyPhotos)
