NELSON-CLASS BATTLESHIP

A necessarily smaller design based on a battlecruiser, these vessels served with distinction in multiple theatres of the Second World War

- MARK WOOD

Constrained by the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, Britain's G3 battlecruiser programme, introduced to ensure parity of firepower with the latest US and Japanese warships, was cancelled and replaced by the more modest Nelson-class design. Entering service in 1928, HMS Rodney was the sister ship to HMS Nelson launched three years earlier, and prior to the Second World War served in the Atlantic and Home Fleets.

With an extended forecastle mounting three triple 16in (406mm) gun turrets and a respectable speed of 23kts, the Nelson class was ideally suited to the rigours of patrolling the Atlantic and considered more than a match for Germany's formidable battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz.

Rodney's extensive wartime service commenced with patrolling the North Atlantic prior to engaging in the Norwegian Campaign and a period of convoy escort duty. Instrumental in the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941, after a brief refit Rodney redeployed to the Mediterranean Fleet, guarding convoys to Malta and providing naval gunfire support for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French Algeria in November 1942. The ship supported the Allied landings in Sicily during Operation Husky and during the Normandy landings the following year, once again providing supporting gunfire, this time in the Battle for Caen. In poor condition by the close of hostilities, Rodney was placed in reserve in 1945 and eventually scrapped in 1948.

ARMAMENT