HMS Duke of York (17)
Template:Short description Template:Other ships Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMS Duke of York was a Template:Sclass battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing combat service during the Second World War. In mid-December 1941, Duke of York transported Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the United States to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Between March and September 1942 Duke of York was involved with convoy escort duties, including as flagship of the Heavy Covering Force of Convoy PQ-17, but in October she was dispatched to Gibraltar where she became the flagship of Force H.
In October 1942, Duke of York was involved in the Allied invasion of North Africa, but saw little action as her role only required her to protect the accompanying aircraft carriers. After the invasion, Duke of York was involved in Operations Camera and Governor, which were diversionary operations designed to draw the Germans' attention away from Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. On 4 October, Duke of York operated with her sister ship Template:HMS in covering a force of Allied cruisers and destroyers and the American carrier Template:USS, during Operation Leader, which raided German shipping off Norway. The attack sank four merchant ships and badly damaged a further seven.
On 26 December 1943 Duke of York was part of a task force which encountered the Template:Ship off the North Cape of Norway. During the engagement that followed, Scharnhorst hit Duke of York twice with little effect, but was herself hit by several of Duke of YorkTemplate:'s 14-inch shells, silencing one of her turrets and hitting a boiler room. After temporarily escaping from Duke of YorkTemplate:'s heavy fire, Scharnhorst was struck several times by torpedoes, allowing Duke of York to again open fire, contributing to the eventual sinking of Scharnhorst after a running action lasting ten-and-a-half hours. In 1945, Duke of York was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet as its flagship, but arrived too late to see any action before Japan surrendered. After the war, Duke of York remained active until she was laid up in November 1951. She was eventually scrapped in 1957.
Duke of York had a ship's cat named Whisky.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
ConstructionEdit
In the aftermath of the First World War, the Washington Naval Treaty was drawn up in 1922 in an effort to stop an arms race developing between Britain, Japan, France, Italy and the United States. This treaty limited the number of ships each nation was allowed to build and capped the displacement of capital ships at Template:Convert.<ref>Raven & Roberts, p. 107</ref> These restrictions were extended in 1930 through the London Naval Treaty, but by the mid-1930s Japan and Italy had withdrawn from both of these treaties and the British became concerned about the lack of modern battleships in the Royal Navy. The Admiralty therefore ordered the construction of a new battleship class: the Template:Sclass. Due to the provisions of both the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Treaty, both of which were still in effect when the King George Vs were being designed, the main armament of the class was limited to the Template:Cvt guns. They were the only battleships built at that time to adhere to the treaty and even though it soon became apparent to the British that the other signatories to the treaty were ignoring its requirements, it was too late to change the design of the class before they were laid down in 1937.<ref name=K20>Konstam, p. 20</ref>
Duke of York was the third ship in the King George V class, and was laid down at John Brown & Company's shipyard in Clydebank on 5 May 1937. The title of Duke of York was in abeyance at that time, having been that held by King George VI prior to his succession to the throne in December 1936. The battleship was launched on 28 February 1940 and completed on 4 November 1941, and joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.<ref name=C15>Campbell, p. 15</ref>
DescriptionEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Duke of York displaced Template:Convert as built and Template:Convert fully loaded. The ship had an overall length of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert and a draught of Template:Convert. Her designed metacentric height was Template:Convert at normal load and Template:Convert at deep load.<ref>Chesneau, p. 15</ref><ref>Garzke, p. 249</ref><ref>Raven & Roberts, p. 284</ref>
She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving four propeller shafts. Steam was provided by eight Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers which normally delivered Template:Cvt, but could deliver Template:Cvt at emergency overload.<ref group="N">The King George V-class battleships had their steam plant specifications revised during the building phase, and as built the ships actually produced Template:Cvt at 230 rpm, and were designed for an overload power of Template:Cvt, which was exceeded in service.<ref>Raven & Roberts, pp. 284, 304</ref><ref>Garzke, p. 191</ref></ref> This gave Duke of York a top speed of Template:Convert.<ref name="K20"/><ref>Garzke, p. 238</ref> The ship carried Template:Convert of fuel oil, which was later increased to Template:Convert.<ref name=C15/> She also carried Template:Convert of diesel oil, Template:Convert of reserve feed water and Template:Convert of freshwater.<ref>Garzke, p. 253</ref> At full speed Duke of York had a range of Template:Cvt at Template:Convert.<ref name=C6>Campbell, p. 6</ref>
ArmamentEdit
Duke of York mounted 10 [[BL 14 inch Mk VII naval gun|BL Template:Cvt Mk VII guns]], which were mounted in one Mark II twin turret forward and two Mark III quadruple turrets, one forward and one aft. The guns could be elevated 40 degrees and depressed 3 degrees, while their training arcs varied. Turret "A" was able to traverse 286 degrees, while turrets "B" and "Y" could both move through 270 degrees. Hydraulic drives were used in the training and elevating process, achieving rates of two and eight degrees per second, respectively. A full gun broadside weighed Template:Cvt, and a salvo could be fired every 40 seconds.<ref>Garzke, p. 227</ref> The secondary armament consisted of 16 [[QF 5.25 inch Mark I naval gun|QF Template:Cvt Mk I]] dual purpose guns which were mounted in eight twin turrets.<ref name=G229>Garzke, p. 229</ref> The maximum range of the Mk I guns was Template:Cvt at a 45-degree elevation, the anti-aircraft ceiling was Template:Cvt. The guns could be elevated to 70 degrees and depressed to 5 degrees.<ref>Garzke, p. 228</ref> The normal rate of fire was ten to twelve rounds per minute, but in practice the guns could fire only seven to eight rounds per minute.<ref name="G229"/> Along with her main and secondary batteries, Duke of York carried 48 [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2 pdr (Template:Cvt) Mk.VIII]] "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns in six octuple, power-driven, mountings. These were supplemented by six [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Template:Cvt Oerlikon]] light AA guns in single, hand-worked, mounts.<ref>Raven & Roberts, pp. 287, 290</ref>
Operational historyEdit
Second World WarEdit
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In mid-December 1941, Duke of York embarked Prime Minister Winston Churchill for a trip to the United States to confer with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She arrived at Annapolis, Maryland, on 22 December 1941, made a shakedown cruise to Bermuda in January 1942, and departed for Scapa Flow on 17 January with Churchill returning home by air.<ref name=G216>Garzke, p. 216</ref><ref>Burt, p. 418</ref>
On 1 March 1942, she provided close escort for Convoy PQ 12 in company with the battlecruiser Template:HMS, the cruiser Template:HMS, and six destroyers. On 6 March, that force was reinforced with one of Duke of YorkTemplate:'s sister-ships, Template:HMS, and the aircraft carrier Template:HMS, the heavy cruiser Template:HMS, and six destroyers as a result of Admiral John Tovey's concerns that the battleship Template:Ship might attempt to intercept the convoy. On 6 March, the German battleship put to sea and was sighted by a British submarine around 19:40; no contact was made, however, except for an unsuccessful aerial torpedo attack by aircraft from Victorious.<ref name=G216/>
Later that month, Convoy PQ 13 was constituted and Duke of York again formed part of the escort force.<ref>Rohwer, p. 153</ref> In early April, Duke of York, King George V, and the carrier Victorious formed the core of a support force that patrolled between Iceland and Norway to cover several convoys to the Soviet Union.<ref>Rohwer, p. 158</ref> In late April, when King George V accidentally rammed and sank the destroyer Template:HMS in dense fog, sustaining significant bow damage, Duke of York was sent to relieve her.<ref>Rohwer, p. 162</ref> She continued in these operations through May, when she was joined by the American battleship Template:USS.<ref>Rohwer, p. 167</ref> In mid-September, Duke of York escorted Convoy QP 14.<ref>Rohwer, p. 195</ref>
In October 1942, Duke of York was sent to Gibraltar as the new flagship of Force H, and supported the Allied landings in North Africa the following month.<ref>Konstam, p. 43</ref> During this time Duke of York came under air attack by Italian aircraft on several occasions, but the raids were relatively small scale and were swiftly dealt with by the "umbrella" provided by the aircraft from the accompanying carriers Victorious, Template:HMS and Template:HMS. After this action, Duke of York returned to Britain for a refit.<ref name=C14>Campbell, p. 14</ref>
With her refit completed, Duke of York resumed her status as flagship from 14 May 1943 pending the departure of King George V and Howe for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. Operation Gearbox in June 1943 involved a sweep by Duke of York and Template:HMS, in company with the US battleships Template:USS and Template:USS, to provide distant cover for minor operations in Spitsbergen and the Kola Inlet, while the following month diversionary operations, code-named "Camera" and "Governor of Norway," were carried out to draw the Germans' attention away from Operation Husky.<ref name=C14/> On 4 October, Duke of York and Anson covered a force of Allied cruisers and destroyers and the American carrier Template:USS under Operation Leader, which raided German shipping off Norway. The attack resulted in the sinking of four German merchant ships and damage to seven others, which forced many of them to be grounded.<ref>Rohwer, p. 280</ref>
Action against ScharnhorstEdit
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In 1943 the German battleship Scharnhorst moved to Norway, a position whence she could threaten the Arctic convoys to Russia. With Tirpitz and two armoured ships also in Norwegian fjords, it was necessary for the Royal Navy to provide heavy escorts for convoys between Britain and Russia. One of these was sighted by the Germans in early December 1943, and Allied intelligence concluded that the following Convoy JW 55B, would be attacked by the German surface ships. Two surface forces were assigned to provide distant cover to JW 55B, which had left Loch Ewe on 22 December. On 25 December 1943, Scharnhorst was reported at sea. The Force 1 cruisers Template:HMS, Template:HMS and Template:HMS, with four destroyers, made contact shortly after 09:00 on 26 December. A brief engagement occurred around 09:30, but Scharnhorst outdistanced her pursuers, and again outran them after a brief skirmish around noon.<ref>Garzke, p. 218</ref>
Force 2, including Duke of York, the cruiser Template:HMS and four destroyers, was closing, and it was estimated that a night action with Scharnhorst would commence around 17:15. Scharnhorst altered course, and contact was made at 16:32, at a distance of Template:Convert. Force 2 manoeuvred for broadside fire. Belfast, with Force 1, fired star shells at 16:47 to illuminate Scharnhorst. This failed, so Duke of York fired a star shell from one of her Template:Convert guns, taking Scharnhorst by surprise with her main battery trained fore and aft. By 16:50 Duke of York had closed to Template:Convert and opened fire with a full ten-gun broadside, scoring one hit. Although under heavy fire, Scharnhorst straddled Duke of York a number of times and hit her twice. A Template:Convert shell passed through the main mast and its port leg without detonating but fragments from the hit destroyed the cable for the main search radar.<ref>Raven and Roberts, p. 356</ref> A Template:Convert shell also pierced the port strut of the foremast without exploding.<ref name=G220>Garzke, p.220</ref> At 16:55 a Template:Convert shell silenced turrets Anton and Bruno, but Scharnhorst maintained speed so that by 18:24 the range had opened to Template:Convert, when Duke of York ceased fire after expending fifty-two broadsides.<ref>Garzke, p.219</ref> One shell from the final salvos hit and exploded in ScharnhorstTemplate:'s number one boiler room, slowing the ship and allowing the pursuing destroyers to overtake her.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Force 2's destroyers then attacked with torpedoes, firing 28 and scoring hits with three. This slowed Scharnhorst, and at 19:01 Duke of York again opened fire, at a range of Template:Convert. She ceased fire at 19:30 to allow the cruisers to close on Scharnhorst. Ten 14-inch shells had hit the German battleship, causing fires and explosions, and silencing almost all of the secondary battery. By 19:16 all of the main turrets aboard Scharnhorst had ceased fire and her speed had been cut to Template:Convert. Duke of York ceased fire at 19:30.<ref name=G220/> In the final stages of the battle the destroyers fired a total of 19 torpedoes at her, causing Scharnhorst to list badly to port, and at 19:45 she sank after a running action lasting ten-and-a-half hours from the first, taking with her over 1,700 men.<ref>Chesneau, pp. 14–15</ref> Following her sinking, and the retreat of most of the other German heavy units from Norway, the need to maintain powerful forces in British home waters was diminished.<ref name=G216/> Her ship's cat Whisky was famously known for supposedly sleeping through the action.
Subsequent operationsEdit
On 29 March 1944, Duke of York and the bulk of the Home Fleet left Scapa Flow to provide a support force for Convoy JW 58.<ref>Rohwer, p. 314</ref> The ship operated in the Arctic and as cover for carriers conducting the Goodwood series of air strikes on Tirpitz in mid to late August.<ref>Rohwer, p. 350</ref> In September, when she was overhauled and partially modernized at Liverpool, radar equipment and additional anti-aircraft guns were added. She was then ordered to join the British Pacific Fleet and sailed in company with her sister-ship Anson on 25 April 1945. A problem with the ship's electrical circuitry delayed her while she was at Malta and, as a result, she did not reach Sydney until 29 July, by which time it too late for her to take any meaningful part in hostilities against the Japanese.<ref name=C15/>
Nevertheless, in early August, Duke of York was assigned to Task Force 37, along with four aircraft carriers and her sister-ship King George V. From 9 August, TF 37 and three American carrier task forces conducted a series of air raids on Japan, which continued until 15 August when a surrender came into effect.<ref>Rohwer, p. 426</ref> After the conclusion of hostilities, Duke of York, alongside her sister-ship, King George V, participated in the surrender ceremonies that took place in Tokyo Bay. The following month Duke of York sailed for Hong Kong, to join the fleet that assembled there to accept the surrender of the Japanese garrison.<ref name=C15/> She was the flagship of the British Pacific Fleet when the Japanese surrendered, and remained so until June 1946, when she returned to Plymouth for an overhaul.<ref name=G221>Garzke, p. 221</ref>
Post warEdit
Duke of York was flagship of the Home Fleet following the end of the war and remained in active service until April 1949.<ref name=G221/> She was laid up in November 1951, and on 18 May 1957, she was ordered scrapped. She was broken up by Shipbreaking Industries, Ltd., in Faslane.<ref>Garzke, p. 222</ref> The ship's bell was salvaged and given to the Duke of York School (since renamed the Lenana School) in Nairobi, Kenya.
RefitsEdit
During her career, Duke of York was refitted on several occasions to bring her equipment up-to-date. The following are the dates and details of the refits undertaken.<ref>Campbell, p. 52</ref>
| Dates | Location | Description of Work |
|---|---|---|
| April 1942 | Rosyth | 8 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon added.<ref name=K37>Konstam, p. 37</ref> |
| December 1942 – March 1943 | Rosyth | 14 × single 20 mm added.<ref name=C55>Campbell, p. 55</ref> |
| Early 1944 | 2 × single 20 mm removed; 2 × twin 20 mm added.<ref name=C55/> | |
| September 1944 – April 1945 | Liverpool | 2 × 4-barrelled 40 mm Bofors guns added, 2 × 8-barrelled 2-pdr pom-pom added, 6 × 4-barrelled 2-pdr pom-pom added, 14 × twin 20 mm added, 18× single 20 mm removed, Aircraft facilities removed.<ref name=K37/> Type 273 radar removed, Type 281 radar replaced by Type 281B radar, Type 284 radar replaced by 2 × Type 274 radar; 2 × Types 277, 282 and 293 radars added.<ref name=C55/> |
| 1946 | 4 × 4-barrelled 2-pdr pom-pom added, 25 × single 20 mm removed.<ref name=C55/> |
NotesEdit
CitationsEdit
BibliographyEdit
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External linksEdit
- Maritimequest HMS Duke of York pages
- Alan Sutherland RN Collection on MaritimeQuest
- Newsreel footage of HMS Duke of York (last quarter of the clip).
- HMS Duke of York in heavy seas while on Arctic convoy duty