Editing Queen Elizabeth-class battleship (section)

==Service==
===First World War===
In the [[First World War]], ''Queen Elizabeth'' was detached from the squadron and took part in the [[Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign|Dardanelles Campaign]], but missed Jutland as she was undergoing dock maintenance.

At the [[Battle of Jutland]], four of the ships formed Admiral [[Hugh Evan-Thomas]]'s [[5th Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|5th Battle Squadron]], and in the clash with the German 1st Scouting Group under Admiral [[Franz von Hipper]] they "fired with extraordinary rapidity and accuracy" (according to [[Reinhard Scheer|Admiral Scheer]], commander of the High Seas Fleet), damaging {{SMS|Lützow}} and {{SMS|Seydlitz}} and a number of other German warships. These battleships were able to engage German battlecruisers at a range of 19,000 yards (17,400 m), which was beyond the maximum range of the Germans' guns.<ref>[http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_15-42_mk1.htm Britain 15/42 (38.1 cm) Mark I]</ref> Three of the ''Queen Elizabeth''s received hits from German warships during the engagement, yet they all returned home. ''Warspite'' was the most heavily damaged, with her rudder jammed and taking fifteen hits, coming close to foundering.

===Between the wars===
Between the wars, the ships received considerable upgrades, including new machinery, small-tube boilers, deck armour upgrades, [[torpedo belt]] armour, trunked funnels, new secondary armament and anti-aircraft armament, and many improvements in gunlaying and electronics. ''Queen Elizabeth'', ''Valiant'', and ''Warspite'' were the most modernised, with all three receiving the new "[[Queen Anne's Mansions]]" block superstructure for the bridge, whilst twenty 4.5" dual-purpose guns in 10 turret mountings replaced the 6" casemate secondary weapons on ''Queen Elizabeth'' and ''Valiant''. ''Warspite'' kept her 6" secondary guns, now reduced to just four per battery.<ref>[http://www.friesian.com/kongo.htm The Battleship Kongô]</ref>

===Second World War===
[[File:F4F over HMS Warspite off Salerno 1943.jpg|thumb|right|HMS ''Warspite'' off Salerno, 1943]]

By the [[World War II|Second World War]], the class were showing their age. ''Barham'' and ''Malaya'', the least-modernized of the class, were at a disadvantage compared to modern battleships.  In spite of this, ''Malaya'' prevented an attack on a transatlantic convoy by the modern German [[battlecruiser]]s {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} by her presence.<ref>[http://www.scharnhorst-class.dk/scharnhorst/history/scharnberlin.html www.scharnhorst-class.dk]</ref> ''Queen Elizabeth'', ''Warspite'', and ''Valiant'', the more modernised of the class, fared better. With her modern fire control equipment, ''Warspite'' scored a hit on an Italian battleship during the [[Battle of Calabria]] at a range of more than 26,000 yards, one of the longest range naval artillery hits in history.{{efn-lr|The German warship {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} scored a hit on the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Glorious}} at approximately the same range, a month earlier, during the evacuation of Norway.}}

Modern [[torpedo]]es outclassed their torpedo belt protection: in November 1941, ''Barham'' was torpedoed by a U-boat and sank in five minutes, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, when her magazines detonated. ''Warspite'' survived a direct hit and two near-misses by German glider bombs, while ''Queen Elizabeth'' and ''Valiant'' were repaired and returned to service after being badly damaged by limpet mines<ref>{{cite book| last = Winton| first = John| title = Cunningham| publisher = John Murray Publishers, 1998| isbn = 0-7195-5765-8| year = 1998| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/cunningham0000wint}}</ref> placed by Italian frogmen during a [[Raid on Alexandria (1941)|raid at Alexandria Harbour]] in 1941.

===HMS ''Queen Elizabeth''===
{{HMS|Queen Elizabeth|1913|2}} took part in the [[Dardanelles Campaign]] of 1915 bombarding forts, but missed Jutland in 1916. She became Admiral Beatty's flagship in 1917 after he assumed command of the Grand Fleet. In the Second World War she was [[Raid on Alexandria (1941)|mined]] by Italian frogmen and badly damaged, but did not ground in the shallow water of [[Alexandria Port|Alexandria Harbour]] in 1941.<ref>Burt 2012a, pp. 120–121: "Prior to the attack ''Queen Elizabeth'' had a draught of 33ft 5in forward and 32ft 7in aft; after the explosion: draught 41ft 10in forward, 33ft 10in aft." ''Queen Elizabeth'' was moored in approximately 48ft (8 fathoms) of water.</ref><ref>Brown, David. p. 225.</ref> She was subsequently repaired, and served in the Far East until 1945.

===HMS ''Warspite''===
{{HMS|Warspite|03|2}} suffered severe damage at Jutland, being hit by at least 15 heavy shells. She lost 14 men, with 32 wounded, firing a total of 259 shells. In the Second World War, she took part in many battles, including [[Battle of Narvik|Narvik]], [[Battle of Cape Matapan|Cape Matapan]], [[Battle of Crete|Crete]], and [[Operation Avalanche (World War II)|Salerno]], where she was hit by a [[Fritz X|glider bomb]]. She was never fully repaired, and became a coastal bombardment ship, covering the [[Normandy landings]], further operations in other parts of [[France]], and the [[Operation Infatuate|Walcheren landings]]. She holds the most battle honours for an individual ship in the Royal Navy's history, with 15.

===HMS ''Valiant''===
{{HMS|Valiant|1914|2}} received no hits at Jutland but suffered one wounded and fired 288 shells. In the Second World War, she took part in the [[Attack on Mers-el-Kébir|attack on the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir]], and was mined and damaged at Alexandria in 1941. She was repaired, and served in the Far East until 1944. On 8 August 1944 whilst in the floating dock at [[Trincomalee]], [[Ceylon]], she was severely damaged when the dock collapsed with the result that repairs were stopped.

===HMS ''Barham''===
{{HMS|Barham|04|2}} was named after [[Lord Barham]], First Lord of the Admiralty. The ''Barham'' received five hits at Jutland, suffering 26 dead and 46 wounded and fired 337 shells. In the Second World War, she fought at [[Battle of Cape Matapan|Cape Matapan]]. On 25 November 1941 she was struck by three torpedoes from {{GS|U-331||2}}, commanded by ''[[Oberleutnant zur See]]'' [[Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen]], and went down with 850 of her crew.

===HMS ''Malaya''===
{{HMS|Malaya||2}} was hit eight times at Jutland, suffering 63 dead and 68 wounded, and fired 215 shells. In the Second World War, she escorted [[convoy]]s and was damaged by a torpedo from {{GS|U-106|1940|2}} in 1941. Subsequently, she escorted several convoys and supported various operations following the [[Operation Overlord|Normandy invasion]] until she was decommissioned in 1945.

===HMS ''Agincourt''===
HMS ''Agincourt'' was to be the sixth member of the ''Queen Elizabeth'' class. She was authorized in 1913, and intended for completion in late 1916, but was cancelled after the outbreak of the First World War.<ref name=raven17>Raven & Roberts, p. 17</ref> She is not to be confused with {{HMS|Agincourt|1913|6}} that was ordered by Brazil, sold to the Ottoman Empire while under construction, and seized for use by the Royal Navy before the beginning of the first World War.

===Other ships===
The Canadian [[Naval Aid Bill]] of 1913 intended to provide the funds for three modern battleships, which most likely would have been three more members of the ''Queen Elizabeth'' class, potentially named as ''Acadia'', ''Quebec'' and ''Ontario'',<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schleihauf |first=William |date=2000 |title="Necessary stepping stones" - The transfer of ''Aurora'', ''Patriot'' and ''Patrician'' to the Royal Canadian Navy after the First World War |url=http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol9/iss3/4/|journal=Canadian Military History |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=21–28 |access-date=19 March 2014}}</ref> in much the same way as ''Malaya'' had been funded. The bill met with stiff opposition in Parliament, and was not passed.<ref>[http://www.gwpda.org/naval/pwr02000.htm Borden's Naval Aid Bill, 1912]</ref> It is unclear if these ships would have served in the Royal Navy (as with outright gifts like ''Malaya'' or the battlecruiser {{HMS|New Zealand|1911|2}}), or if they would have served in the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] ({{HMAS|Australia|1911|6}}, an {{sclass|Indefatigable|battlecruiser|2}}, served with the [[Royal Australian Navy]]).