The Ships of Battlegroup: Great Britain Nelson (BB)

Displacement	33,950 tons	Belt Armor	14 inches
Overall Length	710 feet	Deck Armor	6.25 inches
Beam	106 feet	Main Turret Armor	16 inches
Speed	23 knots	Main Guns	9 × 16″

Laid down on December 28, 1922, launched on September 3, 1925 and commissioned in August 1927, the class was the result of the Washington Navy treaty allowance to let the Royal Navy ‘catch up’ to the United States and Japanese Navies in the area of large caliber weapons. The ship was named after Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), Britain’s greatest admiral and victor at the Battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar.

As a result of the pre-World War One arms race with the Imperial German Navy, the Royal Navy possessed a large number of early generation dreadnoughts that were hopelessly outgunned by the ‘super dreadnoughts’ built during and just after the war. Late- and post-war Royal Navy designs stressed reducing the extent of the armored citadel, that portion of the hull protected by the thickest armor. This was necessary to reduce overall displacement to meet the 35,000 ton maximum imposed by treaty. The result was the unusual (some would say, “ugly”) appearance of Nelson and her sister ship Rodney, with all of their main battery disposed forward in three triple turrets. They were arranged so that the third turret could only fire to the broadsides. The two ships also had a very heavy secondary armament for World War Two battleships, consisting of twelve 6 inch guns in twin turrets on the sides towards the after end of the superstructure and six single mounted 4.7 inch antiaircraft guns. While they were fairly well armored, the 16 inch guns had many defects that were only corrected shortly before war broke out.

These two were the most modern and most powerful battleships in the British Royal Navy when the Second World War started. Despite their gun power, the ships’ speed (or lack thereof) caused them to be relegated to secondary roles such as convoy protection and shore bombardment for much of the war. Nelson was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1939 and was in the yards until August 1940. Nelson‘s sister ship, Rodney, did participate in the May 1941 final action with Bismarck, where her heavy guns proved their worth by causing great damage to the German vessel. While joining Force “H” based at Gibraltar, Nelson was hit by an Italian bomber in September 1941. She served in a shore bombardment role during the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The armistice between Italy and the Allies was signed on board Nelson in the Grand Harbor off Malta. After a 1944 overhaul in the United States, Nelson ended the war as flagship in the Indian Ocean.

Nelson and her sister ship Rodney did not survive long after the war, both being scrapped in 1948.

For other capital ships with all of their main armament forward, see: Dunkerque and Richelieu.

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits. For more information about the ’tween wars naval treaties, see the Introduction to these articles.