Following
the tradition of naming the first battleship constructed in the reign of a new
monarch after the current monarch, she was originally to be named King George
VI (after George VI). However the King instructed the Admiralty to name the ship
in honour of his father, George V. King George V was built by Vickers-Armstrong
at Walker's Naval Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne and laid down on 1 January 1937, launched
on 21 February 1939, and commissioned on 11 December 1940.
She was the
flagship of the Home Fleet under the command of Admiral Sir John Tovey, and was
involved in the chase for the German battleship Bismarck. On 27 May 1941, she
and Rodney poured a large number of shells into to the hull of that ill-fated
ship.
While escorting convoy PQ-15 to Murmansk on 1 May 1942, King George V
collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi, resulting in the sinking of the latter
ship and minimal damage to the battleship. In the Mediterranean, King George
V covered the Operation Husky landings at Sicily, as well as having the honour
of transporting the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, back to Britain from the
Tehran Conference.
From 1944 until the surrender of Japan, King George V served with the British Pacific Fleet, and was present at Japan during the official surrender ceremony. She was recommissioned as flagship of the Home Fleet in 1946. Just three years later, King George V was decommissioned into the Reserve Fleet and subsequently scrapped at Dalmuir in 1957.
Instructions:
Check items you wish to purchase & then click the "Submit" button at the bottom
of the page.
_Tools
& Paint section _Book section _Custom
made showcases
This page was last updated: Feb 20th 2007.
USS
New Jersey IV (BB-63) #178-835-2 Metal railing set (for 1/200 scale New
Jersey)
Railings, vertical ladders, railings for stairways, crane details,
lifeboat rigging & life preservers. US$119.95
