# List of monitors of World War II

A monitor is a class of relatively small warship that is lightly armoured, often provided with disproportionately large guns, and originally designed for coastal warfare. The term "monitor" grew to include breastwork monitors, the largest class of riverine warcraft known as river monitors, and was sometimes used as a generic term for any turreted ship. In the early 20th century, the term "monitor" included shallow-draft armoured shore bombardment vessels, particularly those of the Royal Navy: the Lord Clive-class monitors carried guns that fired the heaviest shells ever used at sea and saw action against German targets during World War I. Two small Royal Navy monitors from the First World War, Erebus and Terror survived to fight in the Second World War. When the requirement for shore support and strong shallow-water coastal defence returned, new monitors and variants such as coastal defence ships were built (e.g. the British Roberts-class monitors). Allied monitors saw service in the Mediterranean in support of the British Eighth Army's desert and Italian campaigns. They were part of the offshore bombardment for the Invasion of Normandy in 1944. They were also used to clear the German-mined River Scheldt by the British to utilize the port of Antwerp. The German, Yugoslav, Croatian, Romanian, Hungarian and Czech armed forces operated river monitors that saw combat during World War II.
See also List of ships of World War II, which contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945. For smaller vessels, see also list of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons. Some uncompleted Axis ships are included, out of historic interest. Ships are designated to the country under which they operated for the longest period of the Second World War, regardless of where they were built or previous service history.
List of monitors of World War II :
| Ship | Country or organization | Class | Type | Displacement (tons) | First commissioned | Fate |
| Alexandru Lahovari [ru] | Royal Romanian Navy | Brătianu | river monitor | | | captured by Soviets 2 September 1944, returned 1951, put in reserve 1957, scrapped 1959 |
| Abercrombie | Royal Navy | Roberts | monitor | 7,850 | 5 May 1943 | scrapped 1954 |
| Bechelaren | Kriegsmarine | | river monitor | 214 | 1 August 1932 | Originally laid down and commissioned as the President Masaryk for the Czechoslovakian Naval Forces. Captured in 1938 by Germany and renamed Bechelaren. Returned to Czechoslovakia in 1947. scrapped 1978. |
| Claverhouse | Royal Navy | M15 | monitor/training ship | 540 | July 1915 | scrapped 21 April 1959 |
| Drava | Royal Yugoslav Navy | Enns | river monitor | 536 | 15 April 1920 | scuttled 11 April 1941 |
| Erebus | Royal Navy | Erebus | monitor | 7,300 | 2 September 1916 | scrapped July 1946 |
| Flyagin | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 30 December 1936 | scuttled 18 September 1941 |
| GM 194/Biber | Regia Marina Kriegsmarine | | monitor/floating battery | 2,854 | 1 April 1917 | scrapped 1945-1946 |
| Ion C. Brătianu [ru] | Royal Romanian Navy | Brătianu | river monitor | | | captured by Soviets 27 August 1944, returned 1951, put in reserve 1957, scrapped 1959 |
| Khasan | Soviet Navy | Khasan | River monitor | 1,704 | 1 December 1942 | Originally to be named Lazo, renamed Khasan on 25 September 1940. Scrapped 23 March 1960. |
| Lascăr Catargiu | Royal Romanian Navy | Brătianu | river monitor | 680 | 1907 | Built at the Galați Shipyard in Romania, armament during World War II consisted of 3 x 120 mm guns in armoured turrets, 1 x 76 mm AA gun, 2 x 47 mm guns and two machine guns, 75 mm of armor protected the sides, deck, and turrets, sunk 24 August 1944 |
| Levachev | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 27 October 1936 | scuttled 18 September 1941 |
| Martynov | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 8 December 1936 | scuttled 18 September 1941 |
| Mihail Kogălniceanu | Royal Romanian Navy | Brătianu | monitor | 680 | 1907 | sunk 24 August 1944 |
| Morava/Bosna | Royal Yugoslav Navy Navy of the Independent State of Croatia | Körös | river monitor | 448 | 15 April 1920 | scuttled 11 April 1941, raised by Croatia as Bosna, sunk June 1944 |
| Parnaiba | Brazilian Navy | | river monitor | 620 | 9 March 1938 | in service |
| Perekop | Soviet Navy | Khasan | River monitor | 1,704 | 1 December 1942 | Originally to be named Simbirtsev, renamed Perekop on 25 September 1940. Scrapped 23 March 1960. |
| Roberts | Royal Navy | Roberts | monitor | 8,100 | 27 October 1941 | scrapped June 1965 |
| Rostovtsev | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 13 May 1937 | scuttled 18 September 1941 |
| Sava | Royal Yugoslav Navy Navy of the Independent State of Croatia | Temes | river monitor | 440 | 15 April 1920 | scuttled 11 April 1941, raised by Croatia, scuttled 8 September 1944, raised by Yugoslavia, decommissioned 1962 |
| Sivash | Soviet Navy | Khasan | River monitor | 1,704 | 31 October 1946 | Originally to be named Seryshev, renamed Sivash on 25 September 1940. Disarmed and converted to an accommodation ship September 1960. Scrapped 28 February 1968. |
| Terror | Royal Navy | Erebus | monitor | 7,300 | 6 August 1916 | sunk 24 February 1941 |
| Vardar | Royal Yugoslav Navy | Sava | river monitor | 580 | 15 April 1920 | scuttled 11 April 1941 |
| Zheleznyakov [ru] | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 27 October 1936 | Decommissioned 10 September 1960. Preserved as a war memorial 10 July 1967 in Kiev. |
| Zhemchuzhin | Soviet Navy | Zheleznyakov [ru] | river monitor | 230 | 27 October 1936 | scuttled 12 August 1941 |