page_title: HMS King George V (1911)
section_title: Postwar activities
hierarchical_section_title: HMS King George V (1911) / Construction and career / Postwar activities
caption_attribution_description: English: The battleship HMS King George V at anchor in the Firth of Forth, 1917. Adjacent is the submarine HMS K4
context_page_description: HMS King George V was the lead ship of her class of four dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, often serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
  After the war, King George V became flagship of the Home Fleet and then of the Reserve Fleet before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in late 1920. The ship evacuated refugees during the Great fire of Smyrna in September 1922 before returning home at the beginning of 1923. King George V was reduced to reserve and used as a training ship until late 1926 and was sold for scrap later in the year in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
context_section_description: By 1 May, King George V had been assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron and was serving as the flagship for Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Oliver, commanding both the Home Fleet and the squadron; he had assumed command on 22 March. On 1 November, the 3rd Battle Squadron was disbanded and King George V was transferred to the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth. She was still Oliver's flagship, although he was now commander of the Reserve Fleet. The ship was relieved as the flagship of the Reserve Fleet by Orion on 14 September 1920 and began a refit in preparation for her assignment to the 4th Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet.
  King George V recommissioned on 31 October and sailed for the Mediterranean. In February 1921, together with the dreadnought Benbow and several destroyers, she conducted training exercises in the Sea of Marmara. While passing between Mytilene and the Turkish mainland during the night of 2/3 September 1922, the ship struck an uncharted rock that flooded one of her boiler rooms. The Rear-Admiral of the squadron was forced to transfer his flag to the dreadnought Marlborough and King George V had to transfer some crewmen to bring the former ship up to strength at Smyrna, Turkey. She was present during the Great Fire of Smyrna in mid-September and evacuated 130 refugees to Malta on 16 September as she proceeded there for permanent repairs.
  In January 1923, the ship returned home and became a gunnery training ship at Devonport. She was relieved of that duty in November and King George V was reduced to reserve. She was then assigned to the training establishment HMS Impregnable. On 28 September 1926, the ship was taken out of service and was listed for disposal on 1 December to meet the tonnage limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Later that month, King George V was sold to the Alloa Shipbreaking Company and arrived at Rosyth on 27 January 1927 to be broken up.
caption: King George V at anchor in the Firth of Forth, 1917; alongside is the submarine K4
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