HMS King George V ( 41 ) HMS " King George V " ( pennant number 41 ) was the lead ship of the five British " King George V " - class battleship s of the Royal Navy . Laid down in 1937 and commissioned in 1940 , " King George V " operated during the Second World War as part of the British Home and Pacific Fleets . Along with , " King George V " severely damaged the German battleship " Bismarck " which led to the German vessel sinking in May 1941 . On 1 May 1942 destroyer HMS " Punjabi " sank after a collision with " King George V " in foggy conditions . " King George V " took part in Operation Husky ( the allied landings in Sicily ) and bombarded the island of Levanzo and the port of Trapani . She also escorted part of the surrendered Italian Fleet , which included the battleships " Andrea Doria " and " Caio Duilio " , to Malta . In 1945 " King George V " took part in operations against the Japanese in the Pacific . Following the war , " King George V " spent three years as the flagship of the British Home Fleet , was placed in reserve in 1949 , and scrapped eight years later . Design . General characteristics . " King George V " was built by Vickers - Armstrong at Walker Naval Yard , Newcastle upon Tyne ; she was laid down on 1 January 1937 , launched on 21 February 1939 and commissioned on 11 December 1940 . The ship had an overall length of 745 ft ( 227 . 08 m ) , a beam of 112 ft ( 34 . 24 m ) and a draught of 34 ft ( 10 . 41 m ) . She displaced 38 , 031 tons at normal load and 42 , 237 tons at full load . After her refit in 1944 , she displaced 44 , 460 tons at full load . She could also carry 3 , 918 tons worth of fuel oil , 192 tons of diesel oil , 256 tons of reserve feed water and 444 tons of freshwater . Propulsion . " King George V " was equipped with eight three - drum type small - tube boilers built to Admiralty specifications . This configuration was a little more conventional than the " Nelson " class , with boiler rooms placed side by side and with each pair associated with a turbine room astern of them . The total heating surface of the boiler plants in " King George V " was 78 , 144 sq . ft . The 416 ton boiler installation produced more than 100 , 000 shaft horsepower , giving a top speed of 28 knots . The eight boilers were more economic in space and fuel than the twenty - four boilers in the battlecruiser HMS " Hood " . Fewer , but larger , boilers lowered the weight per unit of heat delivered , as did increased boiler efficiency and consumption of fuel per unit area of heating surface . This made " King George V " the fastest battleship in the British fleet but slower than the German or Italian capital ships , or the battlecruisers HMS " Repulse " and HMS " Renown " . " King George V " had four sets of Parsons geared turbines . Two main turbines were arranged in series and drove a shaft through double helical gear s . An astern turbine was incorporated in the exhaust casing of the low - pressure turbine , and a cruising turbine was coupled directly to the high - pressure turbine . A speed of 28 . 5 knots was expected at standard displacement and 27 . 5 knots at full - load displacement on normal output ; corresponding speeds at overload condition were 29 . 25 and 28 . 25 knots respectively . The turbine unit was a low - speed type ( 2 , 257 rpm ) coupled to a single reduction gear which produced 236 rpm at the propeller shaft . Armament . Main battery . " King George V " mounted ten guns . They were mounted in one Mark II twin turret forward and two Mark III quadruple turrets , one forward and one aft . They could be elevated 40 degrees and depressed 3 degrees . Training arcs were : " A " turret , 286 degrees ; " B " turret , 270 degrees and " Y " turret , 270 degrees . Training and elevating was achieved through a hydraulic drive , with rates of two and eight degrees per second , respectively . A full gun broadside weighed 15 , 950 pounds , a salvo could be fired every 40 seconds . The quadruple turrets weighed 1 , 582 tons , the twin turret 915 tons . The turrets were designed by the Vickers Armstrong ' s Elswick Works , but sets of each type of equipment were manufactured by Vickers Armstrongs in Barrow . A considerable amount of design effort was expended to make the turrets as flashtight as possible . This complicated the mechanical design of the turrets , particularly the quadruple mountings . Due to insufficient clearances and slightly distorted link mechanisms , failures in the intricate safety interlocks in the loading sequence for antiflash precautions caused jams during drills and practice firing . " King George V " used an Admiralty Fire Control Table Mark IX to control her main armament . Secondary battery . The secondary armament consisted of 16 x guns in eight twin mounts , weighing 81 tons each . They were grouped at the four corners of the citadel , with a twin mount on the main deck and another superimposed above it nearer amidships . This disposition gave better arcs of fire , freedom from blast , more separation of the magazines and a better arrangement of the ammunition supply . The cupolas for these mounts revolved on either the upper or superstructure deck ; between deck mountings travelled on roller paths on the armoured deck . This permitted a flat - trajectory or high - angle fire . Loading was semi - automatic , normal rate of fire was ten to twelve rounds per minute . The maximum range of the Mk I guns was at a 45 - degree elevation , the anti - aircraft ceiling was . The guns could be elevated to 70 degrees and depressed to 5 degrees . However , the guns could only practically fire seven to eight rounds per minute , due to the heavy weight of the shell and the fact that the 5 . 25 - inch round was semi - fixed , requiring much crew handling until it was rammed into the breech . " King George V " introduced the High Angle Control System Mark IVGB anti - aircraft fire control system to the Royal Navy , which , along with the Mk IV Pom - Pom Director , pioneered the use of the Gyro Rate Unit . Anti - aircraft battery . The " King George V " design had four 0 . 5 - inch quadruple machine gun mounts , but in 1939 these were replaced by two Mark VI pom - pom mounts . In 1940 , to combat air attack , four Unrotated Projectile mountings were fitted , on " B " turret , two on " Y " turret , one replaced a pom - pom mount added in 1939 at the stern . The pom - poms mounted in the " King George V " were designed and produced by Vickers Armstrongs as a result of a post - First World War requirement for a multiple mounting which was effective against close - range bombers or torpedo planes . The first model , tested in 1927 , was superior to anything developed in other countries at the time and in 1938 the Mark VI * had a muzzle velocity of 2 , 400 feet per second , a 1 . 594 - inch bore and a barrel length of 40 calibres . They fired a 1 . 8 - pound shell at a rate of 96 – 98 rounds per minute for controlled fire and 115 rounds per minute for automatic fire . The range of the Mark VI * was 6 , 800 yards , at a muzzle velocity of 2 , 300 feet per second . The Mark VI octuple mount weighed 16 tons . The Mark VII quadruple mount weighed 10 . 8 tons if power operated ; it could be elevated to 80 degrees and depressed to 10 degrees at a rate of 25 degrees per second which was also the rate of train . The normal ammunition supply on board for the Mark VI was 1 , 800 rounds per barrel . " King George V " introduced the Mk IV Pom - pom director to the Royal Navy in 1940 , becoming the first ship in the world to feature gyroscopic target tracking in tachymetric anti - aircraft directors . Operational history . The first of her class to be completed , " King George V " was commissioned at her shipyard and sailed for Rosyth in Scotland on 16 October 1940 ; there she took on board her ammunition and began her sea trials . By the end of the year she had joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow . She crossed the Atlantic early in 1941 to take Lord Halifax , the Ambassador to the United States , to Annapolis and covered an east - bound convoy on her return , arriving back at Scapa Flow on 6 February . Her next task was to provide distant cover for Operation Claymore , the Royal Marines raid on the Lofoten islands off the north - west coast of Norway . She escorted further Atlantic convoys , HX 104 and HX 115 during March . Action with " Bismarck " . When " Bismarck " broke out into the Atlantic Ocean , " King George V " sailed on 22 May with and eleven cruisers and destroyers in support of the cruiser patrols off Iceland . " King George V " was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Tovey , who commanded the force . " King George V " was still 300 to 400 miles away on the morning of 24 May , when and " Hood " engaged " Bismarck " . " Hood " was sunk and " Prince of Wales " was damaged and forced to retire . The German ship , although damaged , continued south . The British re - located " Bismarck " at 10 : 30 on 26 May , when a Catalina flying boat of RAF Coastal Command sighted her , heading for the French port of Brest . " Rodney " and " King George V " were still about 125 miles away . The aircraft carrier was ordered to launch an air attack , and at 22 : 25 her torpedo bomber s , a flight of Fairey Swordfish es damaged " Bismarck " , slowing her down and jamming her rudder , forcing her to turn back out into the Atlantic , away from the safety of port . At 15 : 00 " Rodney " joined " King George V " and they maintained 22 knots – which was nearly maximum speed for " Rodney " . " King George V " had only 32 percent of her fuel left , " Rodney " only had enough to continue the chase at high speed until 8 : 00 the following day . Admiral Tovey signalled his battle plan to " Rodney " just before sunrise on 27 May ; she was free to manœuvre independently as long as she conformed generally to the movements of " King George V " . Both ships were to close the range to 15 , 000 yards as quickly as possible , then turn for broadside fire . At 08 : 15 spotted " Bismarck " and turned away out of range . She soon sighted the other British ships off her starboard quarter , and informed them that " Bismarck " was roughly 50 , 000 yards to the southwest . By 08 : 43 " King George V " had " Bismarck " in sight , at 20 , 500 yards . Four minutes later " Rodney " opened fire . " King George V " followed suit in less than a minute . " Bismarck " answered almost immediately , straddling " Rodney " on her second salvo . By 08 : 59 " King George V " had closed to 16 , 000 yards and all her 14 - inch guns were firing ; " Rodney " was firing full 16 - inch salvoes . " Bismarck " concentrated all her remaining guns on " King George V " , but only an occasional shell came close . At 09 : 14 " King George V " , at 12 , 000 yards , had opened fire with her 5 . 25 - inch guns , and " Rodney " had moved to 8 , 500 – 9 , 000 yards . At 09 : 27 a shell hit " Bismarck " , penetrating the hydraulic machinery in turret ' Anton ' and disabled it , causing the guns to run down to maximum depression . Her topsides were wrecked , and a large fire burned amidships . By that time " King George V " was having trouble with her main battery , and every gun missed at least one salvo ; due to failures in the safety interlocks for antiflash protection . Both " Rodney " and " King George V " had little fuel left and returned to port at very low speed , escorted by eleven destroyers to guard against German air or submarine attack . The next day , after the escort was reduced to three destroyers , four German aircraft did attack but scored no hits . Both " King George V " and " Rodney " returned to port safely , but the destroyer , sent ahead to refuel , was bombed and sunk . Collision damage . After repairs and adjustments to her guns , " King George V " attacked German shipping in the Glom Fjord , Norway , in October 1941 . She then covered convoys to Russia . On 1 May 1942 she was operating with USS " Washington " as an escort to Convoy PQ 15 , and collided with the destroyer , which had manoeuvred to avoid a mine and crossed her bow in dense fog . " Punjabi " was cut in two and " King George V " had 40 feet of her bow badly damaged . " King George V " entered the Gladstone Dock in Liverpool on 9 May for repairs by Cammell Laird , and returned to Scapa Flow on 1 July 1942 to resume convoy escort duty . Mediterranean operations . In May 1943 , " King George V " was moved to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Husky . " King George V " and her sister ship were allocated to the reserve covering group when the operation got under way on 1 July . The two ships bombarded Trapani in Sicily on 12 July and also helped defend against an air raid whilst in Algiers prior to departing for Operation Avalanche , ( the Allied invasion of Italy ) . The two ships also bombarded the islands of Levanzo and Favignana , after which they were in the reserve group for the Salerno landings ( Operation Avalanche ) which began on 9 September . " King George V " escorted part of the Italian Fleet , including the battleships " Andrea Doria " and " Caio Duilio " , to Malta after the armistice and with " Howe " provided cover for the 1st Airborne Division who were transported to Taranto in support of Operation Slapstick from 9 to 11 September by the cruiser USS " Boise " and the fast minelayer HMS " Abdiel " . The battleship then escorted a naval force which occupied the Italian naval base at Taranto . She later escorted surrendered Italian ships from Malta to Alexandria . After bombarding German positions during the Salerno landings , " King George V " returned to the United Kingdom . Pacific operations . " King George V " was in Liverpool for an overhaul from March to June , 1944 ; it included the installation of additional radar gear , more anti - aircraft guns , improved accommodation and ventilation . On 28 October 1944 " King George V " sailed from Scapa Flow under the command of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser to join other Royal Navy units assembling at Trincomalee in Ceylon . A stop at Alexandria en route enabled her to divert to Milos in the Aegean Sea to bombard German positions there . On 1 December she resumed her eastward journey , arriving in Trincomalee on 15 December . " King George V " got under way again on 16 January 1945 . The flotilla , known as Task Force 63 , comprised " King George V " , the aircraft carriers , , and , four cruisers and ten destroyers . The first stage of the voyage was covering the 11 , 000 nautical miles to Sydney ; en route the force attacked oil refineries on Sumatra in Operation Meridian . They also practised replenishment - at - sea and beat off a Japanese air attack , with " King George V " s anti - aircraft crews shooting down one Mitsubishi Ki - 21 . Joined by " Howe " and re - designated Task Force 57 , the British Pacific Fleet was again involved in operations in late March 1945 , when it launched attacks on the Sakishimo - Gunto airfields , a task it repeated in early May . On 4 May 1945 " King George V " led battleships and cruisers in a forty - five minute bombardment of Japanese air facilities in the Ryukyu Islands . As the Allies approached the Japanese homeland , " King George V " was dispatched in mid - July to join the US battleships in a bombardment of industrial installations at Hitachi . " King George V " fired 267 rounds from her 14 - inch guns during this operation . The task force then moved on to Hamamatsu in southern Honshu , where it carried out a further bombardment of aviation factories . During the Okinawa campaign , the battleship supported four fast carriers of the British Pacific Fleet . Her last offensive action was a night bombardment of Hamamatsu on 29 and 30 July 1945 . With the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the surrender that followed , " King George V " moved with other units of the British Pacific Fleet into Tokyo Bay to be present at the surrender ceremonies . Post war . In January 1946 she conveyed the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester on an official visit to Australia , returning to Portsmouth in March . She was flagship of the Home Fleet until December 1946 , when she became a training vessel . " King George V " s active naval career was terminated by the Royal Navy in June 1950 , when she and her sister - ships went into reserve and were mothballed . " King George V " was the first large warship to be preserved in this fashion . This involved sealing the armament , machinery and boilers against damp and installing dehumidifiers throughout . In December 1955 , she was downgraded to extended reserve and in 1957 the decision was taken to scrap the four ships . The following year " King George V " was moved from her berth in Gareloch to the ship breaking firm of Arnott Young and Co . in Dalmuir to undergo dismantling . Refits . During her career , " King George V " was refitted on several occasions in order to update her equipment . The following are the dates and details of the refits undertaken :