HMS Nelson (1925)
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| Career | 
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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 28 December 1922 |
| Launched: | 3 September 1925 |
| Commissioned: | 10 September 1930 |
| Decommissioned: | 1947 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap on 15 March 1949 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 33,950 tons (38,000 tons full load) |
| Length: | 710 ft (216.5 m) |
| Beam: | 106 ft (32 m) |
| Draught: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion: | 8 3-drum superheated boilers, 2 single reduction geared turbines, 2 screws, 45,000 hp (33.6 MW) |
| Speed: | 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles at 16 knots (13,000 km at 30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1,314 |
| Armament (WWII): | 9 16 inch (410 mm) guns, 12 6 inch (200 mm) guns, 6 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns, 16 40mm AA guns, 65 20mm AA guns |
| Armor: | 14.1 inch (358 mm) midships, 6.32 inch (161 mm) deck, 16.24 inch (412.5 mm) turret face, 14 inch (360 mm) conning tower sides |
| Motto: | |
HMS Nelson was a Nelson-class battleship of the Royal Navy active in World War II. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson.
Built under the constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) the design was limited to 35,000 tons and showed certain compromises. To accommodate 16 inch (406 mm) main guns in three turrets all the turrets were placed forward and the vessel's speed was reduced and maximum armour was limited to vital areas, as a consequence the crew were forbidden from firing all the main guns simultaneously as this would buckle the deck.
Nelson was laid down in December 1922 and built at Newcastle by Armstrong. Launched in September 1925, she was commissioned in August 1927 and joined by her sister ship Rodney (built by Cammell Laird) in November. In 1931 the crews of both ships took part in the Invergordon Mutiny. Nelson was unmodified during the 1930s and attached to the Home Fleet when war broke out.
Nelson was first deployed in the North Sea in October against a German formation of cruisers and destroyers, all of which easily evaded her. In November she was unsuccessfully attacked by U-56 near the Orkney Islands and was again shown up for pace in the futile pursuit of German battlecruisers. In December 1939 she struck a mine off the Scottish coast and was laid up for repairs until June 1940. Upon return to service she was deployed in the English Channel. From April 1941 she was on convoy escort, missing out on the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.
In June 1941 Nelson was assigned to Force H, operating in the Mediterranean as an escort, on September 27, 1941, she was extensively damaged by an Regia Aeronautica torpedo strike and was under repair until May 1942. She returned to Force H in August 1942, supporting Operation Torch around Algeria in November and the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 by coastal bombardment.
Nelson returned to England in late 1943 for a refit and a massive increase to her anti-aircraft defenses. Returning to action she supported the Normandy landings but hit two mines on June 18, 1944, and was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs. She returned in January 1945 and was deployed to the Indian Ocean and was used around Malaya.
Nelson returned home in November 1945, was reduced to a training vessel in July 1946 and decommissioned in February 1948. She was scrapped from March 1949 at Inverkeithing.
See HMS Nelson for other ships of this name.
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| Nelson-class battleship |
| Nelson | Rodney |
| List of battleships of the Royal Navy |