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History
Construction
Spoiler
HMS Duke of York (17) was ordered on the 28th of April 1937 as the third ship of the King George V class. She would be laid down on 5th of May 1937 in No.3 berth of the famous John Brown & Co Ltd. Shipyard on the Clydebank. Her construction wasn’t without any difficulties since her launch was delayed for around 6 moths by the admiralty because of delays with the armament manufacturing, this meant part of her fitting out was done while she was still “dry”. This meant her launch weight came out 500 tons heavier than her sister KGV with an approximately 18.852 tons.
Despite this on Wednesday 28th February 1940 at 4.45pm her steel hulk rumbled into the water effortlessly and she was towed into the fitting out basin where she would spend the next 18 months.
On Sunday the 7th September 1941, 52 moths after laying down she finally cast off her lines form the shipyard and made her way down the Clyde. She then continued into a phase of building up and trials with a short visit to the US embarking Prime Minister Winston Churchill on December 22nd 1941.
Finally on the 28th of February 1942 she entered service and started her long and famous career.
Service History
Spoiler
She started her career, like many British warships, with joining the arctic convoys, shielding them from possible attacks by German heavy fleet elements such as Tirpitz. She stayed on Convoy escort duty till October 1942 with a short stint as flagship of the home fleet.
She then sailed for Gibraltar has the leading element of Force H where she would take part in Operation Torch starting form November after the successful landings she returned to the UK for extensive refits.
After those were completed she went back to the Atlantic where she was involved in multiple Operations meant as a diversion for Operation Husky (the invasion of Sicily) and joined the US carrier Ranger and her sister HMS Anson in October 1943 for Operation Leader. Then it was back to convoy escort duty since in addition to the Tirpitz the Germans also moved the Battleship Scharnhorst up to Norway which posed a severe threat to the arctic convoys.
Action with Scharnhorst
Spoiler
Much has been said and written about her action with Scharnhorst so i will keep this short and instead redirect you to a very good video covering the action in greater detail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbRMEPPbSyg
In December 1943 the British intelligence deducted form sightings of Scharnhorst and multiple destroyers that an attack was imminent. Convoy JW55B was made out to be the primary target which then prompted the departure of 2 covering forces to protect it. Force 1was made up of the cruisers HMS Belfast, Norfolk and Sheffield accompanied by 4 destroyers. While Duke of York and her escort of the cruiser HMS Jamaica and 4 destroyers formed Force 2. The first contact with Scharnhorst was made shortly after 9.00am on the 26th of December by Force 1 with Scharnhorst retreating.
Force 2 meanwhile made ready to intercept the German raider with Scharnhorst changing course bringing her closer to the RN fleet. Duke of York opened fire at 4:50pm at 12.000 yards and would over the course of the next hour score multiple crippling hits on the German battleship. In return she was hit by 2 shells which only did minor damage. At 6.20pm she would cease fire after expending around 50 broadsides. At 7pm she opened fire again for half and hour at a range of 10.400 yards which devastated Scharnhorst with Duke of York ceasing fire at 7.30pm and Scharnhorst sinking at 7.45pm.
Later service life
Spoiler
After this engagement it was back to convoy duty for her with a short respite of supporting carrier raids against Tirpitz in August 1944. In September she entered a lengthy refit until April 1945 she then made her way to Sidney where she arrived in early July, becoming flagship of the pacific fleet. During her time in the Pacific she didn’t see much action and mainly conducted carrier escort operations. In August she was assigned to TF 37 where she and her sister King George V were involved in US airstrikes until the Japanese surrender on August 15th. She would participate in the surrender ceremonies in Tokyo bay and would also take the surrender of the Japanese garrison in Hong Kong a month later.
She would remain the flagship of the pacific fleet until her final refit in 1946 and then would act as flagship of the Home Fleet until 1949 with her being sold for scrap in April 1957.
Characteristics as of march 1945
General:
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Displacement:
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Average Action: 43.540t
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Deep: 44.794t with 34ft 4in mean Draught
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Light: 39.229t
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Machinery:
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4xSignle reduction Steam turbines with a max horsepower of 110.000
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Cruising turbines with 28.000hp
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Generators: Two diesel, six steam turbine 300kW each
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Boilers 8 Admiralty 3-drum small-tube boilers
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Speed: 28.3 kn
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Length 745ft
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Breadth: 103ft
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Complement as private ship September 1945: 19000
Armour:
Weaponry:
10x 14inch 45-calibre breech-loading Mark VII guns
2 quad Mark III, one Mark II twin mounting
rate of fire: 2 per minute per gun
Max elevation: 40°
Max depression: -3°
Training angle: A 286°, Y 270°, B 270°
Training speed: 2°/sec
Elevation speed: 45°/sec
Max range: 37.500 yards
16x 5.25inch 50-caliber quick-firing Mark I guns
8 twin Mark I mountings
rate of fire: designed: 10-12 (because of crammed conditions: most often only 8)
Max elevation: 70°
Max depression: -5°
Training speed: 10°/sec
Elevation speed: 10°/sec
Max range at 45°: 24.700yards
AA ceiling: 46.500ft
AA:
close range march 1945:
20mm Oerlikon:
38x Mark II on single Mark IIIA or Mark VIIA mountings
8x Mark II on twin Mark V mounting
Total 54 barrels
Pom-pom 2pdr:
8x Mark VIII on octuple Mark VIA mountings
6x Mark VIII on quadruple Mark VIIP mountings
Total 88 barrels
40mm Bofors:
2x Quadruple Mark II mountings
Total 8 barrels
150 close range barrels in total
Sensors:
Type 242M General interrogator for surface ships and low flying aircraft (foremast)
Type 293P Surface warning and target indication up to 30.000yards (top of foremast)
2x Type 274 Gunnery surface on the DCT with a range of 50.000yards
4x Type 285P Gunnery aircraft (one for each 5.25in director) range up to 30.000yards
Type 281BQ Aircraft warning, range up to 160 miles (fitted on mainmast)
Type 243Q General interrogator for aircraft (mainmast)
Type 941 Aircraft identification (mainmast on top of 281BQ)
Type 277P Surface warning, low flying aircraft with range up to 150.000 yards (rotating stabilized on foremast)
7x Type 282P1 Gunnery close range (one on each pom pom director) range up to 6.000 yards
Type 251M Aircraft homing beacon (foremast)
2x Type 253P IFF sets (one on each mast)
Type 91 Jamming enemy W/T transmitter (mainmast)
Type FV1 direction finding (in type 91 office, aft superstructure)
Type 651 Jamming transmitter German guided missiles (mainmast)
Type CXFR Jamming transmitter
Thank you for reading
Duke of York’s ships cat Whiskey (reportedly was sound a sleep during the action with Scharnhorst)
Sources
Ian Buxton & Ian Johnston: “Battleship Duke of York: An anatomy from Building to Breaking”
Ian Buxton: “British naval gun mountings From 1890: 18-inch to 4.5 inch Mark 8”
Witold Koszela “The Battleship HMS Duke of York”