King George V

HMS King George V enters Apra Harbour, Guam with sailors on deck, summer 1945.

History

The First London Naval Treaty specified a battleship building "holiday" until 1937, after which new capital ships that remains within the 35,000 long ton limit can be built. In 1935, the design process for what would become the King George V-class battleships began. Proposals involving 14 inch (356mm), 15 inch (381mm), and 16 inch (406mm) guns were considered, before the 14 inch (356mm) design was chosen. At the time, the United Kingdom was negotiating the Second London Naval Treaty with other naval powers and favored a reduction in maximum allowed caliber from 16 inch (406mm) to 14 inch (356mm) in order to prevent a costly arms race that the United Kingdom could ill afford. The United States agreed to the 14 inch (356mm) limit if Japan also did so, but Japan refused to accept the caliber limit while also keeping the tonnage ratio limit. This breakdown caused the remaining parties, United Kingdom, United States, and France, to revert back to the 16 inch (406mm) limit, but by then the design and development of the King George V-class had entered advanced stages and the Admiralty decided that it was not worth the substantial delay in redesigning for a larger caliber. Thus, the 14 inch (356mm) design proceeded.

Design

The King George V-class battleships were Britain's latest "treaty" battleships to participate in World War 2 and was designed to meet the 35,000 long ton standard displacement limit, though in practice this was somewhat exceeded (this was also the case for every other treaty battleship). The main armament consists of ten BL 356mm/45 Mk.VII in two quadruple turrets and one double turret; the B turret was changed from quadruple to double in order to control top weight. Secondary armament consist of sixteen 134mm/50 dual purpose guns in eight mounts. As designed, the AA armament was sixteen 50 caliber machine guns in quadruple mounts, but this was substantially altered and reinforced after the ships were in service. The protection scheme of the King George V-class largely used the all-or-nothing concept; the belt was completely vertical and used cemented armor, among the best of its kind in the world; it was 14.7 inches (374mm) by the magazines and 13.7 (349mm) by the machinery, while main armor deck was 5.88 inch (149mm) over magazines and 4.88 inch (124mm) over machinery on top of 0.5 inch (13mm) D-steel. The torpedo defense system was 13.25 ft (4.0m) wide and consisted of three compartments. The propulsion system was eight boilers powering four turbines that produced 110,000 SHP, with design overload power of 125,000 SHP that drove the ship at 28.3 knots.

Service

HMS King George V (pennant number 41) was the lead ship of the five British King George V-class battleships 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. In May 1941, along with HMS Rodney, King George V was involved in the hunt for and pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck , eventually inflicting severe damage which led to the German vessel sinking. On 1 May 1942 the 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.

Historical Inaccuracies

• The A-hull for King George V should only have 1 quadruple 40mm pompom mount, not 3 for 1942 condition.
• The B-hull AA outfit is significantly inaccurate, none of the ships of the class carried this selection of armament ever during their service lives.
• King George V's late war AA armament is not represented in game.
• The turret traverse in game is twice that of the real life value.
• The armor value for the deck was not 25mm historically.
• British armor thicknesses are actually 0.98 times their nominal thickness, due to using 40 lb/sq ft as the approximate weight of steel (actual weight is 40.8 lb/sq ft). Consequently, the nominal 15 inch (381mm) belt is in reality 14.7 inch (374 mm) thick.

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  The crest of HMS King George V.

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  A cutaway drawing of a King George V-class battleship.

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  The launching of HMS Prince of Wales, 3 May 1939.

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  King George V in dry dock at Rosyth, circa 1939.

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  Prince of Wales in Singapore Harbor, December 1941.

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  King George V, photographed here with a huge hole in her bows, after she collided with HMS Punjabi in dense fog on 1 May 1942, at Seydisfjord, Iceland.

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  Commander-in-Chief of Home Fleet Admiral Tovey welcomes His Majesty King George VI aboard HMS Duke of York at Scapa Flow, June 1942.

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  Duke of York fires a salvo at Scharnhorst during the Battle of North Cape, December 1943.

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  HMS Anson at Devonport, March 1945.

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  King George V enters Apra Harbour, Guam with sailors on deck, summer 1945.

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  King George V in Tokyo Bay, September 1945. USS Missouri is visible in the background.

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  HMS Duke of York in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender, September 1945.

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  King George V dry docked in Sydney Harbor, October 1945.