Nelson Class Battleship

Nelson Class Battleship

The Nelson class was a class of two battleships (Nelson and Rodney) of the British Royal Navy, built shortly after, and under the terms of, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. They were the only British battleships built between the Revenge class (ordered in 1913) and the King George V class, ordered in 1936.

The ships were named after famous British admirals: George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson of the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar.

To comply with the limitations of the Washington treaty, these ships were of an unusual design with many novel features. They are often referred to as the first treaty battleships. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns. These were all carried forward.

Commissioned in 1927-29, the Nelsons served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during World War II. Rodney was made famous by her very important role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. During that Battle, Rodney's nine guns were credited with an estimated 100 to 130 hits on the German battleship, so being largely responsible for the total dismantlement of her four gun-turrets and her superstructure, prior to her sinking.

Nelson participated in the bombardment of targets in northern France during and after the Normandy attack. In particular, during the Caen campaign she was credited with the destruction of a group of five Tiger tanks which ventured well into the red zone defined by the German command, which was located at the line of maximum range of the allied battleships (40 km. from the Coast)

The two ships of the class survived the War, but were scrapped in 1948-49.