HMS ''Roberts'' was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was the second monitor to be named after

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Iri ...

. Built by John Brown & Company, of

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

, she was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

30 April 1940, launched 1 April 1941 and completed on 27 October 1941. She reused the twin 15-inch gun turret of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

monitor .

Service history

''Roberts'' provided bombardment support during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, where she was damaged by two bombs in the Battle of Béjaïa. She was repaired in time to support Operation Husky (the invasion of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

) and the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

landings near Salerno (

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

). During the D-Day landings, she was controlled from the headquarters ship also positioned off Sword beach. She also took part in the

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

operations. In July 1945, ''Roberts'' departed the United Kingdom for the Indian Ocean to support Operation Mailfist, the planned liberation of Singapore. She was near

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

at the time the Japanese surrender on 15 August, but was not recalled until 11 September by which time she had reached

Kilindini Harbour Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from Mombasa, Kenya. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbo ...

in Kenya. She eventually reached Plymouth on 22 November. ''Roberts'' was sold for scrap shortly after the war, but hired back by the navy as an accommodation ship at Devonport until 1965. She was sold for scrap again in July 1965, finally berthing at Thos. W. Ward in Inverkeithing for break up in early August.Buxton 2008 c. 9.10, para. 3 One of ''Roberts'' guns (originally installed on the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

) is mounted outside the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in Lambeth, south London, together with one from the battleship .

Notes

Hart, Stephen A. The Clearing of the Scheldt Estuary and the Liberation of Walcheren 2 October - 7 November 1944 Second World War 60th Anniversary, number 8, page 15. Central Office of Information, 2005.

References

* * *Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J. J. Warships of World War II, Ian Allan, London, 1973. *Young, John. A Dictionary of Ships of the Royal Navy of the Second World War. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge, 1975. *Hart, Stephen A
''The Clearing of the Scheldt Estuary and the Liberation of Walcheren 2 October - 7 November 1944
' Second World War 60th Anniversary No8 . Central Office of Information, 2005.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts Roberts-class monitors Ships built on the River Clyde 1941 ships World War II monitors of the United Kingdom