HMS Anson (79)

HMS ''Anson'' was a battleship of the Royal Navy, named after Admiral George Anson. She was built by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Shipyard on the River Tyne and launched on 24 February 1940, being completed on 22 June 1942. Her completion was delayed to allow the fitting of fire-control radar and additional anti-aircraft weapons. She was originally to have been named ''Jellicoe'', but was renamed ''Anson'' in February 1940.

''Anson'' saw service in the Second World War, escorting nine Russian convoys in the Arctic by December 1943. She took part in diversionary moves to draw attention away from Operation Husky in July 1943. In October the same year she took part in Operation Leader. In February 1944 she provided cover for Operation Tungsten, the successful air strike against the . Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt accepted the surrender of Japanese forces occupying Hong Kong on board ''Anson'' in August 1945, and after the end of the war the vessel became the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet.

''Anson'' arrived back in British waters on 29 July 1946, spending the next three years in active service with the post-war navy. She was finally placed in reserve and "mothballed" in 1949, spending eight years in this condition. On 17 December 1957 she was purchased for scrap by Shipbreaking Industries, Faslane.

Construction

In the aftermath of the First World War, the Washington Naval Treaty was drawn up in 1922 in an effort to stop an arms race developing between Britain, Japan, France, Italy and the United States. This treaty limited the number of ships each nation was allowed to build and capped the displacement of all capital ships at 35,000 long tons. These restrictions were extended in 1930 through the London Naval Treaty, however, in 1935 Japan and Italy would not agree to the Second London Naval Treaty for further armament control.

Concerned by a lack of modern battleships within their navy, the Admiralty ordered the construction of a new battleship class: the ''King George V'' class. The calibre limitation clause introduced in the Second Treaty meant that the main armament of the ''King George V'' class was limited to and the unusual arrangement of the guns in the three turrets was an attempt to maximise firepower. Due to the pressing need for the ships, the British, unlike the US, could not delay to take advantage of an escalator clause that would allow 16-inch guns. The ships were the only ones to be built at the time to adhere to the treaty and even though it soon became apparent to the British that the other signatories to the treaty were ignoring its requirements, it was too late to change the design of the class before they were laid down in 1937.Konstam, p. 20

The keel of the fourth ship of the class was laid at the Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Shipyard on the River Tyne on 20 July 1937. She was originally to have been named ''Jellicoe'', after Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, the commander of the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, but she was renamed ''Anson'' in February 1940. ''Anson'' was launched on 24 February 1940 and was completed on 22 June 1942. Completion was delayed largely because of the inclusion of fire-control radar, and additional anti-aircraft weapons.Garzke p. 223

Description

''Anson'' displaced on trials in 1942 and fully loaded in 1945. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . Her designed metacentric height was at normal load and at deep load.

She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines driving four propeller shafts. Steam was provided by eight Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers which normally delivered , but could deliver at emergency overload.
This gave ''Anson'' a top speed of . The ship carried of fuel oil.Garzke p. 253 At full speed ''Anson'' had a range of at while burning of fuel per hour.

Armament

''Anson''s main armament was ten BL Mk VII guns. The 14-inch guns were mounted in three turrets; one Mark III quadruple turret forward and one aft, and one Mark II twin turret forward firing over the quadruple turret. The guns could be elevated 40 degrees and depressed 3 degrees. A full gun broadside weighed , and a salvo could be fired every 40 seconds. Her secondary armament consisted of 16 QF Mk I guns which were mounted in eight twin mounts.Garzke p. 229 The maximum range of the Mk I guns was at a 45-degree elevation, the anti-aircraft ceiling was . The guns could be elevated to 70 degrees and depressed to 5 degrees. The normal rate of fire was ten to twelve rounds per minute, but in practice the guns could only fire seven to eight rounds per minute. Along with her main and secondary batteries ''Anson'' carried six 8-barrelled QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII (40 mm) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns. These were supplemented by eighteen Oerlikon light AA guns.

Operational history

After her commissioning in 1942, ''Anson'' was sent to the Arctic Sea with most of the Home Fleet as an escort ship for Russian convoys. On 12 September 1942 ''Anson'' was part of the distant covering force for Convoy QP 14, along with her sister ship , the light cruiser and the destroyers , , and . On 29 December ''Anson'' provided distant cover for Convoy JW 51B along with the cruiser and the destroyers , and . On 23 and 24 January 1943 ''Anson'' provided distant cover for Convoy JW 52 along with the cruiser and the destroyers , , , , ''Montrose'', , and the Polish destroyer . On 29 January, Convoy RA 52 departed from the Kola inlet, with distant cover provided by ''Anson'', the cruiser ''Sheffield'' and the destroyers ''Inglefield'', , and the Polish destroyer ''Orkan'' from 30 January.

In June 1942, the pre-First World War battleship was disguised as ''Anson'' in the Mediterranean Sea, acting as a decoy during Operation Vigorous. In July 1943 ''Anson'' took part in the diversionary moves designed to draw attention away from the preparations for Operation Husky, and in October that year, with ''Duke of York'' and the US cruiser , provided cover for Operation Leader, in which the US aircraft carrier mounted air strikes against German shipping off Norway. In February 1944, in company with the and a force of cruisers and destroyers, ''Anson'' stood by in the same capacity while aircraft from the aircraft carrier carried out air strikes against German targets in Norway during Operation Bayleaf, and on 3 April she provided cover for Operation Tungsten, a successful air strike against the ,Chesneau (2004) p. 15 during which she served as flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Henry Moore.

''Anson'' was decommissioned for a refit in June 1944 and did not return to the fleet until March 1945, when she sailed with ''Duke of York'' to join the British Pacific Fleet. By the time she arrived in the theatre, hostilities were all but over. She left Sydney on 15 August for Hong Kong with ''Duke of York'', and along with a task force of other ships from Britain and the Commonwealth, accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces occupying Hong Kong. She was also present in Tokyo Bay during the official Japanese surrender aboard .

It is reported that ''Anson'' never once fired her main armament in anger.

Post-war era

Following the war ''Anson'' was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet and helped to liberate Hong Kong. After a brief refit, ''Anson'' sailed from Sydney to Hobart in February 1946 to collect the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (the Duke was then Governor-General of Australia) and return them to Sydney.

''Anson'' arrived back in British waters on 29 July 1946 and after a short refit was returned to peacetime duties. In November 1949, ''Anson'' was placed in reserve and in 1951 she was towed to Gare Loch. On 17 December 1957 she was purchased for scrap by Shipbreaking Industries, Faslane. A selection of her timbers would be reused to make souvenirs of different types.

Refits

During her career, ''Anson'' was refitted on several occasions in order to update her equipment. The following are the dates and details of the refits undertaken:Chesneau (2004) p. 50

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

HMS Anson on naval-history.net



HMS Anson Association

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson (79)
King George V-class battleships (1939)
World War II battleships of the United Kingdom
Ships built by Swan Hunter
1940 ships