The ''Roberts'' class of

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

s of the

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 Fr ...

consisted of two heavily gunned vessels built during 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 opposi ...

. They were the ''Roberts'', completed in 1941, and ''Abercrombie'', completed in 1943. Features of the class, apart from two 15-inch guns in a twin mounting (taken from two First World War era ''Marshal Ney'' class monitors), were shallow draught for operating inshore, broad beam to give stability (and also resistance to torpedoes and mines) and a high observation platform to observe fall of shot.

Ships

*: Reused the turret of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

monitor ''Marshal Soult''. ''Roberts'' provided bombardment support during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

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 500 kg bombs. She was repaired in time to support the Allied

invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, landings near Salerno,

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, and landing at Westkapelle. :One of ''Roberts guns (formerly in HMS ''Resolution'') 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 ''Ramillies''. ''Roberts'' herself was sold for scrapping shortly after the war, but hired back by the

as an accommodation ship at Devonport until 1965. *: She used a 15-inch gun turret originally built as a spare for . She was damaged by contact mines on several occasions while supporting the invasion of Italy, but was repaired. On completion of repairs, ''Abercrombie'' was sent for service in the Pacific, although the war ended before her arrival. She was used as a gunnery training and accommodation ship at Chatham after the war.

Ships

References

Bibliography

External links