Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Battleship 79

HMS Anson (79)

King George V-class battleship (1939) battleship

HMS Anson (79)
Photographer: Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph FL 707 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — 79 The Royal Navy battleship HMS Anson (79) underway at Devonport.

Service

  1. Royal Navy as Anson14 April 1942 — November 19511,237 days of the war
King George V-class battleship (1939) battleship Particulars
Name
HMS Anson
Pennant / hull number
79
Builder
Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Laid down
20 July 1937
Launched
24 February 1940
Commissioned
14 April 1942
Decommissioned
November 1951
Struck
18 May 1957
Fate
Scrapped, 17 December 1957 (1957)
Status
Scrapped

Specifications

Displacement, full load
45,360 long tons (46,088 t)
Length
226.77 m (744 ft) OA
Beam
31.39 m (103 ft)
Draught
10.36 m (34 ft)
Speed
29.3 knots (54.2 km/h, 33.7 mph)
Range
6,100 nmi (11,297 km)
Complement
1,553
Main gun
356 mm (14 in)

HMS Anson was a King George V-class battleship (1939) battleship of the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number 79. Her keel was laid at Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear on 20 July 1937. Launched on 24 February 1940, she entered service on 14 April 1942.

30 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Nelson-class battleship and was succeeded by the Lion-class battleship.

She displaced 45,360 long tons. She measured 226.8 m (744 ft) long with a beam of 31.4 m (103 ft). Her designed speed was 29.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 1,553. Her main battery was of 356 mm (14.0 in) calibre.

110,300 shp drove four shafts.

She was in commission for 1,237 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in November 1951. She was struck from the register on 18 May 1957.

She was broken up for scrap on 17 December 1957.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 shafts, 4 sets Parsons geared turbines
  • 8 Admiralty 3-drum small-tube boilers
Power
  • 110300 shp (trials)
Armament
  • 10 × BL 14 in Mark VII
  • 16 × QF 5.25 in Mk. I
  • 6 × 8-barrelled QF 2-pounder 1.575 in Mk. VIII
  • 18 × 20 mm Oerlikon.
Armour
  • Main Belt: 14.7 in
  • Lower belt: 5.4 in
  • Deck: 5 - 6 in
  • Main turrets: 12.75 in
  • Barbettes: 12.75 in
  • Bulkheads: 10 - 12 in
  • Conning tower: 3 - 4 in.
Aircraft
  • Two Supermarine Walrus seaplanes, one double-ended catapult (removed early 1944)

Sister ships

5 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Anson (79) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Photographer: Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph FL 707 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons