FightingSteel1
Jan-13-2016, 19:47
I don't know how much interest there will be here for this or if the forum wants this long of a post, but I had the inspiration to write up some informational topics on some various WWII subjects. I'm on a naval kick right now, and I believe I've seen this certain “she” in the TF updates, so first I have....
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HMS Nelson
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/HMSNelson.jpg
Photograph MH 4 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4002-05)
The Nelson, pennant number 28, was the lead ship of her class of Royal Navy battleships. Named for the Hero of Trafalgar, Horatio Nelson, the ship was built in-between WWI and WWII along with her sister Rodney. Built to match the 16 in. armament of the US Colorado and Japanese Nagato classes, the ships were designed to Washington Treaty specifications. This allowed a ship of 35,000 tons displacement maximum (Nelson displaced 33,950) and would also mark the end of battleship construction for the Royal Navy until the King George V class close to WWII.
For some more detailed design information, the HMS Nelson was 200m (710 ft for us in the states), with a top speed of 23.5 knots. The ship featured a slightly smaller than typical complement of ~1300 sailors and officers. For armament, the aforementioned 16 in. guns were arranged in the unusual configuration of three triple turrets, all forward. It was remarked that the ship resembled a navy oiler due to this configuration/unbalanced profile. The ship also featured twelve 6” guns, six 4.7 in AA guns, and several smaller caliber anti-aircraft weapons. As Cliffs of Dover is a World War II simulation, I'll focus on those years of the HMS Nelson in upcoming paragraphs.
At the start of World War II, HMS Nelson found itself a part of the Home Fleet, sailing in early October 1939 on it's first sortie with her sister Rodney, carrier HMS Furious, and others to intercept a rumored Kriegsmarine battlecruiser centered force around Norway. This first operation (and another later in November) would unfortunately reinforce the foreseen weakness of the Nelson class in it's new wartime environment. The 23.5 knot top speed of the Nelson would be troublesome against the faster surface raiders, battlecruisers and battleships of the Kriegsmarine. Also notable about HMS Nelson's first month in war was a submarine attack on October 30. Crossing a line of U-Boats in the North Sea, the ship was hit by 3 torpedoes from U-56! In an awesome stroke of luck and fortune, all of the early war torpedoes were duds, either breaking apart on contact or simply not exploding. HMS Nelson nearly had begun and ended it's war career in a month.
HMS Nelson would have a fairly uneventful 1940, only notably being laid up for months after striking a mine. After repairs in late 1940 were completed, HMS Nelson found itself moved to Rosyth in case of German invasion. With this never materializing, 1941 found the HMS Nelson performing duties escorting the much needed convoys across the Atlantic. In June, Nelson sailed through the straits of Gibraltar as a new member of Force H (Royal Navies main body fleet in the Med). After damage from an Italian submarine and subsequent trip back to England for repairs, HMS Nelson would return to the Mediterranean as flagship of Force H in 1942.
August 1942 found HMS Nelson participating in Operation Pedestal, the much needed operation to transfer supplies to besieged Malta. She would sail with her sister Rodney, and after practicing for the operation in the South Atlantic, would proceed with carrier HMS Eagle and several cruisers in the drive to Malta. The convoy would find themselves until relentless attack by U-Boats (Eagle was sunk by U-73 early, cutting aircraft strength by 25%), Italian submarines, Ju88s, Ju87s, Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and 84 torpedo bombers, among others. Fighting was fierce, but the Italian surface units failed to engage the convoy, and a combination of air cover by Sea Hurricanes, Fairey Fulmars and Martlets protected the convoy well enough. The surviving ships sailed into Malta between August 12-15, with Spitfires from the island overhead. HMS Nelson and the rest of the warship group turned back towards Gibraltar. The convoy would finish the operation down 13 vessels, including one carrier and two cruisers. But the task had been completed, and with supplies previously down to a few weeks, Malta was given enough to last more than two extra months.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/NelsonConvoy.jpg
HMS Nelson on convoy duty to Malta - from the Kenneth Charles Jones Collection
This led to HMS Nelson's participation in various Mediterranean operations, as the allies opened up a new front in Europe against Germany. At this point, I'll post the 2nd part of the abbreviated HMS Nelson story in a reserved post below soon. I'll finish the Nelson's story regardless, but if this is less than interesting to the forum, let me know so this experiment can suffer a quick demise.
----------
HMS Nelson
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/HMSNelson.jpg
Photograph MH 4 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4002-05)
The Nelson, pennant number 28, was the lead ship of her class of Royal Navy battleships. Named for the Hero of Trafalgar, Horatio Nelson, the ship was built in-between WWI and WWII along with her sister Rodney. Built to match the 16 in. armament of the US Colorado and Japanese Nagato classes, the ships were designed to Washington Treaty specifications. This allowed a ship of 35,000 tons displacement maximum (Nelson displaced 33,950) and would also mark the end of battleship construction for the Royal Navy until the King George V class close to WWII.
For some more detailed design information, the HMS Nelson was 200m (710 ft for us in the states), with a top speed of 23.5 knots. The ship featured a slightly smaller than typical complement of ~1300 sailors and officers. For armament, the aforementioned 16 in. guns were arranged in the unusual configuration of three triple turrets, all forward. It was remarked that the ship resembled a navy oiler due to this configuration/unbalanced profile. The ship also featured twelve 6” guns, six 4.7 in AA guns, and several smaller caliber anti-aircraft weapons. As Cliffs of Dover is a World War II simulation, I'll focus on those years of the HMS Nelson in upcoming paragraphs.
At the start of World War II, HMS Nelson found itself a part of the Home Fleet, sailing in early October 1939 on it's first sortie with her sister Rodney, carrier HMS Furious, and others to intercept a rumored Kriegsmarine battlecruiser centered force around Norway. This first operation (and another later in November) would unfortunately reinforce the foreseen weakness of the Nelson class in it's new wartime environment. The 23.5 knot top speed of the Nelson would be troublesome against the faster surface raiders, battlecruisers and battleships of the Kriegsmarine. Also notable about HMS Nelson's first month in war was a submarine attack on October 30. Crossing a line of U-Boats in the North Sea, the ship was hit by 3 torpedoes from U-56! In an awesome stroke of luck and fortune, all of the early war torpedoes were duds, either breaking apart on contact or simply not exploding. HMS Nelson nearly had begun and ended it's war career in a month.
HMS Nelson would have a fairly uneventful 1940, only notably being laid up for months after striking a mine. After repairs in late 1940 were completed, HMS Nelson found itself moved to Rosyth in case of German invasion. With this never materializing, 1941 found the HMS Nelson performing duties escorting the much needed convoys across the Atlantic. In June, Nelson sailed through the straits of Gibraltar as a new member of Force H (Royal Navies main body fleet in the Med). After damage from an Italian submarine and subsequent trip back to England for repairs, HMS Nelson would return to the Mediterranean as flagship of Force H in 1942.
August 1942 found HMS Nelson participating in Operation Pedestal, the much needed operation to transfer supplies to besieged Malta. She would sail with her sister Rodney, and after practicing for the operation in the South Atlantic, would proceed with carrier HMS Eagle and several cruisers in the drive to Malta. The convoy would find themselves until relentless attack by U-Boats (Eagle was sunk by U-73 early, cutting aircraft strength by 25%), Italian submarines, Ju88s, Ju87s, Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and 84 torpedo bombers, among others. Fighting was fierce, but the Italian surface units failed to engage the convoy, and a combination of air cover by Sea Hurricanes, Fairey Fulmars and Martlets protected the convoy well enough. The surviving ships sailed into Malta between August 12-15, with Spitfires from the island overhead. HMS Nelson and the rest of the warship group turned back towards Gibraltar. The convoy would finish the operation down 13 vessels, including one carrier and two cruisers. But the task had been completed, and with supplies previously down to a few weeks, Malta was given enough to last more than two extra months.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/NelsonConvoy.jpg
HMS Nelson on convoy duty to Malta - from the Kenneth Charles Jones Collection
This led to HMS Nelson's participation in various Mediterranean operations, as the allies opened up a new front in Europe against Germany. At this point, I'll post the 2nd part of the abbreviated HMS Nelson story in a reserved post below soon. I'll finish the Nelson's story regardless, but if this is less than interesting to the forum, let me know so this experiment can suffer a quick demise.