HMS Valiant (1914)

HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy built at the Fairfield shipyards, Govan in Glasgow and launched in November 1914. She was completed in February 1916.

Related Topics:
''Queen Elizabeth''-class battleship - Royal Navy - Govan - Glasgow - 1914 - 1916

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In World War I she served in Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. She took part in the battle of Jutland, 31st May 1916, where she escaped damage. However in August that same year she collided with HMS Warspite and was in repairs until September. Between the wars she was modernised twice to improve her combat capabilities. In 1931 her crew took part in the Invergordon Mutiny.

Related Topics:
World War I - Hugh Evan-Thomas - 5th Battle Squadron - Grand Fleet - Battle of Jutland - 1916 - Warspite - 1931 - Invergordon Mutiny

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She was one of three capital ships to take part in the Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, and saw action at the Battle of Cape Matapan; she participated in actions during the battle of Crete, and was struck by two bombs. Along with her sister ship Queen Elizabeth, Valiant was mined and sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria harbour in December 1941. She had in fact only sunk a few feet to the bottom of the harbour and her decks remained clear. Although immobilised she was able to give the impression of full battlereadiness. She was raised, repaired in South Africa, and then returned to the Mediterranean to support the landings in Sicily (Operation Husky) and at Salerno (Operation Avalanche) in 1943.

Related Topics:
Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir - Battle of Cape Matapan - Battle of Crete - ''Queen Elizabeth'' - Frogmen - Alexandria - South Africa - Operation Husky - Operation Avalanche

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She was sent to the Far East in 1944, taking part in raids against Japanese bases in Indonesia. While in maintenance at Trincomalee, Ceylon, she was so severely damaged when a floating dock collapsed that repairs were stopped and she had to return to the UK, and only completed repairs in 1946. Thereafter she was a training ship at Devonport for the rest of her career. She was sold for scrapping in 1948.

Related Topics:
1944 - Japan - Indonesia - Trincomalee - Ceylon - Devonport - 1948

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See HMS Valiant for other ships of this name.

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