Ordered: 1922, Builder: Armstrong-Whitworth, High Walker, Tyneside, Laid down: 28 December 1922, Launched: 3 September 1925, Commissioned: 10 September 1930, Decommissioned: February 1948, In service: 1930–1948, Struck: 1948, Fate: Scrapped starting on 15 March 1949
General characteristics:
Displacement: 33,950 long tons (34,490 t), 41,250 long tons (41,910 t) full load, Length: 710 ft (220 m) overall, Beam: 106 ft (32 m), Draught: 33 ft (10 m), Propulsion: 8 three-drum superheated boilers, 2 Brown-Curtiss single reduction geared turbines, 2 screws, 45,000 hp (34 MW), Speed: 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph) (trials), Range: 7,000 nautical miles at 16 knots (13,000 km at 30 km/h), Complement: 1,361, Armament: (1945): 9 × BL 16-inch (406 mm) Mk I guns (3 × 3), 12 × BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk XXII guns (6 × 2), 6 × QF 4.7 inch (120mm) anti-aircraft guns (6 × 1), 48 × QF 2-pdr AA (6 octuple mounts), 16 × 40 mm AA (4 × 4), 61 × 20 mm AA guns, Armour: 14 in (356 mm) midships, 6.75 in (171 mm) deck, 16 in (406 mm) turret face, 13.4 in (340 mm) conning tower sides, Aircraft carried: 1, no catapult
NELSON was laid down in December 1922 and built at Newcastle by Armstrong-Whitworth. Launched in September 1925, she was commissioned in August 1927 and joined by her sister ship RODNEY (built by Cammell Laird) in November. She cost £7.504 million to build and made partial use of the material prepared for the cancelled HMS ANSON and HOWE, planned sister-ships of HMS HOOD.
She was the flagship of the Home Fleet from launch. In 1931 the crews of both NELSON and RODNEY took part in the Invergordon Mutiny. On 12 January 1934 she ran aground on Hamilton's Shoal, just outside Portsmouth, as she was about to embark with the Home Fleet to the West Indies.
NELSON was modified little during the 1930s and was with the Home Fleet when war broke out in September 1939. On 25 and 26 September she performed escort duty during the salvage and rescue operations of the submarine HMS SPEARFISH. NELSON was first deployed in the North Sea in October against a German formation of cruisers and destroyers, all of which easily evaded her. On 30 October she was unsuccessfully attacked by U-56 near the Orkney Islands being hit by three torpedoes, none of which exploded. Later she was again shown up for pace in the futile pursuit of German battlecruisers. In December 1939 she struck a mine (laid by U-31) at the entrance to Loch Ewe on the Scottish coast and was laid up in Portsmouth for repairs until August 1940.
Upon return to service she went to Rosyth in case of invasion and was then deployed in the English Channel. From April to June 1941 she was on convoy escort in the Atlantic. In late May she was in Freetown and was ordered to Gibraltar to stand by to take part in the chase of the German battleship BISMARCK.
In June 1941 NELSON, now in Gibraltar, was assigned to Force H operating in the Mediterranean as an escort. On 27 September 1941 she was extensively damaged by a REGIA AERONAUTICA torpedo strike and was under repair in Britain until May 1942. She returned to Force H as the flagship in August 1942, performing escort duties for supply convoys running to Malta. She supported Operation Torch around Algeria in November 1942, the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the Salerno operation (by coastal bombardment) in September 1943. The Italian armistice was signed between General Dwight Eisenhower and Marshal Pietro Badoglio aboard the NELSON on 29 September.
The NELSON returned to England in November 1943 for a refit, including extensive additions to her anti-aircraft defences. Returning to action she supported the Normandy landings but hit two sea mines on 18 June 1944 and was sent to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania for her repairs. She returned to Britain in January 1945 and was then deployed to the Indian Ocean, arriving in Colombo in July. She was used around the Malayan Peninsula for three months. The Japanese forces there formally surrendered aboard her at George Town, Penang, on 2 September 1945.
HMS NELSON returned to Trincomalee and sailed from Colombo on 11th October 1945 to return to UK . After calls at Kilindini, Malta and Gibraltar she arrived at Portsmouth on 17th November. She was then deployed as Flagship of the Training Battleship Squadron in place of HMS VALIANT and arrived at Portland on 27th December that year. The ship carried out training duties including the Home Fleet 1946 Spring cruise before being relieved by HM Aircraft Carrier VICTORIOUS on 22nd Sept 1947. Paid off and reduced to Reserve status this ship was placed on the Disposal List. During 1948 she was used as a bombing target during trials in the Firth of Forth. The relevance of these which were intend to establish the effectiveness of ship's armour protection against bombs is hard to credit at a time when guided weapons and atomic warheads were being developed. She was sold to BISCO for demolition by TW Ward on 19th March 1948 and arrived at Inverkeithing in tow on 15th March 1949.
The name was again carried forward for use in 1972 when it replaced that of HMS VICTORY for the Royal Navy Barracks at Portsmouth. HMS VICTORY remained in commission as nominal Flagship of Naval Home Command in Portsmouth Dockyard.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-01BB-NELSON.htm.
Information Mr P Crichton.