HMS Warspite was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Completed during the First World War in 1915, she was assigned to the Grand Fleet and participated in the Battle of Jutland. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. During the interwar period the ship was deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, often serving as flagship, and was thoroughly modernised in the mid-1930s.
Warspite under way in the Indian Ocean, 16 July 1942
Warspite and Malaya at Jutland
Diagram of the Queen Elizabeth class published by Brassey's Naval Annual in 1923
Captain Victor Crutchley VC, pictured as a Rear Admiral
Queen Elizabeth-class battleship
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a group of five super-dreadnoughts built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. These battleships were superior in firepower, protection and speed to their Royal Navy predecessors of the Iron Duke class as well as preceding German classes such as the König class. The corresponding Bayern-class ships were generally considered competitive, although the Queen Elizabeth class were 2 knots (3.7 km/h) faster and outnumbered the German class 5:2. The Queen Elizabeths are generally considered the first fast battleships of their day.
Queen Elizabeth in her original configuration at Lemnos, 24 April 1915
Right plan and elevation drawing from Brassey's Naval Annual 1923; the shaded areas represent the ships' armour plating
Queen Elizabeth c. 1918 showing the two aft port secondary casemates plated over
Forecastle deck gun as added to all ships in 1915–1916, here seen on Warspite after Jutland