The Nelson class was a class of two battleships of the British Royal Navy, built shortly after, and under the terms of, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. They were the only British battleships built between the Revenge class and the King George V class, ordered in 1936.
Aerial view of Nelson before 1939
Nelson fires a salvo during gunnery trials in 1942
Nelson and Rodney
HMS Nelson was the name ship of her class of two battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s. They were the first battleships built to meet the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Entering service in 1927, the ship spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, usually as the fleet flagship. During the early stages of World War II, she searched for German commerce raiders, missed participating in the Norwegian Campaign after she was badly damaged by a mine in late 1939, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean.
Aerial view of Nelson, 17 May 1937
Sailors of the South African Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve sitting on one of Nelson's 16-inch gun barrels during the Second World War
Nelson firing her 16-inch guns during a practice shoot; their muzzle blast churns up water to starboard
Nelson entering port in 1945