Duke of York (UK)
| Length | 227.07m / 745ft |
| Beam | 31.39m / 103ft |
| Displacement | 42,718 tonnes / 42,046 tons |
| Crew | 1,422 |
| Armament | Ten 14in guns Sixteen 5.25in guns Thirty two 2pdr guns A variety of smaller arms |
| Range | 15,600nm |
| Top speed | 28.5 knots |
Launched
in February 1940, the Duke
of York was named on the slip in a
last-minute change from the intended Anson. The Duke of York boasted
10 massive all-steel, 14-inch guns, eight of which were carried by two
huge four-gun turrets, as part of the new arms race.
This King George V Class Battleship could fire a 35cm / 14in 721kg / 1,590lb shell over 35,000m / 38,500yd. She was built with an armoured belt around the waterline which was up to 40cm / 15in thick. This was designed to protect the ship from up to 15in shells. There was also a sandwich of liquid- and air-filled cavities in the hull construction to protect against torpedo attack.
During her service the Duke of York worked as a convoy escort, Fleet Flagship, and she supported the landings in North Africa. Her most famous actions included covering vessel for the attacks on the ship Tirpitz and battles with the German battleship Scharnhorst in December 1943, where Duke of York fired nearly 500 14in shells in an action that saw the Scharnhorst destroyed.
Image: National Maritime Museum/
www.nmm.ac.uk/picturelibrary
