HMS Rodney (29)

Rodney in May 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	Rodney
Namesake	Admiral Lord Rodney
Ordered	1922
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down	28 December 1922
Launched	17 December 1925
Completed	August 1927
Commissioned	7 December 1927
Decommissioned	1946
In service	28 March 1928
Out of service	August 1946
Stricken	1948
Identification	Pennant number: 29
Motto	Non Generant Aquilae Columbas (Latin) "Eagles do not breed doves"[1]
Nickname(s)	Rodnol
Fate	Sold for scrap, 26 March 1948
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Nelson-class battleship
Displacement	33,730 long tons (34,270 t) (standard)
Length	710 ft 3 in (216.5 m) o/a
Beam	106 ft (32.3 m)
Draught	30 ft 2 in (9.2 m) (mean standard)
Installed power	8 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 45,000 shp (34,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	1,314 (private ship)
Armament	3 × triple 16 in (406 mm) guns 6 × twin 6 in (152 mm) guns 6 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) AA guns 8 × single 2 pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA guns 2 × 24.5 in (622 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 13–14 in (330–356 mm) Deck: 3.75–6.25 in (95–159 mm) Barbettes: 12–15 in (305–381 mm) Gun turrets: 9–16 in (229–406 mm)

HMS Rodney was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship entered service in 1928, and spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, sometimes serving as a flagship when her sister ship, Nelson, was being refitted. During the early stages of the Second World War, she searched for German commerce raiders, participated in the Norwegian Campaign, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean. Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in mid-1941.

After a brief refit in the United States, she escorted convoys to Malta and supported the Allied invasion of French Algeria during Operation Torch in late 1942. The ship covered the invasions of Sicily (Operation Husky) and Italy (Operation Baytown) in mid-1943. During the Normandy landings in June 1944, Rodney provided naval gunfire support and continued to do so for several following offensives near the French city of Caen. The ship escorted one convoy through the Arctic to the Soviet Union in late 1944. In poor condition from extremely heavy use and a lack of refits, she was reduced to reserve in late 1945 and was scrapped in 1948.