HMS Rodney (29)
Rodney in May 1942
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Rodney |
| Namesake: | Admiral Lord Rodney |
| Ordered: | 1922 |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
| Cost: | £7,617,799 |
| Laid down: | 28 December 1922 |
| Launched: | 17 December 1925 |
| Sponsored by: | Princess Mary |
| Completed: | August 1927 |
| Commissioned: | 10 November 1927 |
| Decommissioned: | 1946 |
| Struck: | 1947 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: 29 |
| Motto: |
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| Nickname(s): | Rodnol |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 26 March 1948 |
| General characteristics (as completed) | |
| Class and type: | Nelson-class battleship |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 710 ft 2 in (216.5 m) overall |
| Beam: | 106 ft (32.3 m) |
| Draught: | 31 ft (9.44880000 m) |
| Installed power: | |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range: | 14,500 nmi (26,900 km; 16,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,314 (1,361 as flagship) |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship was named after Admiral Lord Rodney. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. As her superstructure was located aft of midships like RN fleet oilers whose names carried the ...'ol' suffix, she was sometimes derisively referred to as "Rodnol". Commissioned in 1927, Rodney served extensively in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. During and after Operation Torch and the Normandy landings, Rodney participated in several coastal bombardments. In poor condition from extremely heavy use and lack of refits, she was scrapped in 1948.
Known as 'Queen Anne's Mansions' owing to the resemblance of the bridge structure to the well-known London block of flats, or 'Cherry Tree Class' because they were designed as larger ships but 'cut down' by the Washington Treaty of 1922, the design was limited to 35,000 tons and showed certain compromises. To accommodate 16-inch main guns in three turrets, all of the turrets were placed forward and the vessel's speed was reduced and maximum armour was limited to vital areas. Even with the design limitations forced on the designers by the treaty, Rodney and Nelson were regarded as the most powerful battleships afloat until the new generation of all big gun ships was launched in 1936.
Rodney was laid down on 28 December 1922, the same date as her sister ship Nelson. Construction of the ship was carried out at Birkenhead by Cammell-Laird shipyard, Launched on 17 December 1925 by Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, after three attempts at cracking the bottle of Imperial Burgundy. Ship trials began in August 1927 and she was commissioned in November 1927, three months behind Nelson. The construction cost £7,617,799. The commissioning Commanding Officer in 1930 was Captain (later Admiral) Andrew Cunningham and Chief Engineering Officer was Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral) George Campell Ross, son of Sir Archibald Ross, a marine engineer and pioneer of shipbuilding.
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