HMS battle-cruiser Renown

The battle-cruiser Renown makes a fascinating comparison with her sister Repulse. Whereas Repulse displays an almost Edwardian elegance, and still bears the stamp of her 1915 design, Renown has the sleek good looks so typical Qf British warships of the late 1930s. Nothing illustrates better the changes in ship-design of the period, or the transformation which can be achieved by total reconstruction.

The purpose behind the reconstruction of the Renown was to provide a fast, powerful escort for fleet aircraft carriers. Her thin armour made her unfit for the battle-fleet and so it was decided to give her range and anti-aircraft armament to compensate for this. The results justified this policy handsomely, for Renown steamed thousands of miles in company with the carrier Ark Royal, and later escorted carriers in Home waters and the Far East.

The most attractive features of the new Renown were her streamlined funnels, which balanced the new bridge superstructure well; the light tripod foremast did nothing to detract from this balance, and altering the after pole mast to a tripod enhanced it. The secondary armament in aircraft carrier type mountings struck a modem note, although the turrets were so small as to be insignificant.

Renown joined the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in September 1916, and served in the 1st Battle-cruiser Squadron until after the Armistice. In 1920 she took H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to Australia, and then to India and Japan the following year. After a refit she served with the Atlantic Fleet (later the Home Fleet) unti11936. In that year she paid off at Portsmouth for a major refit which lasted until June 1939, just in time for World War II.

She joined the Battle-cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet and served as flagship from March to August 1940. During the Norwegian Campaign she engaged the German Schamhorst and Hipper off Narvik; the enemy were taken by surprise In very foul weather, but their margin of speed enOOled them to escape. From August 1940 Renown became Admiral Somerville's flagship, and with the Ark Royal and Sheffield formed the backbone of Force 'H', the striking force which was based on Gibraltar. A year later she rejoined the Home Fleet as flagship and covered a number of important operations. After a refit lasting from February to August 1943 she took Winston Churchill from Nova Scotia back to the United Kingdom, and three months later embarked the Prime Minister once more for a trip to Alexandria.

In December 1943 Renown commissioned as flagship of the Second-in-Command of the Eastern Fleet, and left for Ceylon. With the Queen Elizabeth, Valiant and Richelieu she bombarded Sabang in April 1944, but in March 1945 she was recalled in haste, and steamed from Trincomalee to Scapa Flow in only fifteen days. The effort proved unnecessary , for with the news that the Tirpitz had been sunk by bombers her presence with the Home Fleet striking force was no longer vital. The old ship steamed to Portsmouth to payoff, and was laid up with only two-fifths of her complement. After a period as an accommodation ship she was sold in July 1948 and towed to Faslane for scrapping.

As the drawing is so complex it is probably easiest to explain by reading from bow to stern. It shows the Renown as she appeared in 1944-45, her last period of active service. The hull retains the graceful sweep so noticeable in the Repulse, but above the forecastle deck everything else has been changed. Unlike her sister she retains the characteristic row of scuttles on the main deck, indicating that even during her reconstruction she did not receive any additional belt armour .

The four-barrelled 2-pounder pom-pom was added on 'B' turret in 1943. This replaced two twin power-operated 20-mm Oerlikon guns in an attempt to deal with Japanese dive bombers, which tended to attack on forward bearings.
Normally an eight-barreJled pom-pom would have been sited here, as in Rodney', but the limited area of the crown of the 15-inch turret ruled this out.
Note also that British practice differed from American in not having 20-mm  guns sited on the forecastle around the forward turrets or up in the eyes of the ship. This was to avoid interference from spray and blast, which would make the guns unworkable for much of the time.

The bridgework is typical of British warships of the period, with a large director for the main armament above the compass platform. The aerial on the director tower is for a Type 285 gunnery radar set, while the secondary directors on their .
Y -shaped bracket have aerials for Type 285 radar to control the 4.5-inch antiaircraft guns. The tripod mast has the typical Type 273 lantern housing the surface warning aerial at the level of the "starfish" platform, and there are recognition lights on the ends of brackets under the upper fore yard, above the radar lantern. Note also the transmitting aerial for the Type 2810 Air Warning radar at the masthead (the receiving aerial is on the main mast). The purpose of the two arms extending below the fore yard from the starfish brackets is not known, despite a great deal of research.

Amidships the Renown retains much the same layout as she had in 1939, with twin 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns in mountings similar to those in the Illustrious class aircraft carriers. The forward group of six were removed in 1945 after the ship was laid up at Portsmouth. A large number of single and twin 20-mm Oerlikon guns have been added in a series of extra platforms, but not a single 4O-mm Bofors gun, which is unusual at so late a date in the War. The catapult and aircraft had been removed during her 1943 refit, and the space left was transformed. It had to accommodate all the large boats formerly carried abreast of the second funnel, but now moved to make way for additional equipment, and anew structure has been built to carry two twin 20-mm guns and two singles on each side.

The after superstructure has been similarly used to accommodate pom-pom directors and light anti-aircraft guns. Note particularly the armoured rangefinders which is the former main rangefinder housed over the conning-tower in her pre1936 state. As in the Warspite and other reconstructed battleships. the old rangefinder was retained in the after position as a standby. The after group of 4.5-inch guns are controlled as a separate unit by the two high-angle directors with Type 285 radar sited on the forward corners of the superstructure on either side of the mainmast. Extending from the corners of the mainmast starfish are four arms, on the ends of which are aircraft homing beacons.

The Renown carries a comprehensive outfit of boats: two 27-ft. whalers, three 32-ft. life cutters, a 32-ft motor cutter, a 25-ft. motor boat, a 36-ft. motor launch, one 45-ft. fast motor launch of the new type and three 45-ft. motor boats of the old type. Oddly enough, no 16-ft. dinghies appear to have been carried at this time.

The Renown remains one of the best-Iooking British warships of this century. Even today her lines suggest speed and power, although lacking the suggestion of power in such ships as the Warspite and the mighty Hood. Her record of steaming was second to none, and she always had the reputation of being a lucky ship. The ninth ship of the name, she was awarded the following battle honours:
Gabbard 1653
Scheveningen 1653
Ushant 1781
Egypt 1801
Norway 1940
Atlantic 1940
Spartivento 1940
Mediterranean 1941
Bismarck action 1941
Malta Convoys 1941-42
Arctic 1942
North Africa 1942
Sabang 1944