Navy | The Royal Navy |
Type | Battleship |
Class | King George V |
Pennant | 32 |
Built by | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Govan, Scotland) |
Ordered | 28 Apr 1937 |
Laid down | 1 Jun 1937 |
Launched | 9 Apr 1940 |
Commissioned | 28 Sep 1942 |
End service | 21 Apr 1949 |
History | Decommissioned to Reserve on 21 April 1949. Sold to T. W. Ward in 1957, arrived at Inverkeithing for scrapping 4 June 1958. |
Commands listed for HMS Howe (32)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
Commander | From | To | ||
1 | Capt. Charles Henry Lawrence Woodhouse, RN | 3 Apr 1942 | Dec 1943 | |
2 | Cdr. John Dreyer Shaw-Hamilton, RN | Dec 1943 | 2 Mar 1944 | |
3 | Capt. Henry William Urquhart McCall, DSO, RN | 2 Mar 1944 | 13 Feb 1946 | |
4 | Capt. Robert John Shaw, RN | 25 Aug 1947 | 6 Jul 1948 |
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Notable events involving Howe include:
11 Dec 1942
HMS H 32 (Lt. C. Gordon, RN) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Goathland (Lt.Cdr. E.N. Pumphrey, RN, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN). After these exercises HMS H 32 conducted a practice attack on HMS Howe (Capt. C.H.L. Woodhouse, CB, RN). (1)
28 Jan 1943
HMS Howe (Capt. C.H.L. Woodhouse, CB, RN), HMS Malaya (Capt. J.W.A. Waller, RN), HMS Cumberland (Capt. A.H. Maxwell-Hyslop, AM, RN) and HMS Belfast (Capt. F.R. Parham, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral R.L. Burnett, CB, OBE, RN) conducted tactical exercises off Scapa Flow. (2)
4 Feb 1943
HMS P 225 (Lt. C.H. Rankin, RN) participated in A/S exercises at Scapa Flow. Also practice attacks were made on HMS Howe (Capt. C.H.L. Woodhouse, CB, RN) and HMS Malaya (Capt. J.W.A. Waller, RN). (3)
19 Aug 1944
Operation Banquet, Carrier raid against Padang, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies by ships of the Eastern Fleet.
On 19 July 1944 ships from the Eastern Fleet put to sea from Trincomalee, Ceylon. The Task Force was called Force 64 and was made up of the following ships; British aircraft carriers HMS Victorious (Capt. M.M. Denny, CB, CBE, RN), HMS Indomitable (Capt. J.A.S. Eccles, RN), the British battleship HMS Howe (Capt. H.W.U. McCall, DSO, RN), the British light cruisers HMS Ceylon (Capt. G.B. Amery-Parkes, RN), HMS Kenya (Capt. C.L. Robertson, RN) and the British destroyers HMS Rotherham (Capt. H.W. Biggs, DSO, RN), HMS Raider (Lt.Cdr. K.W. Michell, DSC, RN), HMS Redoubt (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Ropner, DSO, RN), HMS Rapid (Lt.Cdr. M.W. Tomkinson, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Rocket (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Acworth, OBE, RN).
On the 17th the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Easedale (8032 GRT, built 1942 escorted by the Dutch light cruiser HrMs Tromp (A/Capt. F. Stam, RNN) had already gone to sea to be in a position to refuel ships from Force 64 on the 22th.
On the 24th the carriers launched aircraft to attack Padang. They claimed to have sunk a transport and to have damaged two more transports. (4)
2 Nov 1944
During 2 and 3 November 1944, HMS Statesman (Lt. R.G.P. Bulkeley, RN), conducted exercises off Trincomalee. Practice attacks were made on HMS Howe (Capt. H.W.U. McCall, DSO, RN) and HMS Lewes (T/Lt. M.H. Grylls, SANF(V)). Also night RDF (radar) exercises were carried out with HMS Lewes. Before returning to Trincomalee D/F calibration trials were carried out. (5)
Media links
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Sources
- ADM 173/17220
- ADM 53/117009 + ADM 53/117876
- ADM 173/18080
- Files 2.12.03.6854 and 2.12.27.121 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands) and WO 203 / 4980 (British National Archives, Kew, London)
- ADM 173/18825
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.
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