HMS King George V (1911)

A postcard of King George V underway, about 1913
History
United Kingdom
Name	King George V
Namesake	King George V
Builder	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth
Cost	£1,961,096
Laid down	16 January 1911
Launched	9 October 1911
Commissioned	16 November 1912
Decommissioned	26 October 1926
Fate	Sold for scrap, December 1926
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	King George V-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement	25,420 long tons (25,830 t) (normal)
Length	594 ft 4 in (181.2 m) (o/a)
Beam	89 ft 1 in (27.2 m)
Draught	28 ft 8 in (8.7 m)
Installed power	27,000 shp (20,000 kW) 18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	5,910 nmi (10,950 km; 6,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	869–1,114
Armament	5 × twin 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns 16 × single 4-inch (102 mm) guns 3 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 12 in (305 mm) Deck: 1–4 in (25–102 mm) Turrets: 11 in (280 mm) Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm)

HMS King George V was the lead ship of her class of four dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, often serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

After the war, King George V became flagship of the Home Fleet and then of the Reserve Fleet before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in late 1920. The ship evacuated refugees during the Great fire of Smyrna in September 1922 before returning home at the beginning of 1923. King George V was reduced to reserve and used as a training ship until late 1926 and was sold for scrap later in the year in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.