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HMS Valiant, a 27,500-ton Queen Elizabeth class battleship, was built at Glasgow, Scotland. She was completed in February 1916 and served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea for the remainder of World War I. As one of the important components of British seapower, Valiant was twice modernized during the inter-war period, in 1929-30 and again in 1937-39, greatly enhancing her combat effectiveness. The late '30s reconstruction was particularly comprehensive, giving the ship an up-to-date appearance and greatly improved anti-aircraft defenses.
Valiant's World War II service was far-flung: the Home Fleet in 1940, Mediterranean in 1941-42, Indian Ocean in 1942, Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1943-44 and back to the Indian Ocean in 1944. She took part in operations off Norway in April 1940. While in the Mediterranean in 1941, Valiant participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March, was bombed off Crete in May, and received serious damage from a daring Italian underwater commando raid at Alexandria, Egypt, in December. During 1943, she supported the invasions of Sicily in July and Salerno in September, twice bombarding enemy forces ashore during the latter operation. She also escorted the Italian Fleet into Malta after Italy had agreed to Allied terms. In August 1944, the venerable battleship was damaged in a drydock accident at Trincomalee, Ceylon, requiring her to return to England for extensive repairs that lasted into 1946. After final service as a training ship, HMS Valiant was sold for scrapping in March 1948.
This page features virtually all our views of the British battleship Valiant.
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
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Photo #: NH 52518 HMS Valiant (British battleship, 1916) Photographed following her 1929-30 refit. She is carrying a Fairey III-F floatplane on her fantail catapult. This catapult was only carried during 1930-33. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 555 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97486 HMS Valiant (British battleship, 1916) Photographed in late 1939, following modernization. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 420 pixels |
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Photo #: SC 188574 Italian Fleet arrives at Malta, 10 September 1943 HMS Valiant leads the line as the Italian fleet steams into Malta, under the terms of the Italian Armistice. The scene is framed by the after 15-inch guns of HMS Warspite. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 49KB; 740 x 490 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-385067 British battlecruiser Renown Operating with other capital ships of the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean area, 12 May 1944. HMS Valiant is in the right distance. The French battleship Richelieu is in the left background. Photographed from a USS Saratoga (CV-3) plane. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 155KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Historical Center home page.Page made 28 January 2001
Coding updated 15 April 2001