Revenge-class Battleship

Ships in class: HMS Revenge, HMS Ramillies, HMS Resolution, HMS Royal Oak, HMS Royal Sovereign

Unlike Queen Elizabeths, the Revenges were not given major reconstructions between the two World Wars. In fact, apart from some minor upgrades, they remained very much unchanged until the Second World War began. Partly this was because of the expense involved in giving them a thorough modernization; what money the Royal Navy received for this purpose was better spent on the Queen Elizabeths which, because of their higher speed and better adaptability, had retained better fighting value. Moreover, the Revenges were scheduled to be replaced by the new Lion-class capital ships as they came into service. However, the coming of the Second World War resulted in the cancellation of the Lions, leaving the Revenges to remain in service despite their limited value in the face of advances in naval technology.

The Revenge class were in general reduced to subsidiary roles during World War II. Churchill wrote that the Revenge class were a source of constant anxiety, and that he saw the Admiralty keep them as many thousands of miles away from the enemy as possible. Two joined the hunt for the battleship Bismarck, but mainly they escorted convoys and performed shore bombardment (including the Normandy landings). However, they were valuable as second-class battleships, performing these duties and freeing up front-line ships.