HMS Warspite
General characteristics (original configuration)
Displacement:	27,500 tons standard, 33,400 tons full load
Length:	645 ft 9 in (197 m)
Beam:	90 ft 6 in (27.6 m)
Draught:	28 ft 9 in (8.8 m)
Propulsion:	Steam turbines, 24 boilers, 4 shafts, 56,500 hp (42 MW)
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range:	4,400 miles
Complement:	950–1300
Armament:	8 x 15 in (381 mm) guns, 14 x 6 in (152 mm) guns, 2 x 3 in (76 mm) guns, 4 x 47 mm guns, 4 x 21 in (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

The Queen Elizabeth class battleships were five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England. They were majestic looking battleships that captured the imagination of much of the British public, symbols of the Royal Navy and Britannia's rule of the waves.

The Queen Elizabeths boasted an excellent combination of weaponry, armour and speed, indeed they were the first fast battleships. They completely dwarfed their German counterparts, such as the König and Bayern classes in almost every respect. They were the first battleships to be armed with the potent 15 inch (381 mm) guns, which indeed forced the Germans to alter the Bayern class armament from its original 12 inch (305 mm) guns to 15 inch (381 mm).

This class was the brainchild of two men, Admiral Jackie Fisher, and Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill was paramount in getting the Queen Elizabeths off the drawing board and into the water; but he was also influenced in a number of decisions about the Queen Elizabeths by Lord Fisher, who had been persuaded to come out of retirement by Churchill.

They performed with distinction in World War I. At the battle of Jutland, four of the ships formed Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron, and in the clash with the German scouting force under Admiral Franz von Hipper they "fired with extraordinary rapidity and accuracy" (according to Reinhard Scheer), sinking Lützow and severely damaging Seydlitz and a number of other German warships. Three of the Queen Elizabeths received a number of hits from German warships during the engagement, which reached into double figures, yet they all returned home, though Warspite had been heavily damaged, taking fifteen hits, coming close to foundering.

In World War II, the class also performed with distinction, though their age, and the increasing obsolescence of the battleship in the face of air power, was beginning to show. In November 1941, Barham was torpedoed and sunk in just five minutes, with the loss of over 800 of her crew.

Ships of the class

• Barham received five hits at Jutland and fired 337 shells. In World War II, she fought at Cape Matapan. On 25 November 1941 she was struck by three torpedoes from U-331 and sunk.
• Malaya was hit eight times at Jutland, though only receiving minor damage. In World War II she escorted convoys and was damaged by a torpedo from U-106 in 1941.
• Queen Elizabeth took part in the Dardanelles Campaign in World War I. In World War II she was mined and sunk by Italian frogmen at Alexandria in 1941. She was subsequently raised, repaired, and served in the far east until 1945.
• Valiant astonishingly receiving no hits at Jutland. In World War II, she took part in the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, and was mined and sunk Alexandria in 1941. She was subsequently raised, repaired, and seveed in the far east until 1944.
• Warspite had perhaps the most distinguished career of any Royal Navy ship of the 20th century. She suffered severe damage at Jutland and nearby foundered. In World War II, she took part in many operations, including Narvik, Cape Matapan, Crete, and Salerno, where she was hit by a glider bomb. She was never fully repaired, and became a coastal bombardment ship, covering the Normandy landings, and further operations in other parts of France.

The class had been originally intended to have another three ships, funded by Canada, but the Canadian Naval Aid Bill 1913 failed to be passed. Agincourt was cancelled before any work had been done.