HMS Roberts (F40)

HMS Roberts (F40) History

HMS Roberts (F40) had a successful wartime career, including service during World War II (1939-1945). She saw her keel laid by the John Brown Company of Clydebank on 30 April 1940, launched about a year later, and quickly brought into service on 27 October 1941, when the Royal Navy required all types of warship.

The ship exists as the leader of the Roberts-class monitor - a slow and compact warship with a "cannon" weapon. This level only includes HMS Abercrombie (F109), which also managed to survive the entire war.

Key to HMS Roberts' design was her 2 x 15"/42 Mk 1 main guns, mounted as twin guns on one main turret. The turret itself has a history of its own, having been taken over by HMS Marshall Soult, one of the Marshal Ney-class monitors on combat duty during World War I (1914-1918). The main gun provided good long-range penetration and was a proven commodity for the Royal Navy.

Also available in 8 x 4" The anti-aircraft guns served as four twin turrets to protect the ship from incoming air threats. 16 x 2-pounder guns and 20 x 20 mm anti-aircraft guns mounted on the ship's deck further reinforced the anti-aircraft defenses.

Speed ??is not a critical quality of the design, its propulsion system consists of 2 x boilers feeding 2 x Parsons steam turbines. These drive 2 x axles and have an output of 4,800 hp. Under ideal conditions, the top speed is only 12.5 knots.

Another poor design quality is armor protection, which tends to affect larger capital ships. HMS Roberts had to squeeze every knot out of her layout, and for the role, the armor was kept as minimal as possible13 inches on the turret, 8 inches on the turret, and up to 5 inches on the belt.

When built, HMS Roberts had a rather unconventional shape, housing her main guns in a separate turret that was raised significantly to the bow and stern. Also, there are no other major turret positions, making the profile look somewhat uneven. The superstructure of the bridge is placed in the middle of the bow, and there is no usual volume around her base, like other warships of that period - the bridge structure protrudes like its own turrets.

A smoke funnel was found behind the superstructure, and the stern was covered with various devices (including masts), structures and weapons. She dispatched a crew of 350, with a displacement of 8,100 short tons and a length of 373 feet, 89 feet, 9 inches and a draft of 11 feet.

HMS Roberts was used in several key Allied amphibious operations against the Axis, including the North African landings of Operation Torch (November 1942). During the work, she was damaged by two bombs in an attack - although she survived and was repaired. From there, she was asked to take part in the Allied landings in Sicily through Operation Husky (August 1943) - in order to gain a foothold on the march to Rome.

Then came the Salerno landings as part of Operation Avalanche (September 1943) and the famous Normandy D-Day in northern France (June 1944), during which fire was fired on Sword Beach in preparation for the landing attack. Jiantan was occupied by the British and French forces.

The ship survived the entire war and was eventually decommissioned and sold as scrap after being stripped of all useful parts. The British Navy had little interest in 1940s monitors, and many ships suffered the same fate in the massive postwar era.

After a remarkable career, she was scrapped in 1965 - although one of her 15-inch guns was salvaged and put on permanent display at London's Imperial War Museum (Lambeth).

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