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- HMS Renown during the Second World War -


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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

HMS Renown



   HMS Renown was built by Fairfield at Govan, Scotland and was commissioned on the 20th of September 1916. In the 1920s she was reconstructed to increase her armour protection and in 1930s a second reconstruction was much more thorough. The ship frequently conveyed royalty on their foreign tours and served as flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron when Hood was refitting.

During the Second World War, Renown was involved in the search for the Admiral Graf Spee in 1939, participated in the Norwegian Campaign of April June 1940 and the search for the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. She spent much of 1940 and 1941 assigned to Force H at Gibraltar, escorting convoys and she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento. Renown was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and provided cover to several Arctic convoys in early 1942. The ship was transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch and spent much of 1943 refitting or transporting Winston Churchill and his staff to and from various conferences with various Allied leaders. In early 1944, Renown was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean where she supported numerous attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in Indonesia and various island groups in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home Fleet in early 1945 and was refitted before being placed in reserve after the end of the war. Renown was sold for scrap on the 19th of March 1948.

 

1st Mar 1940 Cruisers

3rd Mar 1940 On the Move

4th Mar 1940 Arrival

8th Mar 1940 Enemy Aircraft

9th Mar 1940 Arrival

11th Mar 1940 Flagship

16th Mar 1940 Air Raid

19th Mar 1940 Departures

20th Mar 1940 Raft

21st Mar 1940 Training

22nd Mar 1940 Tanker

23rd Mar 1940 Refuelling

25th Mar 1940 Guns Fired

26th Mar 1940 Rejoined

27th Mar 1940 Poor Weather

30th Mar 1940 Visit

1st Apr 1940 In Port

5th Apr 1940 Operations

6th Apr 1940 Orders

7th Apr 1940 Poor Conditions

8th Apr 1940 Attempt to head off enemy fleet

9th Apr 1940 In Action

9th Apr 1940 Conditions Improving

9th Apr 1940 Engagement

9th Apr 1940 Poor Weather

10th April 1940 Enemy Forces

11th Apr 1940 Enemy Forces

12th Apr 1940 Bombing

13th April 1940 In Action

14th Apr 1940 Evidence

17th Apr 1940 Orders

19th Apr 1940 Departure

20th Apr 1940 Arrival

22nd Apr 1940 Ammunition

23rd Apr 1940 Poor Weather

24th Apr 1940 Dock

30th August 1940 Relief convoys successful

27th April 1941 Aircraft for the defence of Malta delivered

6th June 1941 Hurricanes delivered to Malta

30th June 1941 More aircraft delivered to Malta

13th Jul 1941 Convoy

27th Jul 1941 Convoy

4th Aug 1941 Convoy arrives

23rd Mar 1942 Arrival

6th June 1944 Smokescreen


If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.



Those known to have sailed in

HMS Renown

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of HMS Renown from other sources.



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Want to know more about HMS Renown?


There are:46 items tagged HMS Renown available in our Library

  These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.


CPO. Gilbert "Sky" Turner HMS Renown

My grandfather, Gilbert Turner served in the Royal Navy. He was a chef, and my grandmother told me that he cooked a meal for Winston Churchill and the King of Norway at separate times whilst on the battlecruiser HMS Renown. I would be interested to find out more.

Paul Little



AB. Peter Stanley Tomlinson HMS Renown (d.5th September 1944)

Peter Tomlinson was an uncle I never knew. He was killed in 1944 in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and is buried in Trincomalee British War Cemetery in Sri Lanka. His death was something of a mystery as he was discovered, according to a letter received from the Captain of HMS Renown on which he was serving, with fatal head injuries in the harbour after being assigned to picket duties on board the ship. The letter is in my Mother's possession and is the only information which the family received regarding his death. He was aged 19 when he died and my Mother remembers her older brother with great fondness. RIP Uncle Peter I am proud to be your nephew.

Tim Knapp



A.B. Stanley Horace Bettany HMS Victory

Stanley Bettany enlisted in the Royal Navy on 17th of December 1941 after learning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. He enlisted at Coventry, where he lived, and was transferred to Portsmouth. He served on HMS Victory on several occasions. His first was from 25th Feb 1942 to 9th April 1942. His second was 14th June 1945 to 25th August 1945 after returning from Trincomalee on HMS Renown. His third posting on HMS Victory was from 16th February to 3rd June 1946 after which he was demobbed.

John Stanley Bettany



Stok1. William Henry Campbell HMS Renown

Recently I found out that my father, William Campbell served as Stoker on HMS Renown from August 1939 to June 1943. I am trying to trace further information. I understand he boxed for the Navy during his 13 years service

William Henry Campbell



Ships writer Victor John Mustoe HMS Renown

My father Victor Mustoe served on HMS Renown in the East.

Terence Mustoe



Ldg.Sea Francis James "Joe" Coyne HMS Flamingo

Joe Coyne was with the Black Swan class sloop HMS Flamingo from her commissioning in 1939 to her bombing in the Mediterranean in November 1941. The ship was first deployed protecting the North Sea convoys and then took part in the Norway campaign where, as with all the RN units taking part, she was under constant dive bomb attack. Joe, at this time, was an AB and his station was on one of the ship's pom pom anti aircraft guns. He claimed never to have hit anything in spite of his best efforts. At the close of the Norway campaign, the ship was sent immediately to the Mediterranean in support of the North African and Malta convoys where she was again under constant attack from the air.

By this time, because of the ship's constant movement, Joe had received no news from home for two years, so when he finally received the letter telling him that he was a father for the first time, his joy at having a baby daughter was tempered with anger at being kept so long in ignorance. As an expression of this he removed his cap and kicked it over the side. The captain on the bridge had witnessed this performance and for some extraordinary reason had the cap retrieved from the sea. His recent promotion to Leading Seaman was as a consequence reversed.

In November 1941 Flamingo's luck finally ran out when she was bombed and disabled having received a direct hit in the engine room. Joe by this time had his rank restored and was now the ship's coxswain and as such was at the wheel when Flamingo was hit. The ship had rapidly taken on water and was half submerged when she was taken in tow by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Hobart, who successfully towed her into Alexandria.

Here the ship's company were redeployed, Joe returning to the UK on HMS Renown. On reaching his home port of Chatham, he was assigned to HMS Keren. The Keren had been requisitioned out of the merchant fleet where her name had been Kenya (A name she was restored to at the close of hostilities). As a liner, she was suitable for the Navy to use as a troop transport and landing ship. The Keren was deployed to the Mediterranean where she took part in the Sicily and Italy landings and later towards the end of the war, she was in support of the campaign in Burma.

Joe by this time was a Petty Officer. In the interval between the end of the war in Europe and the surrender of Japan, he was employed at Chatham Barracks training Officer cadets. Joe was awarded the Atlantic, Burma, Italy and Africa stars, the latter twice. After serving eighteen years in the navy, he left the service in November 1945 having received promotion to Chief Petty Officer should he sign on for a further twelve years.

Roderick Coyne



George Victor Mann HMS Renown

My father, George Victor Mann, served in the Royal Navy from the 13th of February 1939 until 1945. He served on HMS Renown from the 13th of February 1939 as Stoker 2nd Class, he was promoted on the 31st of January 1940 Stoker 1st Class, and on the 17th of October 1942 to Leading Stocker. In 1943 he transferred to HMS Bellwort and was promoted again on the 17th of June 1944 to Stoker Petty Officer. In 1944 and 1945 he was onboard HMS Orion.

Wayne Mann



Able.Sea. George Robert "Bob" Collis HMS Havelock

My father, George Robert Collis, served in the Royal Navy from 19 February 1942 to 29 May 1946
  • HMS Collingwood - Ordinary Seaman - 19/2/1942 - 12/5/1942
  • HMS Victory - Ordinary Seaman - 13/5/1942 - 22/8/1942
  • HMS Havelock H88 Ordinary & Able Seaman - 7/9/1942 - 8/3/1945
  • HMS Victory - Able Seaman - 9/3/1945 - 19/4/1945
  • HMS Nimrod - Able Seaman - 20/4/1945 - 6/7/1945
  • HMS Osprey - Able Seaman - 7/7/1945 - 27/7/1945
  • HMS Hastings - Able Seaman - 28/7/1945 - 28/10/1945
  • HMS Osprey - Able Seaman - 29/10/1945 - 31/10/1945
  • HMS Caroline - Able Seaman - 1/11/1945 - 31/12/1945
  • HMS Victory - Able Seaman - 1/1/1946 - 29/5/1946

Whilst his naval record does not show him having served on HMS Renown in the photograph I have of him in naval uniform he is wearing the cap from Renown, I can only assume he was on loan to the ship at the time.

Yvonne Waterson



Gnr. Eric Hodgkinson HMS Renown

My father served as a gunner on HMS Renown in WWII.

Erica



Jack Rogers HMS Renown

My dad, Jack Rogers, served on HMS Renown from approximately 1942 to 1946.

Michael Rogers



Gnr. John Cramphorn HMS Renown

My grandfather was a gunner on HMS Renown in WWII.

Marie



Stoker 1/Cl. Bertram Wood DSM HMS Ark Royal (d.1942)

My grandfather, Bertram Wood DSM, served in the Royal Navy from 1924 until April 1942, when he was killed. He served in HMS Ark Royal, HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Pembroke, HMS Chatham, HMS Repulse, HMS Renown, HMS Ramillies, HMS Valiant, HMS Pegasus, HMS Ajax and HMS Havock.

Carol Broomfield



L.Sig. George William Pickett HMS Cyclops

Not a lot is known about George Pickett's sevice days. He was on HMS Renown and He said whilst on HMS Renown, they brought Winston Churchill from Nova Scotia to the United Kingdom. On George's 21st Birthday in 1944, his address was 101 Mess, HMS Cyclops. In February 1946, in St. Rodeaux, he joined the Atheling as crew and sailed to Australia.

Michael Gilmore







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