HMS ''Malaya'' was one of five ''Queen Elizabeth''-class super-dreadnought battleships built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during the 1910s. Shortly after commissioning in early 1916, she participated in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as part of the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

. ''Malaya'' spent the interwar period between the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

, Atlantic Fleet, and

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

. She transported Ottoman Sultan

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as ''Şahbaba'' () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the penultimate Ottoman Cal ...

into exile and served during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. Apart from this, her interwar career was uneventful. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''Malaya'' served with the

, serving as a convoy escort and fighting in the Battle of Calabria and

Operation Grog Operation Grog was the code name name for the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by Force H of the Royal Navy, consisting of the battleship , the aircraft carrier , the battlecruiser and the ...

. In March 1941, she was transferred to the North Atlantic to perform convoy escort duties, during which she prevented the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau from attacking a convoy. Torpedoed in that month by the German submarine U-106, ''Malaya'' received repairs in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. ''Malaya'' was withdrawn from serving at the end of 1944 and used as an

accommodation ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

for the training establishment HMS ''Vernon.'' She was ultimately broken up and sold for scrap in 1948.

Design and description

The ''Queen Elizabeth''-class battleships were designed to form a fast squadron for the fleet that was intended to operate against the leading ships of the opposing battleline and prevent German battlecruisers from doing the same. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. As a result, the

breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

(BL) 15-inch (381mm) Mk 1 gun was adopted, a significant upgrade from the 13.5-inch Mk V gun found on the preceding ''Iron Duke-''class. A last-minute decision by the Admiralty led to the use of oil-fired boilers, increasing the speed of the ships. ''Malaya'' had a

length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...

of , a beam of and a deep draught of . She had a normal

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of and displaced at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...

. She was powered by two sets of Parsons

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

, rated at and driving two shafts using steam from 24 Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Though the turbines were intended to reach a maximum speed of , in practice, was the fastest achievable. The ship had a range of at a cruising speed of . Her crew numbered 1,217 officers and ratings in 1919. HMS_Malaya_guns

The ''Queen Elizabeth'' class was equipped with eight

(BL) Mk I guns in four twin- gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Twelve of the fourteen BL Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

deck near the aft

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

and were protected by gun shields. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 20 cwt Mk I"Cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...

, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. guns. The ships were fitted with four submerged 21-inch (533 mm)

torpedo tubes A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

, two on each broadside. ''Malaya'' was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with rangefinders. One was mounted above the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod

foremast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...

. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'B' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in April 1917. The waterline belt of the ''Queen Elizabeth'' class consisted of

Krupp cemented armour Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the ...

(KC) that was thick over the ships' vitals. The gun turrets were protected by of KC armour and were supported by barbettes thick. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from in thickness. The main conning tower was protected by 13 inches of armour. After the Battle of Jutland, 1 inch of

high-tensile steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

was added to the main deck over the

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines. The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

could launch. Exactly when the platforms were removed is unknown, but no later than ''Malaya''s 1934–1936 reconstruction.

1924 refit

During her first post-war refit in 1924, ''Malaya'' saw the removal of her 3-inch guns and main mast searchlight platforms and addition of 4-inch high-angle guns. A refit in 1926 added another pair of 4-inch guns, the HACS anti-aircraft

fire control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a Director (military), director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs th ...

, a new fore-top, a stump fore-topmast, and moved the 15-inch gunnery director. A short-range wireless-transmitter was added either during this refit or earlier.Raven & Roberts, pp. 132–134 During her first big refit from 1927–1929, ''Malaya'' received modified anti-torpedo bulges, collective protection, and water protection. A torpedo-control position and an HACS Mk I director were added. She received new storage facilities for aviation fuel, and improved storage for 6-inch ammunition. The ship's bridgework was modified, its stump fore-mast removed, and its funnels were amalgamated or "trunked". These modifications led her to share a similar appearance with . The two stern submerged torpedo tubes were removed in 1931. ''Malaya'' underwent a more extensive refit from 1934–1936. Armour protection over her deck, magazines, and machinery spaces was improved, and the armoured conning-tower was replaced by a smaller one. The 4-inch high-angle guns were replaced by four twin mounts for 4-inch Mk XIX guns and two 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in) Mk VIII "pom-pom" mounts and four Vickers 0.5 in (12.7 mm) AA machine-guns were added. The installation of the pom-pom director led the 6-inch director to be moved. The bow torpedo tubes were removed, and an

aircraft catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to help fixed-wing aircraft gain enough airspeed and lift for takeoff from a limited distance, typically from the deck of a ship. They are usually used on aircraft carrier flight decks as a form of assist ...

and aircraft hangar were fitted. A run after this refit achieved Malaya's top speed of . After being torpedoed by in March 1941, a damage refit in Brooklyn Naval Yard added offices and mounting positions for a pair of Type 281 early-warning radars, a pair of Type 285 anti-aircraft radars, a Type 284 range-finding radar, and several Type 282 pom-pom directors. The radars were added in a July 1941 refit in the United Kingdom, which also removed the 0.5-inch machine-gun mountings and added eleven 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon.Raven & Roberts, p. 225 A 1942 refit removed the aircraft catapult and added a pair of twin 4-inch guns, a pair of 20 mm Oerlikons, and a pair of eight-barrelled pom-pom mounts, as well as a Type 273 surface search radar. To save space for the equipment added as well as the personnel required to man them, ''Malaya''s 6-inch guns were removed in 1943 and plated over, with twenty-two more 20-mm Oerlikons added. A final refit in 1944 added eight 20 mm Oerlikons, upgraded the radars, and added a Type 650 missile-jamming device.

Construction and career

First World War

''Malaya'' was built by Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company at High

Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward in the south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. History The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as ''Waucre''. This means 'wall-car ...

, and launched in March 1915. She was named in honour of the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

, whose government paid for her construction. ''Malaya'' served in Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron of the

. She took part in the

, on 31 May 1916. She first engaged the German battlecruisers and targeted the battlecruiser SMS ''Seydlitz'', scoring numerous hits with her 15-inch (381 mm) main guns. As the German battleline intercepted the 5th Battle Squadron, Malaya was hit by seven 12-inch (305 mm) shells from multiple German battleships. As 5th Battle Squadron retreated to join the rest of the Grand Fleet, she was hit by an additional battleship sized projectile for a total of eight hits, taking major damage and heavy crew casualties. A total of 65 men died, either in the battle or later due to their injuries. However, her armour held up, surviving nowhere near critical condition. Among the wounded was Able Seaman Willie Vicarage, notable as one of the first men to receive facial reconstruction using plastic surgery and the first to receive radical reconstruction via the "tubed pedicule" technique pioneered by Sir

Harold Gillies Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was a New Zealand otolaryngologist and father of modern plastic surgery for the techniques he devised to repair the faces of wounded soldiers returning from World War I. Early life ...

. Uniquely among the ships at the battle, HMS ''Malaya'' flew the red-white-black-yellow

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

of the

. Other than Jutland, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the

mostly consisted of routine patrols and training in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Between the wars

On 17 November 1922 ''Malaya'' carried the last Sultan of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, from Istanbul into exile on

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. In August–September 1938 she served in the port of Haifa during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine.

Second World War

''Malaya'' served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in 1940, escorting

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s and operating against the Italian fleet. ''Malayas second big action of her career, and her first of World War II, was the Battle of Calabria, on 9 June 1940. British forces engaged an Italian fleet, including the battleships and . ''Malaya'' fired several main battery rounds against the Italians while under fire from ''Conte di Cavour''. Through her actions, ''Malaya'' helped to chase off the Italian warships with no damage received or hits scored, though most of the engagement was carried out by ''Warspite''. She shelled

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in February 1941 as part of

but due to a crew error, fired a 15-inch armour-piercing shell into the south-east corner of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of Genoa Cathedral, that failed to detonate. In March 1941, she was transferred to the North Atlantic for convoy escort. On 7 March 1941, while escorting Convoy SL 67, ''Malaya'' encountered the German capital ships and that were conducting the Operation Berlin raid against Allied convoys. By her presence she forced them to withdraw, although a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

attack aiming to sink ''Malaya'' inflicted some damage on the convoy. Later that month ''Malaya'' was escorting Convoy SL 68. On the evening of 20 March 1941, about west-northwest of the

Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, ''Malaya'' was hit by a torpedo from . Damaged on the port side, and with a 7 degree list due to flooding, Malaya was forced to leave the convoy and make for port, escorted by the corvette . She reached

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

safely on 29 March. After temporary repairs, she continued to the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

, where she was docked for four months. During that time, personnel from the ship ferried ten s to Britain. On 9 July, under the command of Captain Cuthbert Coppinger, ''Malaya'' left New York on trials and steamed to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, to provide protection for an urgent fast convoy. No ships were lost and ''Malaya'' arrived in Rosyth on 28 July. Thereafter she escorted convoys from the United Kingdom to Malta and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

until summer 1943. ''Malaya'' was placed in reserve at the end of 1943. At this time her secondary 6-inch armament was removed and her anti-aircraft armament was enhanced. Between 15 and 17 May 1944, ''Malaya'' was used in Loch Striven as a target ship for inert ''Highball''

bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be predeterm ...

prototypes, one of which punched a hole in the ship's side. She was reactivated just before the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

to act as a reserve bombardment battleship.

Fate

''Malaya'' was withdrawn from service at the end of 1944 and became an

for a torpedo school. Sold on 20 February 1948 to Metal Industries, Limited she arrived at

Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

on 12 April 1948 for scrapping. The first watch bell was refitted and presented to the Perak Council in Malaya, and was hung in the Council Chamber. The furthermost bell is located in the

East India Club The East India Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1849 and situated at 16, St James's Square in London. The full title of the club is East India, Devonshire Club, Devonshire, Sports and Public Schools Club, Public Schools' Club due to mergers ...

, and the second watch bell was handed to the

Victoria Institution The Victoria Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a memorial school, so-called because it was partly funded by public subscription intended for the erection of a permanent memorial to commemorate the Golden ...

on 12 September 1947, before being handed over to the

Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defence operations. RMN's area of operation consists of 603,2 ...

in 2007.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Page about the ship from battleships-cruisers.co.uk

Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Malaya Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaya (1915) Queen Elizabeth-class battleships Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth Ships built on the River Tyne 1915 ships World War I battleships of the United Kingdom World War II battleships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names