HMS ''Roberts'' was a

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 ...

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 ...

. She was the second monitor to be named after

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914), was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. ...

. Built by

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its heig ...

, of

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

, she was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

30 April 1940, launched 1 February 1941 and completed on 27 October 1941. She reused the twin 15-inch gun turret 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 ...

monitor .

Service history

D-day - British Forces during the Invasion of Normandy 6 June 1944 A23920

''Roberts'' provided bombardment support during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, where she was damaged by two bombs in the Battle of Béjaïa. She was repaired in time to support

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

(the invasion of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

) and the Allied landings near Salerno (

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

). During the D-Day landings, she was controlled from the headquarters ship also positioned off

Sword beach Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fra ...

. She also took part in the

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

operations. In July 1945, ''Roberts'' departed the United Kingdom for the Indian Ocean to support

Operation Mailfist __NOTOC__ Operation Mailfist was a planned Allied offensive to liberate Singapore from Japanese occupation during World War II. It was intended to follow on from the landing in Malaya, Operation Zipper, and take place between December 1945 and Marc ...

, the planned liberation of Singapore. She was near

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

at the time the Japanese surrender on 15 August, but was not recalled until 11 September by which time she had reached

Kilindini Harbour Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from Mombasa, Kenya. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbo ...

in Kenya. She eventually reached Plymouth on 22 November. ''Roberts'' was sold for scrap shortly after the war, but hired back by the navy as an accommodation ship at Devonport until 1965. She was sold for scrap again in July 1965, finally berthing at

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, business primarily working steel, engineering and cement. It began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture ...

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

for break up in early August.Buxton 2008 c. 9.10, para. 3 One of ''Roberts'' weapons (originally installed on the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

) is mounted outside the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

in Lambeth, south London, together with one from the battleship .

Notes

Hart, Stephen A. The Clearing of the Scheldt Estuary and the Liberation of Walcheren 2 October - 7 November 1944 Second World War 60th Anniversary, number 8, page 15. Central Office of Information, 2005.

References

* * *Hart, Stephen A
''The Clearing of the Scheldt Estuary and the Liberation of Walcheren 2 October - 7 November 1944''
Second World War 60th Anniversary No8 . Central Office of Information, 2005. *Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J. J. Warships of World War II, Ian Allan, London, 1973. *Young, John. A Dictionary of Ships of the Royal Navy of the Second World War. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge, 1975.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts Roberts-class monitors Ships built on the River Clyde 1941 ships World War II monitors of the United Kingdom Naval ships of Operation Neptune