Was at Battle of Jutland being one of the most accurate British warships scoring many direct hits. Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets between the Wars. Major refits and reconstruction also in this period. Home Fleet at beginning of WW2. Sank HMS Duchess in collision in 1939 with considerable loss of life. Later joined Mediterranean Fleet.
Remarks
End year
Fate / Status
1941
Torpedoed 25/11/1941
Disposal Detail
In the late afternoon of November 25 when on patrol in the Mediterranean off Sollum with HMS Queen Elizabeth, Valiant and a destroyer escort Barham was torpedoed at close range by U331. As she rolled over to port, her magazines exploded and she sank with the loss of 841 out of her complement of 1184. The survivors were rescued by the other British ships.The explosion was caught on newsreel film. The sinking was suppressed on the orders of Winston Churchill till 1942.