HMS Valiant (1914) - World War I

World War I

The contract for the construction of the Valiant was given to The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited. She was laid down in the same berth where the battlecruiser HMS Indomitable had been built. On the construction of Valiant by Admiralty contract, Fairfields lost £78,836. Her turbines were manufactured by Fairfields, and her armour plate was provided by William Beardmore and Company. Upon completion on 19 February 1916 under Captain Maurice Woollcombe she joined the recently formed Fifth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. At the Battle of Jutland she fired 288 15-inch shells at the German High Seas Fleet. Despite the severity of damage suffered by her sister ships (bar HMS Queen Elizabeth which did not take part in the battle) she suffered no damage. One of her 15-inch guns which had been in Valiant at Jutland was later removed and became one of the three guns of the Johore Battery at Singapore. However, on 24 August that same year she collided with HMS Warspite and was in repairs until 18 September.