HMS Queen Mary

Queen Mary at sea with torpedo net booms folded against her side
Class overview
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byLion class
Succeeded byHMS Tiger
Built1911–1913
In commission1913–1916
Completed1
Lost1
History
United Kingdom
NameQueen Mary
NamesakeQueen Mary, consort of George V
Ordered1910–1911 Naval Programme
BuilderPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow
Laid down6 March 1911
Launched20 March 1912
CompletedAugust 1913
Commissioned4 September 1913
Fate
  • Sunk during the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
  • 56°42′N 5°54′E / 56.700°N 5.900°E / 56.700; 5.900
General characteristics
TypeBattlecruiser
Displacement
  • 26,770 long tons (27,200 t) normal load
  • 31,650 long tons (32,158 t) deep load
Length700 ft 1 in (213.4 m)
Beam89 ft 1 in (27.2 m)
Draught32 ft 4 in (9.9 m) at deep load
Installed power
  • 42 Yarrow boilers
  • 75,000 shp (55,927 kW)
Propulsion4 shafts, 2 direct-drive steam turbines
Speed28 knots (51.9 km/h; 32.2 mph)
Range5,610 nmi (10,390 km; 6,460 mi) at 10 knots (18.5 km/h; 11.5 mph)
Complement
  • 997 (peacetime)
  • 1,275 (wartime)
Armament
  • 4 × twin 13.5 in (343 mm) guns
  • 16 × single 4 in (102 mm)
  • 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour
  • Belt: 9–4 inches (229–102 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 4 inches (102 mm)
  • Barbettes: 9–8 inches (229–203 mm)
  • Turrets: 9 inches (229 mm)
  • Decks: 2.5 inches (64 mm)
  • Conning tower: 10 inches (254 mm)

HMS Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before the First World War. The sole member of her class, Queen Mary shared many features with the Lion-class battlecruisers, including her eight 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns. She was completed in 1913 and participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of the Grand Fleet in 1914. Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, the ship never left the North Sea during the war. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, Queen Mary attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. The ship was refitted in early 1915 and missed the Battle of Dogger Bank in January, but took part in the largest fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. She was struck twice by the German battlecruiser Derfflinger during the early part of the battle and her magazines exploded shortly afterwards, sinking her with the loss of 1,266 of her 1,286 crew members.

Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests in pieces, some of which are upside down, on the bed of the North Sea. Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 as a war grave.