Allied Warships

HMS Anson (79)

Battleship of the King George V class

HMS Anson during the war.

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Battleship
Class	King George V
Pennant	79
Built by	Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.): Wallsend
Ordered	28 Apr 1937
Laid down	20 Jul 1937
Launched	24 Feb 1940
Commissioned	22 Jun 1942
End service	Aug 1950
History	Anson served as Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Moore`s flagship during Operation Tungsten in April 1944. One of the many air attacks against Germany's only remaining battleship Tirpitz, in Altenfjord, Northern Norway. With the end of the war in Europe in sight HMS Anson joined the British Pacific Fleet until July 1946 returning home to become the Training Squadron Flagship from 1948 until 1949. Anson was paid-off into Reserve in August 1950. Sold to Shipbreaking Industries in 1957, arrived at Faslane for scrapping on 17 December 1957.

Commands listed for HMS Anson (79)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Capt. Harold Richard George Kinahan, RN	10 Feb 1942	29 Jul 1943
2	Capt. Edward Desmond Bewley McCarthy, DSO, RN	29 Jul 1943	mid 1944
3	Cdr. Alexander Robert Kennedy, RN	mid 1944	9 Nov 1944
4	Capt. Alexander Cumming Gordon Madden, RN	9 Nov 1944	19 Jan 1946
5	Capt. Frederick Secker Bell, RN	19 Jan 1946

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Notable events involving Anson include:

18 Jun 1942
HMS Manchester (Capt. H. Drew, DSC, RN)) and the destroyers HMS Somali (Capt. J.W.M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ashanti (Cdr. R.G. Onslow, DSO, RN) and HMS Offa (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Ewing, RN) departed Scapa Flow to rendez-vous with new battleships HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) that is to proceed from Rosyth to Scapa Flow for working up exercises. (1)

19 Jun 1942
HMS Manchester (Capt. H. Drew, DSC, RN), HMS Somali (Capt. J.W.M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ashanti (Cdr. R.G. Onslow, DSO, RN) and HMS Offa (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Ewing, RN) returned to Scapa Flow escorting HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) after taking over the escort duties from the destroyers Verdun (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Donald, DSC, RN) and HMS Vanity (Lt.Cdr. W.B.R. Morrison, RN). (1)

5 Aug 1942
HMS Upright (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) carried out exercises with HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN). (2)

6 Aug 1942
HMS Upright (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) carried out exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) and her destroyer screen which was made up of HMS Inglefield (Cdr. A.G. West, RN), HMS Windsor (Lt.Cdr. D.H.F. Hetherington, DSC, RN), HMS Walpole (Lt. A.S. Pomeroy, RN) and HMS Panther (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Jocelyn, RN). (2)

2 Sep 1942
HMS H 34 (Lt. J.P.H. Oakley, DSC, RN) conducted exercises off Scapa Flow. These exercises included a practice attack on the battleship HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) and her screen of six destroyers; HMS Onslow (Capt H.T. Armstrong, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Onslaught (Cdr. W.H. Selby, RN), HMS Opportune (Cdr. M.L. Power, OBE, RN), HMS Eskimo (Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN), HMS Tartar (Cdr. St.J.R.J. Tyrwhitt, DSC, RN) and HMS Echo (Lt.Cdr. N. Lanyon, RN). (3)

10 Dec 1942
HMS P 49 (Lt. J.P. Fyfe, RN) conducted attack exercises off Scapa Flow during which HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) served as target. The battleship was escorted by HMS Inglefield (Cdr. A.G. West, RN), HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. E.N. Walmsley, DSC, RN) and HMS Eclipse (Lt.Cdr. E. Mack, DSO, DSC, RN). (4)

7 Mar 1944
HMS Trusty (Lt. M.F.R. Ainslie, DSO, DSC, RN) conducts attack exercises with HMS Anson (Capt. E.D.B. McCarthy, DSO and Bar, RN). (5)