Catalogue description Records of the HMS Warspite project.

When received these records were divided into two groups - those prior to 1952 and those post 1952. On closer inspection these dates do overlap but this original order has been maintained. Within each group were bundles of documents. Again, these bundles have been left in the order they were received and the order reflected by labels on their original wrapping. See 1000/1/3/3/1 and 1000/1/3/3/2/1 for photographs of salvaging of HMS Warspite.

HMS Warspite was built at the Devonport dockyard in Plymouth, launched on the 26th November 1915, and became one of Britain's most decorated ships of the twentieth century. Nicknamed 'The Old Lady', the Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship, served in both world wars and marked the climax of the race for naval supremacy between Britain and Germany. She has been noted as arguably the greatest battleship the Royal Navy ever possessed. She took part in the battle of Jutland in 1916 and sustained between 13 and 15 hits after her steering gear jammed and she circled in front of the German fleet. Following the Washington Naval Treaty prohibiting construction of new capital ships she received a complete modernisation between 1934 and 1937, being completely rebuilt from interior to exterior. Her superstructure was radically altered, allowing an aircraft hangar to be fitted, and changes were also made to her armament and propulsion systems. In April of 1940 HMS Warspite took part in the Second Battle of Navarik and her reconnaissance aircraft bombed and sank German submarine U-64. At the Battle of Calabria on 9 July 1940, she hit the Italian flagship, Guilio Cesare, at the range of 21 kilometers. Accompanied by sister ships Barham and Valiant at the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March 1941, they sank two Italian heavy cruisers in a notable night time engagement. In September 1941, whilst taking part in the landings at Salerno, she was hit by a radio-controlled bomb. She was towed to Gibraltar for temporary repairs and then fully repaired at Rosyth in March 1944. By June 1944 HMS Warspite had been deployed at Normandy and with only three functioning main turrets she took part in the bombardment of Brest, Le Havre and Walcheren Island. In 1946, deemed a total loss and judged entirely unrecoverable, HMS Warspite was sold for scrap by the underwriters to a Mr Richard Bennett [by 1947 Mr R Bennett had set up 'Western Salvage Co Ltd', of Penzance & Bristol.] The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd, Wednesfield, then negotiated a contract in August 1947 with Mr R Bennett, under which they were to advance monies against the vessel's much needed non-ferrous metal to be salvaged and delivered, estimated at 1,250 - 1,500 tons [see 'The August Agreement']. Early in 1949, in order to safeguard their financial commitments, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd took over the vessel and entered into a contract with a firm of salvage contractors, 'P Bauer (Salvage) Ltd', London. They were to dismantle the remaining 25,000 tons of steel, non-ferrous metal etc. from the vessel, which was at the time lying at Prussia Cove with a rock piercing her hull. On Sat July 29th, 1950, the salvage firm had a success; they floated the ship and began to tow her away from Prussia Cove. Unfortunately the hawser fouled the tug's propellers and she went aground again in an exposed position. On the advice of the salvage firm, all hopes of taking HMS Warspite to the breakers yard were abandoned. Permission to beach her at a convenient site was refused and so demolition began where she was lying. Results were unsatisfactory and expenses too high and so The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd directly took over on Jan 25th 1952 [see last letter in file 2 (insurance)]. When the contract with the salvage firm expired, they withdrew their machinery and equipment, effectively meaning The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd had to start from scratch, building up a salvage crew and acquiring the necessary equipment. Mr Frank Wilson undertook this task with the help of Messrs Neil Macdonald and Neil Macquarrie as salvage engineers and Mr Duncan Nicholson [see file 5, (N)] as engineer in charge of plant. Meanwhile a search up and down the country was on-going for pumps, compressors, generators, cranes and steel air-lines and by April, 3 months after taking over, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd were contemplating their first major attempt to refloat HMS Warspite. The firm previously employed had used 27 four tool compressors, WM had the advantage of being able to use 2 jet compressors, loaned by the Ministry of Supply, and had expert advice from Rolls Royce Ltd. On May 12th 1952, The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd succeeded in lifting HMS Warspite and managed to move her inshore by a quarter of a mile. She then grounded and lay fore and aft across a deep channel and completely broke her back. In order to lighten the ship with the least possible delay it was decided to remover her 21-ton lower armour plates whole, and for this purpose a 25 ton crane was purchased. During this time the diver - Mr Jim Craig - was repairing and sealing where necessary. Further attempts were made to refloat, but it was found impossible to lift the ship again in one piece. It was decided to sever HMS Warspite completely. May 1953 saw the forward end begin coming away at the fracture. By June 27th, she was finally severed and pulled inshore. During this period The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd had recovered approx 5,000 tons of steel and 200 tons of non-ferrous metal. As soon as the plates were landed on the deck they were cut into quarters and then sent by The Wolverhampton Metal Company Ltd's own barge to their Penzance Siding Depot to be railed to Sheffield.