HMS Nelson

HMS Nelson (pennant number 28) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy between the two World Wars. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson the victor at the Battle of Trafalgar. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. These were a result of the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Commissioned in 1930, Nelson served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during World War II. She was decommissioned soon after the end of the war and scrapped in 1949.

HMS King George V

HMS King George V (pennant number 41) was the lead ship of the five British King George V-class battleships of the Royal Navy. Laid down in 1937 and commissioned in 1940, King George V operated during the Second World War as part of the BritishHome and Pacific Fleets. Along with HMS Rodney, King George V severely damaged the German battleship Bismarck which led to the German vessel sinking in May 1941. On 1 May 1942 HMS Punjabi sank after a collision with King George V. King George V took part in Operation Husky (the allied landings in Sicily) and bombarded the island of Levanzo and the port of Trapani. She also escorted part of the surrendered Italian Fleet, which included the battleships Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio, to Malta. In 1945King George V took part in operations against the Japanese in the Pacific.

Following the war, King George V spent three years as the flagship of the British Home Fleet, before she was placed in reserve in 1949. The battleship was scrapped eight years later.