Hammerhead Sovereign

The Royal Navy R-class battleship HMS Royal Sovereign (05) in 1941 was a Great War-era bruiser who was having a very busy year. With larger German surface raiders amok in the North Atlantic, she rode shotgun on Convoys SC 16, HX 103, TC 09, HX 113, HX 114, HX 116, HX 120, and HX 124 before putting into (officially neutral) Norfolk Navy Yard at the end of May for maintenance and additional AAA guns. Here she is seen in late June 1941 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s famous 250-ton/25-story Hammerhead crane, at the time a new feature. Of note, the camo pattern was unofficial. It used Black over the standard light grey. Setting back across the pond, Royal Sovereign put into Greenock, where she had her first radar fit from 17 July to 14 October: Type 284 fire control for her 15-inch guns, Type 285 for secondary armament, Type 286 aircraft warning, and Type 273 surface warning, then went on to serve in the Indian Ocean with the Far East Fleet. She circled back to the States in 1943 to pick up…