H.M.S MALAYA (HISTORY)

H.M.S Malaya was the 5th and final ship of the Queen Elizabeth class battleship that was build by Armstrong Ship Builders for the (British) Royal Navy. The name Malaya come from the fact the Federated Malay States paid for the construction of one of the battleship as a gift for the British Government. It is unclear who suggest the construction, it either the Resident General or majority of the Malay sultans that approve the motion. She was ordered in 1913, laid down 20th October 1913 and launched 18th March 1915. Also unique to the Malaya, she flown Federated Malay States ensign flag.

Specifications as built

Compliment: 1,124 to 1300 approx.

Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)

Range: 5,000 nmi (9,260 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)

Displacement: 31,100 tons.

Armament:-

8x 15-inch Guns

12x 6-inch guns

8x 4-inch A.A Guns

16x 2-pdr AA Guns

1x aircraft

Armour:-

Waterline belt: 330 mm

Deck: 25–76 mm

Barbettes: 178–254 mm

Gun turrets: 279–330 mm

Conning tower: 330 mm

Her career start with the infamous Battle of Jutland which is the only full scale battleship clashes in WW1 where she suffer the heaviest damage among the battleship group with 63 dead and 33 wounded.

After WW1, she was refitted twice. The first started in 1927-1929 that added anti-torpedo bulges and combine the two funnels into one. The second refit started in October 1934 to December 1936 with improved deck armor was improved, AA guns increased to eight 4in quick firing Mk XVI guns and sixteen 2pdr pompoms (in two eight gun mountings) , and a cross-deck catapult. This was removed in late 1942, by which time the escort carrier had begun to eliminate the need for battleships to carry their own aircraft.

In WW2, she mainly relegated to convoy protection and hunting german raiders in the Mediterranean seas in Calabria, Taranto and Malta before set as reserve in 1943. She took part in Normandy landing (aka D-Day) as a reserve bombarding ship before she fully withdrawn from service at the end of 1944. From there on she became an accommodation ship for a torpedo school until 1948 where she sold and handed over to Metal Industries which later on scrapped at Faslane in the same year.

Copy and paste: FB Veteran Tentera Laut (Credit to En. Ahmad Rafael)

7.7.2019: 2.43 pm