HMS Repulse (1916)

HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. Originally laid down as an improved version of the Revenge-class battleships, her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war because she would not be ready in a timely manner. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart her construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Repulse, and her sister HMS Renown, were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.

Repulse participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917; the only combat she saw during the war. She was reconstructed twice between the wars; the 1920s reconstruction increased her armour protection and made lesser improvements, while the 1930s reconstruction was much more thorough. Repulse accompanied the battlecruiser HMS Hood during the Special Service Squadron's round-the-world cruise in 1923–24 and protected international shipping during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–39.

HMS Repulse

Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Repulse:

HMS Repulse (S23)

HMS Repulse (S23) was a Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.

HMS Repulse was one of two Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines ordered from Vickers-Armstrongs on 8 May 1963, with a further two ordered from Cammell Laird the same day. Repulse was laid down at Vickers Armstrongs' Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 12 March 1965 and was launched on 4 November 1967. She commissioned on 28 September 1968. She was the last of her class remaining in service with the navy, decommissioning in 1996.

Repulse was the third Polaris Missile submarine of the Resolution class to be planned; HMS Renown was the second. Due to delays with Renown's build at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard, the Barrow-in-Furness Vickers built Repulse overtook Renown and was commissioned second of class. Repulse famously ran aground on launch, much to the delight of the CND protesters and was subsequently "blacked" by the shipyard unions. She survived all of these setbacks to become the longest-serving Polaris submarine.

HMS Repulse (1892)

HMS Repulse was a Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was the tenth ship to bear the name HMS Repulse. Laid down in 1890, Repulse was completed in 1894, becoming one of the world's top fighting ships at launch. Repulse was 410 feet long and had a maximum cruising speed of 17 knots. Her armament included four 67-ton 13.5-inch (343-mm) guns and several smaller-calibre guns.

Attached to the Channel Squadron, she completed a series of annual manueovres, and the Fleet review during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, before redeploying in 1902 to the Mediterranean Fleet. She served there until December 1904, when she returned to Plymouth for an extensive refit. From then until sold for scrap in 1911, Repulse formed part of the Royal Navy Reserve, having been made obsolete almost overnight by the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906.

Technical Characteristics

HMS Repulse was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Program of 1889. Laid down at Pembroke on 1 January 1890 and launched on 27 February 1892, she was completed in April 1894.