HMS Renown WWII Battlecruiser Marine Painting Art Print by Naval Artist Roger H. MIddlebrook GAvA

While Force 'H' existed for the entire length of WWII, many would associate the three ships seen in this painting more than any others with the force. The battlecrusier HMS Renown, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and light cruiser HMS Sheffield gained lasting fame for their part in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck in 1941 and it is probably because of this action that the three ships became eternally linked.

HMS Renown was ordered, along with her sister HMS Repulse, after the success of the battlecruiser concept in the defeating of the armoured cruisers of German Admiral Graf von Spee at the Battle of the Falklands. Unfortunately the concept was to be seen as severely flawed at the Battle of Jutland, but with the ship already a good part built it was too late to incorporate any improvements. During the inter-war years she was upgraded several times with a far heavier anti-aircraft armament than that she was built with.

Her WWII service would see HMS Renown take part in numerous actions and campaigns, notably Norway, the Mediterranean and the Far East before being put into reserve in 1945, being scrapped in 1948.