HMS Valiant (1914)

HMS Valiant was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard between January 1914 and November 1914, and entered service shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. She participated in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

During the interwar period, she was one of several warships involved in the Invergordon Mutiny, in which sailors struck against pay cuts. Valiant saw further action during the Second World War in the Mediterranean, where her service included destroying Vichy ships at Mers-el-Kébir and the Battle of Cape Matapan, during which time Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh served aboard as a midshipman. While in drydock in Alexandria, the battleship was severely damaged by an Italian raid. After additional refits and service in Sicily, she was sent to join the Eastern Fleet, raiding Japanese bases in Indonesia, before a drydock accident in Ceylon resulted in Valiant being returned to Devonport and decommissioned.