Royal Sovereign Class Battleships. The Most Unsuccessful Ships of the Royal Navy

The Royal Sovereign class battleships are commonly considered the most "unsuccessful" battleships of the Royal Navy. 

Among naval historians, it is considered good form to criticize these ships for their slow speed and unsuccessful modernization. 

However, the experience of World War II showed that the "paper" characteristics, which are very important for reference books, have a rather distant relation to reality. 

For instance, it was the shells of the "outdated" battleship Resolution that destroyed the French battleship Bretagne during the famous Operation Catapult. 

A total of five Sovereigns were launched: HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Revenge, HMS Royal Oak, HMS Resolution, and HMS Ramillies. The Royal Oak gained notoriety as the first British battleship to be lost during World War II (sunk by the submarine U-47 of Günther Prien during the legendary attack in Scapa Flow), while the Royal Sovereign, by the will of high politics, became part of the Northern Fleet, receiving a new name – Arkhangelsk. 

A new book by a well-known historian of the Royal Navy details for the first time in domestic literature the history of the design, construction, service, and combat use of the Royal Sovereign class battleships. The publication is illustrated with numerous drawings and photographs.