After a trip to USA, she covered the Lofoten raid (March 1941) and Atlantic convoys before becoming the flagship of the British Home Fleet in April 1941. In May 1941 she led the chase of the German Bismarck and saw action for the first time. Through 1941-42 King George V took part ...After a trip to USA, she covered the Lofoten raid (March 1941) and Atlantic convoys before becoming the flagship of the British Home Fleet in April 1941.
In May 1941 she led the chase of the German Bismarck and saw action for the first time. Through 1941-42 King George V took part in numerous search and escort operations in the Atlantic and in May 1943 she went to the Mediterranean taking part in all the big naval operations covering the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy. After refitting in England she went East as the flagship of the second in command of the British Pacific Fleet.
In Task Force 57 (later 37) she was part of the big Anglo-American naval force in the Okinawa operations and operations against Japan. During her service life, King George V underwent minor changes in armament. In 1940 she had four unrating rocket projectors for use against aircraft, but these were soon removed.
She later had pom pom armament doubled and many 20 mm Oerlikon guns replaced the 0.5-inch machine guns.