Barham took part in the famous Battle of Jutland (May 1916 - June 1916) off the coast of Denmark which became the largest naval engagement of the war. The Allies featured 28 battleships to the enemy's 16 and included a combined force of British, Australian and Canadian warships. Though tactically inconclusive, the engagement marked a strategic victory for the Allies and limited the German Naval commitment to large-scale surface engagements for the foreseeable future - forcing a greater reliance on its submarine force from then on. During the melee, Barham was hit six times and lost 26 men with a further 46 being wounded. Damaged, Barham was laid up for repairs which took her into July 1916. She was given a refit during the spring of 1917 which was the time she took on the AA armament mentioned above. She continued her service during the war which ended with the Armistice of November 1918. She had received another refit the February prior.
During the Interwar years, Barham sailed with the Atlantic Fleet serving as its flagship. In 1924 she formed part of the British presence in the Mediterranean ensuring British interests were upheld and this took her until 1929. Her next service was with the Atlantic Fleet until another refit was had from early 1931 until early 1934. The following year she was back in Mediterranean waters. During the latter part of the decade the class was wholly upgrade to a more modern fighting form which included revised superstructures, propulsion systems and equipment. Barham saw a lesser modernization than her sisters and lost two of her torpedo tubes in the process and replaced her AA guns with 4 x 4" QF Mk XVI guns.
World War 2 (1939-1945) began on September of 1939 and thrust Britain back into war with Germany. At the time of the outbreak of war, Barham was still in the Mediterranean until recalled back to the Home Fleet for December. She collided (and sunk) HMS Duchess which cost 124 lives. Later she took a German torpedo to her side while on patrol which cost four of her crew but her torpedo bulges held and she entered Liverpool for repair work which took her to April 1940.
During her time offline, she was given additional AA protection and was back in action for September to which she lent her capabilities to "Operation Menace" in at Dakar, Senegal. Her guns were used against French warships which were operating under the flag of the Vichy French at the time. She herself took several direct hits from enemy fire though without any major damage to report and was able to return fire against shoreline defensive positions. Her strength was then used to tow the damaged battleship HMS Resolution to safety. From there Barham set sail to British-controlled Gibraltar where she lay during an attack by Italian naval special forces using a manned torpedo. She survived this action and joined the Mediterranean Fleet in December of 1940.
Off the coast of North Africa, HMS Barham was used to protect the aircraft carried HMS Eagle during its assault on Tripoli and used her guns against enemy positions along the shore. For the new year, she was in action as a convoy escort headed to Malta during March and, that same month, she joined other Royal Navy warships for the Battle of Cape Matapan. The battle spanned from March 27th to March 29th and involved a combined British-Australian force against the Italians, ensuring an Allied victory and helping to shift the balance of power concerning navies in the Mediterranean Theater. She then engaged enemy elements at Tripoli.
In November of 1941, she was called to support an attack against an Italian navy convoy and it was during this action that Barham met her end. The German submarine U-331 planted three torpedoes into her side which forced her to roll over to portside before a magazine store detonated - sinking the vessel in short order. Over 70 percent of her crew went down with the ship - 841 men- and the news was shielded from public consumption for a time to maintain war support morale.
HMS Barham (04) was lost to the sea on November 25th, 1941.
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