Queen HMS

HMS Queen was a London or Queen class battleship commissioned in 1904, a sub-class of the Formidable class battleships of the British Royal Navy. It was the tenth Royal Navy ship to bear the name.
When World War I broke out in August 1914, the 5th Battle Squadron was based at Portland and assigned to the Channel Fleet. Queen returned to full commission and continued as second flagship of the squadron, which was engaged in patrolling the English Channel. She was attached temporarily to the Dover Patrol on 17 October 1914 for bombardment duties along the coast of Belgium in support of Allied troops fighting at the front, and on 3 November 1914 was detached to support the East Coast Patrol during the Gorleston Raid, then returned to the 5th Battle Squadron.[12] The squadron transferred from Portland to Sheerness on 14 November 1914 to guard against a possible German invasion of the United Kingdom, but transferred back to Portland on 30 December 1914.[13]

 
Ernest Henry Cooper (1891–1970), in the uniform of HMS Queen. He was a stoker aboard Queen from 5 June 1914 to 18 March 1919 and was present aboard her during the Dardanelles campaign.

In March 1915, Queen transferred to the Dardanelles to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign, departing England on 13 March 1915 and arriving at Lemnos to join the British Dardanelles Squadron on 23 March 1915. She served as Flagship, Rear Admiral, 2nd Squadron, and supported the ANZAC landings at Gaba Tepe on 25 April 1915.[14] Along with the battleships Implacable, London, and Prince of Wales,[15] Queen transferred to the Adriatic Sea on 22 May 1915 to reinforce the Italian Navy against the Austro-Hungarian Navy when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. She arrived at her new base, Taranto, Italy, on 27 May 1915.[14] From December 1916 to February 1917, Queen was refitted for service as a depot ship for the personnel of the Adriatic anti-submarine net barrage patrol in the Strait of Otranto. Most of her crew returned to the United Kingdom, leaving only a care-and-maintenance crew behind, and she was gradually disarmed as her guns were allocated to other duties. Most of her 6-inch (150 mm) guns had been removed by April 1917, and all of her 12-inch (300 mm) guns had been put ashore by October 1917, where they were turned over to the Italian Army for use in repelling attacks by the Austro-Hungarian Army, although the turrets were left aboard. Queen became flagship of British Naval Forces, Taranto, serving as such until February 1918.[