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Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name Renown,
whilst three others have borne the name at various stages in
their construction.
The first to bear the name (1651) was a 20-gun fireship,
previously the French ship Renommée. She was captured in
1651 by Nonsuch and sold in 1654.
HMS Renown
(1916) was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the
Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally
laid down as an improved version of the Revenge-class
battleships. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of
war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner.
Renown
did not see combat during the war and was reconstructed twice
between the wars; the 1920s reconstruction increased her armor
protection and made other more minor improvements, while the
1930s reconstruction was much more thorough. The ship frequently
conveyed royalty on their foreign tours and served as flagship
of the Battlecruiser Squadron when Hood was refitting.
During the Second
World War, Renown was involved in the search for the
Admiral Graf Spee in 1939, participated in the Norwegian
Campaign of April–June 1940 and the search for the German
battleship Bismarck in 1941. She spent much of 1940 and
1941 assigned to Force H at Gibraltar, escorting convoys and she
participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento.
Renown was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and provided
cover to several Arctic convoys in early 1942. The ship was
transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch and spent much
of 1943 refitting or transporting Winston Churchill and his
staff to and from various conferences with various Allied
leaders. In early 1944, Renown was transferred to the
Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean where she supported numerous
attacks on Japanese-occupied facilities in Indonesia and various
island groups in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned to the Home
Fleet in early 1945 and was refitted before being placed in
reserve after the end of the war. Renown was sold for
scrap in 1948.
The last ship to
bear the name is a Resolution-class submarine launched in
1967. She was paid off in 1996 and is currently awaiting
disposal.
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