HMS Centurion was the second of four King George V-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s.

Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, and the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

In 1926 Centurion was converted into a target ship and participated in trials evaluating the effectiveness of aerial bombing in addition to her normal duties.

She carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6,310 nautical miles (11,690 km; 7,260 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4] Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets, all on the centreline.

[5] The King George V-class ships were protected by a waterline 12-inch (305 mm) armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes.

All of her small fittings were removed, her boilers were converted to use diesel fuel instead of coal and numerous radio antennas were added for use by her controlling ship, the destroyer Shikari.

This increased her draught to 31 feet 3 inches (9.5 m) which reduced the chances of steeply diving shells fired at maximum range penetrating beneath the armour belt.

The spotting top was removed by 22 September 1930 and her forward superstructure was cut down and her funnels were shortened in 1933 in preparation for aircraft bombing trials.

Her armament now comprised two 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom"s and eight 20-millimeter (0.8 in) Oerlikon light AA guns, all on single mounts.

[14] While conducting her sea trials on the night of 9/10 December, Centurion accidentally rammed and sank the Italian steamer SS Derna with the loss of all hands.

The squadron departed for gunnery practice off the northern coast of Ireland on the morning of 27 October and her sister Audacious struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin.

On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Centurion stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.

They mustered the six dreadnoughts of the 2nd BS, including Centurion and her sisters Ajax and King George V, and stood with the main body in support of Beatty's four battlecruisers.

[20] Jellicoe's ships, including Centurion, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and the Shetland Islands.

Almost three weeks later, Centurion participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.

On the night of 25 March, Centurion and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern.

On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea.

[26] On 31 May, Centurion, under the command of Captain Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, was the third ship from the head of the battle line after deployment.

[27] The ship was only lightly engaged at Jutland, firing four salvos (totalling 19 armour-piercing shells) at the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at 19:16[Note 1] before Orion blocked Centurion's view, failing to hit her target.

They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty.

The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition.

After the destroyer Tobago struck a mine near Trebizond on 12 November, she was towed from Constantinople to Malta for permanent repairs by Centurion.

[15] In 1939–1940, the ship continued in her prewar role, although she was briefly considered for rearming in May 1940 as an anti-aircraft cruiser in support of the Norway campaign.

[41] Two days later, the ship was slightly damaged by near misses when attacked by nine dive bombers; her Oerlikon cannon shot one of them down.

[42] Centurion was scuttled as a breakwater during the Invasion of Normandy off Omaha Beach on 9 June 1944 to protect a Mulberry harbour built to supply the forces ashore.