Quite the Bluff — The HMS Centurion during World War IIDespite a history of being master of th

Quite the Bluff — The HMS Centurion during World War IIDespite a history of being master of the waves, the British Fleet often found itself stretch dreadfully thin during World War II.  Much of the fleet was occupied with defending the British Isles, hunting down u-boats in the Atlantic, and chasing down Germany’s few battleships.  The Mediterranean fleet was especially imperiled as it suffered from major shortages of warships.  One particular worry was that the Italian Navy would attempt to blockade the Suez Canal, cutting off Britain’s vital supply routes to India.To solve this problem, the Royal Navy dug the old dreadnought HMS Centurion out of the salvage yards.  An aging antique built before World War I, the Centurion had been decommissioned in 1924.  In 1941 she was taken out of the scrapyards and refitted.  However no amount of fixing up was going to prepare the old warship for modern combat.  Instead the Royal Navy had other plans for her.Repairs were made to the Centurion so that she would be once again seaworthy.  Other than that only cosmetic modifications were made so that the Centurion looked like a modern warship.  This went so far as to mount the turrets of the Centurion with fake 13.5 inch “guns” made from timber which were painted dull grey to look like the real thing.  From 1942 to 1944 the Centurion was stationed near the Suez Canal to deter any enemy ships from attacking.  The Italian Navy, believing the Centurion to be a real, heavily armed battleship, never called the Brits bluff.In 1944 the Centurion was withdrawn from the Suez as the Italians had surrendered and the British Navy had firm control over the Mediterranean.   During the D-Day invasion she was purposely sunk off the coast of Normandy to act as a breakwater for the beaches. Reportedly the German 352nd Division claimed they had sunk the Centurion with their shore batteries, infliction terrible casualties as only 70 crewmen were seen escaping the ship.  Little did the German know that the Centurion was only manned by a 70 person skeleton crew. -- source link

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