A memorial stands near Prussia Cove in Southwest England, a small reminder of a ship that had served its purpose, defending a worldwide empire for 30 years and during some of its darkest days. It reads "HMS Warspite 1915 - 1945 Ran aground and broken up on these rocks 1947, her final haven. Known to all who served aboard her as The Grand Old Lady. May she with many gallant shipmates rest in peace."

During this long episode we will discuss the entire life of the ship, from the design of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships that would be launched in 1915, through the First World War and Jutland, the great unknown of the interwar years, the refits of the 1920s and 1930s, into war once again in 1939, and then finally to Warspite's final campaigns in 1945 as an old, battered, and broken ship.