H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth and her three sister ships were the first battleships to mount 15-in. guns, the first to steam at 24 knots and the first capital ships to be oil-fired. Launched in 1913 and completed in 1915, Queen Elizabeth supported the ill-fated Gallipoli landings and was Beatty's flagship from 1916-19 on board which the surrender of the German Fleet was effected in November 1981. Flagship of the Atlantic Fleet until 1942, she was then in the Mediterranean for most of the inter-war years and was refitting when War broke out in 1939. She rejoined the Home Fleet early in 1941 and after being mined in Alexandra in December 1941, was repaired and then sent to the Far East where she spent the remainder of the War.