After conversion into a target ship, Centurion replaced the pre-dreadnought Agamemnon as a vessel for testing naval gunnery. She also participated in 1933 dive-bombing trials that recorded 19 hits from 48 attacks and were arranged by Admiral Henderson to support the case for fleet dive bombing. During the Second World War extensive woodwork disguised her to resemble HMS Anson of the 1939 King George V class, helping create uncertainty about British capital-ship dispositions. The deception gave a First World War battleship a new operational value without restoring her original armament. Her hull ultimately became part of the breakwater off Omaha Beach in June 1944, ending a career that stretched from Jutland through interwar weapons trials to the Normandy landings.
Chapter · 30:42-34:05
HMS Centurion: target ship, decoy, and Mulberry breakwater
Centurion's unusual later career included gunnery and dive-bombing trials, service as a King George V-class decoy, and final use off Omaha Beach.