Warspite received equipment work at Durban in October 1942, and Captain Victor Packer took command in January 1943 after having served aboard her at Jutland. Another Durban refit followed in April before she returned to Britain in May. By then the battleship had steamed roughly 160,000 miles since the war began, making further maintenance and another attempt to correct her steering problems unsurprising. She then joined Force H at Scapa Flow for the voyage to Gibraltar alongside five other battleships, two carriers, and twelve destroyers. Moving a heavily used capital ship from the Indian Ocean back into the Mediterranean war required substantial repair and fleet-concentration work.
Notable Point · 58:42-59:34
A 160,000-mile service cycle sends Warspite back to Force H
Repeated Durban and British refits followed an extraordinary wartime mileage before Warspite rejoined a powerful Force H concentration.