HMS Queen Mary was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, named after Mary of Teck, the consort of King George V. Launched in 1912, she was part of the Lion-class battlecruisers and played a significant role in World War I. Commissioned in 1913, she was involved in the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the Battle of Dogger Bank. However, her most notable engagement was in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where she exploded and sank after a catastrophic magazine explosion, resulting in the loss of over 1,200 crew members. The sinking of the HMS Queen Mary was a significant event in naval history, highlighting the vulnerability of battlecruisers due to insufficient armor protection. The wreckage of the ship was eventually discovered in 1991 by diver and wreck hunter Innes McCartney. The sinking of the Queen Mary led to significant changes in naval tactics and ship design, emphasizing the importance of adequate armor protection for warships. The legacy of the HMS Queen Mary serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by naval personnel during wartime and the ongoing evolution of naval technology and warfare strategies.

This description has been generated using GPT-3.5-TURBO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.