The Anatomy of the Ship series provides documentation of individual ships and ship types. The books are illustrated with line drawings, both the conventional type of plan as well as explantory views, with fully descriptive keys. These are supported by technical details and a record of the ship's service history. HMS Warspite was arguably one of the finest capital ship designs of all time. Warspite and her four sister ships of the Queen Elizabeth class were the prototypes of the modern fast battleship, the ultimate development of the Dreadnought type. Warspite had one of the most active and successful fighting careers. Her service spanned two generations from Jutland in 1916, the last great surface engagement between battle fleets, where she received many hits, to the dawn of the missile age (she was badly damaged by a guided bomb in 1943), with battle honours that also included Narvik, Matapan and the D-Day landings. The Old Lady, as she was affectionaly known during World War II, was finally approved for breaking up in 1946.