"On 1 May 1942 she [KG-V] was operating with USS Washington as an escort to Convoy PQ 15, and collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi, which had manoeuvred to avoid a mine and crossed her bow in dense fog. Punjabi was cut in two and King George V had 40 feet of her bow badly damaged. King George V entered the Gladstone Dock in Liverpool on 9 May for repairs by Cammell Laird, and returned to Scapa Flow on 1 July 1942 to resume convoy escort duty"
OK, ship collision - possible. DD sunk, BB with 70 days of dry-dock - ouch! But it gets better:
'During those operations, tragedy befell the group. On 1 May 1942, HMS King George V collided with a "Tribal"-class destroyer. HMS Punjabi, cut in two, sank quickly directly in the path of the oncoming Washington. Compelled to pass between the halves of the sinking destroyer, the battleship proceeded ahead, Punjabi's depth charges exploding beneath her hull as she passed. Fortunately for Washington, she suffered no major hull damage nor developed any hull leaks from the concussion of the exploding depth charges. She did, however, sustain damage to some of her delicate fire control systems and radars; and a diesel oil tank suffered a small leak'
Add Sys damage to a second BB - priceless
