1 9 3 1
May
8th Commissioned for Trials.
15th Sailed for Clyde to carry out Acceptance Trials
26th Took return passage to Plymouth on completion of trials.
27th Arrived at Devonport.
30th Paid-off
June Deployed at Devonport
and prepared for service.
July Dockyard build work
completed
27th Commissioned for service in 2nd Cruiser Squadron, Atlantic
Fleet.
28th At Exmouth for visit by dignitaries of City of Exeter.
August Worked up with ships of
Squadron for operational service.
On completion
took passage to Portsmouth to remedy defects found during
work-up and
modifications.
September
14th During passage to join Atlantic Fleet at Invergordon changes
in Pay to naval
personnel were
announced and resulted in mutiny of some Atlantic Fleet
ship’s
companies.
15th Arrived at Invergordon to find Fleet in state of confusion
and disarray.
(Note : No sign
of disaffection on board, presumably because ship was newly
commissioned and
ship’s company not closely involved with the
increasing
disquiet due to the inept way in which the Fleet had been
poorly advised
about the 10% reduction in pay structure caused by
the current
financial depression. Army and RAF personnel pay had
not been
reduced. This subject is well documented.)
17th Fleet discipline restored and ships took passage to Home
ports.
Passage to Plymouth
October Deployed at Plymouth
to December.
1 9 3 2
January Took part in Home Fleet Spring
Cruise with ships of Squadron.
to March After completion of exercise programme
and visits to ports in West
Indies
returned to Plymouth.
April Deployed for visits to UK
Ports including Liverpool, Ilfracombe and St Ives.
to June
July Attended Royal Review
of Fleet by HM King George V
August After Leave period joined ships
of Squadron for visit to Copenhagen as part of
to September British exhibition
(Note : Other
ships in Squadron were HM Cruisers DORSETSHIRE, NORFOLK
and YORK.)
October Deployed with Squadron for
exercises.
to December
1 9 3 3
January Squadron deployment included
Spring Exercise programme with visits to
to March Spanish ports.
April Took part in further
Squadron visits to Norway and Sweden,
to July
August Taken in hand for refit at
Devonport
September Under refit
October
10th Recommissioned for service in 8th Cruiser Squadron on America and West
Indies Station.
Carried out
shakedown prior to leaving Home waters.
November
13th Took passage from Plymouth to relieve HM Cruiser DURBAN at Gibraltar.
16th Arrived at Gibraltar.
28th Relieved HMS DURBAN in 8th Cruiser Squadron.
December Passage to join Squadron in Bermuda.
6th Arrived in West
Indies.
1 9 3 4
Deployed with
Squadron and served as part of South American Division
Carried out
visits to ports in Brazil, Argentina and other countries.
(Note : Ships of
Squadron also visited Falkland
Islands and
countries on
west coast.)
1 9 3 5
January Deployed for Squadron duties
in South Atlantic.
to July
August Transferred for detached
service in Mediterranean and sailed to reinforce
1st Cruiser
Squadron at Alexandria.
(Note : This was
part of British response to counter threat by Italy to invade
Abyssinia,)
September
5th Sailed from Port Stanley to join 1st Cruiser Squadron at Alexandria.
30th Joined HM Cruisers BERWICK, LONDON, SHROPSHIRE, SUSSEX and
AJAX at Alexandria.
October Took part in Mediterranean
Fleet exercises and deployments in the eastern
to December Mediterranean
1
9 3 6
January Detached service with 1st
Cruiser Squadron in continuation.
to June (Note : Mediterranean Fleet
ships took part in combined exercises with
Home Fleet ships
each Spring, usually in western Mediterranean and
Atlantic.)
July Released from detached
service in Mediterranean to return to UK for refit and
recommissioning
14th Sailed from Alexandria.
27th Arrived at Devonport to refit and recommission.
August Under refit and Paid-off.
to November
December Carried out harbour trials.
29th Recommissioned for service on West Indies Station
31st Took passage from Plymouth to rejoin Squadron.
1 9 3 7
January
7th Arrived at St
Vincent.
10th Passage to Montevideo to resume duties with Division in South Atlantic.
February Deployed in South Atlantic.
to April
May Took passage to Bermuda.
June Despatched to Trinidad with HM Cruiser AJAX to provide aid to civil power at
Trinidad following rioting. Royal Marines landed
to protect oil installations.
July West Indies Squadron
deployment in continuation.
to December
1 9 3 8
West Indies Station
deployment in continuation including exercises with RCN
and visits to
Ports in USA.
Deployed on west
coast South
America.
1 9 3 9
January During west coast deployment
despatched with HMS AJAX to assist after
an earthquake at
Talcahuana, Chile. Landed parties to help with rescue and
to restore
essential services.
February At Talcahuana
March Return passage to Bermuda.
April Deployed with Squadron
for visits and exercises
to July Prepared for return passage
to Pay-off at Devonport
August Passage to Plymouth
17th Arrived at Devonport and commenced Leave Period.
Ship remained in
commission in view of the deteriorating political situation.
23rd Ship’s Company on leave recalled and prepared to return to
duty in South
American Division
of America and West Indies Squadron.
25th Took passage from Plymouth and escorted troopship ss DUNERA during
passage to Cape Verde.
(Note :
Commander Harwood, in command of Squadron was embarked.)
Passage to Freetown after detaching from escort.
September
1st Sailed from Freetown for passage to Rio de Janeiro.
D e t a i l s o f W a r
S e r v i c e.
3rd Took-up war station in South American Division of America
and West Indies
Squadron for
deployment in South
Atlantic for trade
defence and the
interception of
German shipping.
8th Patrolled in area of Rio de Janeiro with HM Cruiser AJAX.
9th Met HM Cruiser AJAX and made joint passage to Plate estuary.
(Note : HMS AJAX
detached later and took passage to Falkland Islands.)
15th Escorted convoy from Plate estuary with HM Destroyer HOTSPUR.
20th Deployed on patrol off Rio de Janeiro after call at Montevideo.
(Note :HM
Cruiser CUMBERLAND and HM Destroyer HAVOCK were also
deployed in South Atlantic for trade defence.)
October
5th Deployed as Hunting Force "G" on formation with
HM Cruisers CUMBERLAND,
and AJAX in search for German Battleship ADMIRAL
GRAF SPEE in South
Atlantic.
(Note :HM New Zealand Cruiser ACHILLES joined Force later and
an RFA
tanker was deployed
to ensure availability of oil fuel.)
27th Passage to Falklands from patrol
Flag transferred
to HMS AJAX.
November Returned to Rio de Janeiro area in continuation.
22nd Passage to Falklands via Plate area for search.
(Note : Intended
repair period in Simonstown cancelled.).
30th Arrived at Port
Stanley for
self refit.
December
9th Recalled to join HMS AJAX and HMS ACHILLES off Plate
estuary in
anticipation of
an early encounter with GRAF SPEE.
13th Took part in action against GRAF SPEE with HMS AJAX and HMS
ACHILLES.
Seriously
damaged by 11" shells with many casualties and outbreak of fire.
Continued to
engage the enemy until power lost by flooding. Withdrawn from
action with
heavy list and all guns unserviceable (photo above). Casualty List included 63
killed and 23
wounded.
(For full
details see THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE by D. Pope, ENGAGE
THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY and the Naval Staff History).
15th Passage to Port
Stanley after
relief by HM Cruiser CUMBERLAND.
20th Under temporary repair at Port Stanley.
1 9 4 0
January
21st Began passage to UK escorted for part of voyage by HM
Cruisers
DORSETSHIRE and SHROPSHIRE until relieved by HM Cruisers
DEVONSHIRE and CUMBERLAND.
February
10th Escort joined by HM Battlecruiser RENOWN and HM Aircraft Carrier ARK
ROYAL with
destroyer screen.
14th HM Destroyers VESPER and WHITSHED detached from screen to
assist
survivors of ss
SULTAN STAR after being sunk in SW Approaches.
15th Arrived at Plymouth for repair and modernisation including
fit of aircraft
warning radar
(Type 279) and improved AA armament.
23rd Ship's company marched through City of London for Guildhall luncheon.
March Under refit by HM Dockyard,
Devonport
to (Note : Tripod type
masts were fitted and aircraft catapult replaced.
December For details of development and use
of radar by RN see RADAR AT SEA
by
D. Howse.)
1 9 4 1
January Under refit
to February
March Refit work suspended due to
possible damage to ship during intense air raids on
Plymouth.
10th Recommissioned at Devonport
24th Passage to Scapa
Flow and Dover Strait patrol.
26th Joined 1st Cruiser Squadron in Home Fleet at Scapa Flow and worked up.
April Work-up in continuation
26th On completion deployed on Northern Patrol to intercept German
commerce
raiders.
May Transferred to East Indies Squadron.
22nd Escorted military convoy WS8B with HM Cruiser CAIRO, HM Destroyers
COSSACK, MAORI,
SIKH, ZULU and Polish destroyer ORP PIORUN during
passage via Cape of Good Hope to join East Indies Station. This convoy
was
a vulnerable
target in the event of successful break cut by BISMARCK and PRINZ
EUGEN.
(Note : WS8B
included eight troopships taking troops to middle East and HM
Aircraft Carrier
ARGUS with aircraft for onward flight to Egypt from
Freetown.)
26th Sole escort for convoy after destroyers detached to join
search for German
Battleship BISMARCK (See ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by C
Barnett).
June
2nd HM Destroyers DUNCAN and BOREAS joined for Local Escort into
Freetown.
3rd HM Corvette MARGUERITE joined Local Escort.
4th Detached from WS8B on arrival at Freetown.
6th Sailed from Freetown for Durban as Ocean Escort for WS8B with HM
Destroyers
DUNCAN, BOREAS
and HIGHLANDER as Local Escort for initial stage of
passage.
8th Local Escort detached.
20th Detached from WS8B on arrival at Durban.
27th Sailed from Durban as Ocean Escort for WS8B during passage
to Aden.
(Note :
Additional troopship NIEUW ZEELAND joined convoy which then
comprised five
ships.)
July
4th Arrived at Aden and detached from WS8B.
Deployed for
trade defence in Indian
Ocean during
return passage to Durban.
August Deployed on trade defence in
continuation.
27th Escorted convoy to Durban from Aden.
September
2nd On arrival at Durban detached for investigation of future use
of Addu Atoll
by Eastern
Fleet. On completion took passage to Aden.
26th Passage to Colombo from Aden.
October Routine Docking period at Colombo.
On completion
deployed in Bay
of Bengal for
convoy escort.
Escorted convoy
from Calcutta to Rangoon
November Deployed on escort of convoys from
Ceylon to Banka Strait.
December On passage to Singapore escorting last troop convoy before Japan declared war.
7th Detached to join Force Z at Singapore.
(Note : Unable
to arrive before Force Z sailed and thus not deployed with HM
Battleship
PRINCE OF WALES and HM Battlecruiser REPULSE when
sunk off eastern
Malaya in air attacks. See HUNTING OF FORCE
Z by
E. Hough and WAR
WITH JAPAN (HMSO).
1
9 4 2
January Escorted military convoy to Singapore.
7th Transferred to ABDA Command at Tangjong Priok for duty with
Western
Striking Force
made up of Australian, British, US and Dutch warships.
Deployed on
escort of ships for passage through Sunda Strait into the Indian
Ocean from Singapore. (For details see OPERATION PACIFIC by
E. Gray).
9th Joined HM Cruiser EMERALD with HM Cruiser DURBAN and HM Sloop
JUMNA (RIN) to
reinforce Ocean Escort of military convoy DM1 during
passage from
Addu Atoll to Singapore.
(Note : This was
the first of three convoys from Durban carrying reinforcements
for the Singapore garrison.)
13th Detached with HMS EMERALD, HMIS JUMNA, HM Destroyers JUPITER,
ENCOUNTER and
VAMPIRE (RAN) on arrival of DM1 at Singapore
Deployed with
Western Striking Force.
27th Escorted inward Convoy BM11 to Singapore with HM Cruisers DRAGON and
DURBAN.
29th Arrived at Singapore with BM11.
February
1st Escorted two US transports from Batavia to Sunda Straits with HM Australian
Destroyer
VAMPIRE and HM Destroyer JUPITER.
3rd Escorted nine troopships through Sunda Straits on passage
to Batavia and
Singapore with HM Cruiser DANAE, HM Australian
Destroyer VAMPIRE, HM
Sloops YARRA
(RAN), SUTLEJ (RIN) and Dutch cruiser JAVA. Joined search
for Japanese
invasion craft by ABDA units in Macassar Strait and had to
withdraw in the
face of heavy air attack.
5th Covered passage of Dutch cruiser JAVA and two transports
during passage to
Palembang with reinforcements for defence of Sumatra, with HM Cruiser
HOBART (RAN), HM
Destroyers JUPITER and ENCOUNTER.
Torpedo attack
by Japanese submarine R34 failed.
7th Returned to Batavia.
13th Joined HOBART, Dutch cruisers JAVA and TROMP, HM Destroyer
ELECTRA
and HM Sloop JUMNA (RIN) as escort for Singapore/Java
convoys JS1 and SJ1
during passage.
Under attack by
Japanese submarine 156 which sank one ship.
Escort detached
later to intercept Japanese convoy reported in Banka Strait on
passage to Palembang,
Under sustained
air attack by and had to withdraw.
25th Transferred from Tanjong Priok to join Eastern Striking Force
at Soerabaya
with HM Cruiser PERTH (RAN), HM destroyers JUPITER, ELECTRA
and
ENCOUNTER.
26th Joined ESF at Tjilatjap and immediately sent to
search for Japanese invasion
convoys. No
contact made and subjected to heavy air attacks.
27th In action against Japanese cruisers HAGURO, NAKA, NACHI,
JINTSU
escorted by 14
destroyers covering invasion ships with ESF ships. Hit by 8"
shell on the
starboard side which exploded in Boiler. Speed reduced to 11 knots
and ordered to
return to Soerabaya for repair escorted by Dutch destroyer WITTE
DE WITH.
Further damage
by enemy destroyer torpedoes prevented in determined counter
attack
by HM Destroyers ELECTRA, JUPITER and ENCOUNTER.
HMS ELECTRA was
sunk.
28th Ordered to take passage to Australia with HMS ENCOUNTER and US
Destroyer USS
POPE.
Destination
changed to Colombo because ship’s draught too great to
allow
passage via Bali
Channel and threat of air attacks from newly established
airfields.
Damage to boilers restricted speed to 23 knots.)
Sighted by
Japanese aircraft soon after leaving harbour.
March
1st Ambushed by Japanese cruisers HAGURO and NACHI escorted by
four
destroyers which
were engaged in a running fight.
Soon afterwards
hit in boiler room and lost use of director control for main
armament.
Despite smoke
screens laid by destroyers received more hits.
Fires broke out
and all electrical power supplies failed.
Ship was
abandoned after 3 hours in action.
Finally sunk by
torpedo.
54 of the ship’s company were
killed in this action and 651 were rescued by
Japanese ships
and became POW. (Casualty List -
note on casualties)
(For full
details see BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA
by D. A. Thomas, NO
SURRENDER by W
Johns, OPERATION PACIFIC by E. Gray and WAR
WITH JAPAN (HMSO)
