1 9 3 9
September Took up
War Station in Mediterranean.
4th Deployed with the 1st Cruiser Squadron
in the Mediterranean on contraband
control duty.
(Note:
Other ships in Squadron were HMS DEVONSHIRE and SHROPSHIRE.)
Sailed from Alexandria for
patrol.
October Transferred
to East Indies Station for trade protection duty.
2nd Sailed from Alexandria for South Atlantic.
13th On arrival at Simonstown
transferred to South Atlantic Command.
November
8th Deployed with HM Cruiser SHROPSHIRE as Hunting Group H in search
for the
German battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE in the South
Atlantic.
Searched
with Group "H" in conjunction with Hunting Group "E"
(Note:
Force E comprised HM Battlecruiser RENOWN, HM Aircraft Carrier ARK ROYAL
and HM Cruiser
NEPTUNE)
11th Transferred to
River Plate area.
Redeployed in Indian Ocean off Durban to
continue search.
December
2nd Intercepted
German merchant ship WATUSSI with HMS RENOWN.
German
scuttled and hulk sunk by HMS RENOWN.
Rescued crew and passengers from German ship.
Search
continued with HM Cruiser SHROPSHIRE
between St. Helena and Cape of Good Hope.
15th Called at Capetown
to disembark prisoners.
27th Transferred to 4th Cruiser Squadron in East Indies and took passage to
Colombo.
1 9 4 0
January
6th Arrived at Colombo after call
at Mauritius.
15th Deployed in Indian
Ocean on interception and trade protection.
18th. Returned passage to Colombo
27th Passage to Trincomalee from Colombo with HM Aircraft Carrier
EAGLE and HM Australian
Cruiser
HOBART.
29th Returned to Colombo.
February Carried out search between Colombo and Aden.
8th At Aden.
Continued
patrol during return passage to Colombo.
Escorted military convoy in Indian Ocean.
March In
view of continuing crisis in Home waters transferred to UK for service with 1st
Cruiser
Squadron in Home Fleet.
To
be refitted at Liverpool commercial shipyard before joining Squadron.
(Note:
For details of deployments for interception of commerce raiders see ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by Corelli Bamett).
1st Took passage
from Colombo with calls
at Aden and Malta.
10th At Malta
18th Under refit at Liverpool.
April Under
refit
Harbour
trials
(Note:
During the stay in Liverpool ship was given the Freedom of the City.)
May On
completion of sea trials took passage to join Squadron at Scapa Flow.
Deployed with other ships of Squadron for interception of
any attempt by German ships to break
out into Atlantic via NW Approaches.
June Deployed for escort of
evacuation convoys from Norway with Home Fleet ships.
5th Joined HM Battle cruisers RENOWN
and REPULSE accompanied by HM Cruiser SHEFFIELD
with screen of five Home Fleet destroyers in search for two
unidentified ships reported as being
on passage into the Atlantic by HMS PRUNELLA (Q Ship)
See
Naval Staff History of Norwegian Campaign (HMSO-2002)
7th Arrived in Iceland
and returned to Scapa Flow after fruitless search.
July Continued
deployment at Scapa Flow with Home Fleet.
16th Deployed in another search for enemy
ships in North Sea with HM Cruisers
SHROPSHIRE
and SOUTHAMPTON screened by 8 Fleet destroyers.
Operation
was called
off when enemy ships reversed course.
(Note:
During the return passage to
Scapa
Flow HM Destroyer IMOGEN was sunk in a
collision with H M Cruiser GLASGOW in fog.
August Deployed
with 1st Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow.
Propulsion
machinery defect discovered.
September Under repair to turbine blades at
Princes Dock, Glasgow.
17th Hit in Engine
Room by 2501b bomb during air raid on Glasgow.
This
caused a serious conflagration which threatened magazines.
Because
of danger of explosion the local community was evacuated.
To
assist in controlling the fire the dry dock was flooded without time to prevent water
getting
into the ship.
The
subsequent flooding of compartments made the her
unstable and she capsized.
20th Damage assessment showed extensive
structural repair would be required to
make the ship
fully operational.
October After
being re-floated towed to Stephens shipyard at Govan for rebuilding and repair.
(Note:
This major incident was never publicly announced).
November Under repair.
to December
1 9 4 1
Under repair.
1 9 4 2
January Under repair.
to (Note: During repair ship was fitted with
radar equipment for surface and aircraft warning
July and for fire-control of secondary and AA
armament.
For
details of development and use of radar in RN see RADAR AT SEA by D Howse.
Ten 20mm
Oerlikon guns and two eight barrelled Pom-Pom mountings
were installed
to improve close range defence against air attacks.)
August
9th On completion took passage to Scapa Flow to rejoin the Home Fleet
after post refit trials and
'shakedown' exercises.
September
4th Rejoined 1st Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow.
Worked
up for service and deployed in NW Approaches for interception of any break-out
by commerce raiders to attack into Atlantic shipping
October
29th Carried out exercises with HM Battle
ships KING GEORGE V, ANSON and HOWE.
31st Returned to Scapa Flow after
exercises.
November Withdrawn
from service for further refit work in Tyne shipyard.
(Note:
Work included installation of fire control radar for main armament and
replacement
of surface warning radar by an improved design sited on
after superstructure to
improve cover.)
December Under refit prior to deployment in
Eastern Fleet.
1 9 4 3
January Rejoined
1st Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow for convoy defence and interception duties.
in Atlantic because of continuing threat by German capital ships.
February Transferred
to 4th Cruiser Squadron in Eastern Fleet and took to passage to Mombasa.
26th Intercepted German tanker HOHEN
FRIEDBURG in position 500 miles SW of Cape
Finisterre.
Came under torpedo attack by U264 which had been with the
enemy ship but avoided a
salvo of four torpedoes.
See
HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.
(Note:
No attempt was made to rescue survivors from German ship because of the known
threat of further submarine attack.)
March
11th Joined military convoy WS27 at Freetown as Ocean Escort during
passage to Durban
26th Detached from WS26 on arrival at Durban
April Deployed
on trade defence and interception in Indian Ocean.
to (Note: One source records escort of
military convoy from Durban. This is to be confirmed)
June (Details
of Indian
Ocean
trade defence see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY)
July Became
Flagship of Eastern Fleet.
15th Carried out Squadron exercises with HM
Cruisers NEWCASTLE, SUFFOLK and
FROBISHER off Mombasa.
19th Passage to Ceylon with CinC Eastern Fleet
embarked for return to Colombo.
August Deployed
as Flagship for CS4 and carried out patrol and interception duty in Indian Ocean
to
September
October Under refit at Durban.
to (Note:
Work done included repair to turbine)
November
December Passage
to Trincomalee to rejoin Eastern Fleet
Part
of Eastern Fleet escort for HM Battleships QUEEN ELIZABETH, VALIANT and
HM
Aircraft Carriers ILLUSTRIOUS and UNICORN during passage in Indian Ocean from
Aden to
reinforce.
Eastern Fleet.
1 9 4 4
January Deployed
on convoy defence and interception in Indian Ocean.
February Joined
H M Aircraft Carrier ILLUSTRIOUS, HM Cruiser GAMBIA, HM Destroyer
ROTHERHAM and HM Netherlands Destroyer
TJERK HIDDES in search for enemy
blockade runners SW of Cocos
Islands (Operation SLEUTH).
March Continued
Indian
Ocean
deployment.
April Transferred
to Home waters for refit.
May Passage to UK.
June Under refit at Chatham.
to
December
1 9 4 5
January Under refit.
to (Note:
Extensive changes were made including removal of “X” Turret aft, the aircraft
February facilities
and torpedo tubes.
More modern radars were also installed including
barrage fire control. Siting of
close range AA weapons was also improved.)
March Carried out post refit
trials on completion of dockyard work
Nominated for service with 5th Cruiser Squadron in Eastern
Fleet
April Passage to Scapa Flow.
25th Took passage to Mediterranean.
May
1st On arrival at Gibraltar diverted and sailed for Bermuda
4th Returned to Gibraltar
(Note:
This unusual diversion requires further investigation. The ship may have been
recalled to resume work-up programme with ships of
Mediterranean Fleet.)
Worked up in Mediterranean prior to
Fleet duty in Indian Ocean.
June Completed work-up.
July Took
passage to join Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee.
On arrival at Trincomalee deployed in Indian
Ocean with Squadron.
19th Joined HM Battleship NELSON, HM Escort
Aircraft Carriers EMPRESS and
AMEER screened by
four Fleet destroyers as Force 63 to cover minesweeping
operations by the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla off Phuket Island and a series of
air strikes
by the aircraft carriers on the Kra
Isthmus. (Operation LIVERY}
24th HM Minesweeper SQUIRREL sunk by mine
during clearance of minefields.
26th Under KAMIKAZE attacks during which two
aircraft were destroyed..
Sustained slight structural
damage above waterline by the wreckage of a Japanese
aircraft.
HM
Minesweeper VESTAL was sunk and HMS AMEER was damaged.
August Deployed
with Eastern Fleet in preparation for Malayan landings (Operation ZIPPER).
(Note:
This operation was delayed by US insistence and problems
related to the return
to UK of long serving personnel
under the PYTHON Scheme.
See
Final Report of Supreme Commander, SEAC (HMSO) )
31st Sailed from Trincomalee and took
passage to Singapore for re-occupation of Singapore
and as Flagship for Occupation Force. (Operation TIDERACE)
September Covered
passage of assault convoys for landings at Port Swettenham
and Port
Dickson.
4th Arrived off Singapore with HM Landing Ship
(Infantry) KEDAH and ships of 7th
Minesweeping Flotilla.
The
surrender of Japanese forces in Singapore by Lt-Gen Itagaki and Vice
Admiral
Fukudone, UN was accepted on board.
12th Present at formal surrender of Japan to Supreme Commander, SEAC by General Itakagi
Retained at Singapore during
landing of 3rd Commando Brigade.
(For
details of fleet operations see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by C.
Barnett and the Naval Staff History).
HMS SUSSEX remained with the Eastern Fleet after VJ Day
and provided cover for the landings of the 5th Indian Division at Soerabaya, Java with HM Destroyers CARRON, CAESAR and
CAVALIER in November 1945. Before return
to UK on 6 March she supported military operations against insurgents in
Java. Nominated for use as a troopship she returned to Chatham late in March
1946 and after essential changes to suit this role she carried personnel
returning from the Far east until Paid-Off at Devonport prior to refit. On
completion in April 1947 she re-commissioned for service in the 5th Cruiser
Squadron, British Pacific Fleet. Before joining the Fleet in the Far East as
Flagship for the Squadron she worked-up in Malta. At the end of 1948 she was
relieved by HMS BELFAST and returned to Pay-off into Reserve at Portsmouth. She
was de-equipped in February 1949 and placed on the Disposal List. Sold to BISCO
for demolition on 3rd January 1950 the ship arrived in tow at Dalmuir, Glasgow on 23rd February where she was broken-up
by Arnott Young.
