1 9 1 8
July Contractors trials and commissioning for
service with 5th Light Cruiser Squadron
18th Acceptance trials on completion of build.
Passage to Harwich
to join Squadron for service in North Sea.
August Deployed with Squadron for patrol duties in North Sea
After armistice
deployed in Home waters for Fleet duties.
1 9 1 9
Transferred to 1st Light Cruiser
Squadron. Atlantic Fleet.
Deployed with Squadron in Home waters
1 9 2 0 t o 1 9 2 2
Squadron duties in
Channel Fleet in continuation.
1 9 2 3
January Atlantic Fleet deployment in
continuation with Squadron
to August
September Nominated for foreign
service as part of World Cruise with visits to countries in the
British Empire.
October Prepared for special duty.
November Joined HM Battlecruisers
HOOD, REPULSE, HM Cruisers DELHI,
DRAGON,
DAUNTLESS and DUNEDIN.
27th Sailed from Plymouth with ships of special squadron.
December
21st Arrived at Cape Town after call at Freetown, Sierra Leone.
22nd Passage to Zanzibar.
1 9 2 4
January
1st Arrived
at Zanzibar after calls at Port Elizabeth, East London. Mossel Bay and Durban.
17th Took passage for Australia from Zanzibar.
February Passage in Indian Ocean
28th Arrived in Fremantle, Australia.
March Visited Albany, Adelaide
and Melbourne.
April
6th Sailed
from Hobart for Sydney.
9th Arrived
at Sydney,
20th Sailed
from Sydney for Wellington, New
Zealand
23rd Arrived
at Wellington.
May
7th Sailed
from Wellington for Pacific visits programme.
(Note: Calls were made at Suva, Samara, Fiji, Samoa and Honolulu.
June Passage from Honolulu to Vancouver, British Columbia with call at Victoria, BC.
July
6th Arrived
at Vancouver
7th Detached
with HM Cruisers DELHI, DRAGON, DAUNTLESS and DUNEDIN for visits
to ports in South America
August Deployed in Pacific Ocean, Caribbean and Atlantic seaboard off South America for
to September
visits programme.
October On completion of visits took
return passage to Portsmouth.
to November
December Nominated for service in 1st
Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet.
1 9 2 5
Commissioned for service in Mediterranean and joined Squadron at Malta
Deployed with
Squadron for Fleet exercise and visits programmes.
1 9 2 6 t o 1 9 2 8
Mediterranean Fleet
deployment with Squadron in continuation.
1 9 2 9
Nominated for
return to UK for refit.
Taken in hand for
refit after paying-off.
1 9 3 0
On completion of post refit trials
commissioned for service in 8th Cruiser Squadron
on America and West Indies Station based in Bermuda.
Passage to join
Squadron.
1 9 3 1 t o 1 9 3
4
Deployed with Squadron for exercises
and visits to ports in North and South
America
including Canada, West
Indies colonies and ports in
South America.
1 9 3 5
Nominated for reduction to Reserve
status and took return passage to Portsmouth.
Paid-off and laid-up in Reserve at
Devonport.
1 9 3 6
Recommissioned for service in 5th
Cruiser Squadron on the China Station
Passage to Hong Kong to join Squadron.
Deployed at Hong Kong for Squadron duties
1 9 3 7
(Note: Japanese began hostilities
against China which made necessary the
use of
warships to protect British interests in Chines
ports. These
cities
became targets for aerial attacks.)
January Squadron deployment on China
Station in continuation.
to June
July Nominated for Guardship
duty at Nanking
12th Embarked
British Ambassador to China for passage to Nanking
15th Arrived
at Nanking with Ambassador.
(Note: Ambassador had meeting with
Chinese Foreign Minister
Ship provided secure wireless
communication link for embassy traffic
to London.
August
2nd Sailed
from Nanking for Shanghai on relief as Guardship
by HM Cruiser CAPETOWN.
14th Deployed
at Shanghai and provided shore landing parties to protect British
interests
(Note: Shanghai was under air attacks by Japanese.)
17th Sailed
from Shanghai to escort liner RAJPUTANA which was carrying evacuees
from
Shanghai to Hong Kong.
Under fire from
shore without damage.
Returned to Shanghai for Guardship
duties.
September Deployment at Shanghai in continuation.
October Returned to Hong Kong from Shanghai
Nominated for
return to UK.
November Passage to Portsmouth to Pay-off and reduce to Reserve status.
to December Paid-off
at Portsmouth
1 9 3 8
January Reduced to Reserve and laid-up
in Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth
February Laid-up at Portsmouth
to June Nominated
for trade defence, patrol and interception duties on mobilisation
for war.
July Re-commissioned at Portsmouth with Reservists to attend Review of the
Reserve Fleet at Weymouth by HM King George VI.
August Attended Review and remained in commission to take
up war station duty in
South Atlantic
Allocated to 9th Cruiser Squadron
Took passage with HM Cruiser
DAUNTLESS after completing to war complement
and
embarking ammunition and stores for operational duties.
September
3rd Called
at Freetown prior to first patrol.
14th Sailed from Freetown for first patrol.
11th Arrived at Simonstown from patrol.
18th Sailed from Simonstown for patrol
in South
Atlantic.
(Note: It was known that German had
deployed commerce raiders in the Atlantic
before the
declaration of war.)
21st Returned
to Simonstown.
28th Sailed for further South Atlantic patrol from Simonstown.
October
2nd Returned
to Simonstown.
7th Deployed
for convoy escort at Capetown.
9th Sailed
from Capetown to join convoy as escort during passage to West Africa.
18th Took passage for St Helena from Lagos.
22nd At St Helena.
28th Arrived at Simonstown from patrol.
31st Transferred
to East Indies Station
November
2nd Took
passage from Simonstown.
10th Sailed
from Mauritius for Colombo.
18th Arrived
at Colombo.
20th Took passage to Singapore from Colombo.
26th Arrived
at Singapore.
29th Took passage to Hong Kong for repairs arising from passage.
December
2nd Arrived
at Hong Kong.
3rd Taken
in hand for repair by HM Dockyard.
1 9 4 0
January
Under repair
February
14th Repair
work completed
Commenced sea trials and return to
operational duty.
March
6th Sailed
from Hong
Kong
for patrol.
Returned to Singapore on release for replenishment.
21st Sailed from Singapore for trade defence.
23rd Transferred
to British Malaya Force and deployed for surveillance of German
ships in Dutch East Indies ports
24th Deployed off Sourabaya for
interception of enemy shipping attempting to take passage.
(Note: German mercantiles
CASSEL, ESSEN
and NAUMBERG were known to
be
sheltering in Sourabaya.)
April
21st On
release from patrol took passage to Penang.
23rd At Penang.
Passage to Singapore
30th Arrived
at Singapore.
May Deployed for trade defence and interception
patrol in China Sea and Indian
Ocean
to December (Note:
Visits paid to Penang and Hong Kong between patrols.)
1 9 4 1
January Deployed in South China Sea and East
Indies eastern coasts.
February Routine docking in Singapore for hull inspection.
8th Resumed
patrol duties
March Patrol duties in continuation in Malacca Straits
to April (Note:
Visited Singapore and Penang between patrols.)
May Deployed as escort for
troopship from Sunda Strait to Singapore.
June Trade defence and convoy
escort in continuation.
to August
September Under refit by HM Dockyard at Singapore.
to October
November
6th Prepared
to resume operational duties and ammunitioned.
8th Sailed
from Singapore for Manila.
14th Sailed
from Manila with HM Armed Merchant Cruiser PRINCE
ROBERT (RCN) as escort for troopship AWATEA carrying Canadian troops
to reinforce
garrison at Hong Kong.
(Note: HMCS PRINCE ROBERT had
escorted AWATEA during Pacific passage.
from Canada.
17th Arrived
at Hong Kong.
19th Took
return passage to Singapore.
22nd Arrived
at Singapore.
December Deployed at Singapore. Transferred to 5th Cruiser
Squadron.
4th Other
ships at Singapore were:
HM Battleship
PRINCE OF WALES and HM Battlecruiser REPULSE.
HM Cruisers MAURITIUS and DURBAN.
HM Destroyers ELECTRA, ENCOUNTER,
EXPRESS, JUPITER, TENEDOS
STRONGHOLD, SCORPION.
HM River Gunboat
GRASSHOPPER, HM Auxiliaries KEDAH and MEDUSA.
HM Australian Fleet
Minesweepers GOULBURN, BENDIGO and BURNIE.
6th Sailed
from Singapore for escort of convoy to Negapatam.
7th Called
at Penang.
8th Hostilities
began with Japan and sailed to with convoy.
11th Arrived at Trincomalee after detaching from convoy.
16th Sailed
from Trincomalee having painted to required camouflage design.
19th Arrived
at Singapore
26th Allocated
to Western Striking Force based at Batavia and took passage.
29th At Tanjong Priok
Sailed to meet
Dutch cruiser JAVA.
31st Met
JAVA and took passage to join Convoy BM9B of six ships in position
00.28S 95. 27E as relief for HM Cruiser GLASGOW providing Ocean Escort.
1 9 4 2
January
4th Air
cover provided.
5th Dutch
warships joined escort for passage into Singapore.
6th Detached
from convoy with escort on arrival at Singapore.
11th Sailed
with HM Cruiser DRAGON to Batavia.
(Note: Vice Admiral Leyton and staff
were embarked in HMS DRAGON for passage.
Singapore was under air attacks during period from 6th.)
13th At Tanjong Priok.
17th Sailed from Tanjong Priok to join Convoy BM10.
18th Joined
BM10 as escort to Singapore with HM Cruisers ENTERPRISE, EXETER
and HM Sloop
SUTLEJ (RIN).
26th Arrived
at Singapore and sailed after embarking stores
Under air attacks
whilst leaving Singapore.
27th Passage to join military convoy DM2 as escort into Singapore.
(Note: Convoy was made up of ships
from Bombay in Convoy BM12 and
DM2 from Addu Atoll (Ex WS14 from UK).
Convoy comprised troopships *CITY OF CANTERBURY, DUNERA,
CITY OF PRETORIA, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, MALANCHA,
TROILUS, WARWICK CASTLE, *PLANCIUS, *EMPRESS OF ASIA,
DEVONSHIRE* and *FELIX ROUSELL.)
31st Joined
HMS EMERALD with Dutch cruiser JAVA for escort into Singapore.
February
1st HM
Sloops SUTLEJ (RIN) and YARRA (RAN) joined escort.
2nd HM
Cruiser EXETER, HM Destroyers JUPITER and VAMPIRE joined escort.
3rd On
arrival at Batavia detached with ships marked “*” above and provided
escort for
passage into Singapore with HMS EXETER, Dutch cruiser JAVA
and HMAS
YARRA.
4th Dutch
cruiser JAVA detached.
Under air attacks during which were
repelled by escort, particularly that by
HMS EXETER
5th Under
further heavy air attacks during which EMPRESS OF ASIA was set on
fire and
FELIX ROUSELL hit. Came under machine gun fire from aircraft causing
injury to
two of ships company.
(Note ;
EMPRESS OF ASIA later sank with 27 killed and 93 wounded.)
HMIS SUTLEJ joined escort from Singapore to reinforce AA fire.
Detached from BM2
on arrival in Singapore.
(Note Wireless equipment from Singapore naval stations were
embarked.
6th Sailed
from Singapore with HMAS YARRA and HMIS SUTLEJ as escort for
Convoy EM11during passage to Batavia.
(Note: The three mercantiles
in EM11 were FELIX ROUSSE, DEVONSHIRE
and CITY OF CANTERBURY.)
7th Deployed
with HM Cruiser HOBART (RAN) as escort for EM11,
8th Took
passage to Batavia (Tanjong Priok) with CITY OF CANTERBURY
(Note: Troops on board CITY OF CANTERBURY had not disembarked
on arrival
at Singapore.)
9th Deployed
at Tanjong Priok for Boiler
Clean and installation of two 20mm
Oerlikon mounting on Flag Deck to
provide defence against Close Range
air attacks
W/T equipment landed.
19th Took
passage from Tanjong Priok
to Padang to collect army personnel
who had
escaped to Sumatra from Singapore.
20th Embarked
passenger and sailed from Emmerhaven.
21st Diverted during passage to Tjilatjap
on south coast of Java.
Transferred to Western Striking Force
with HM Cruisers HOBART (RAN)
DRAGON, HM Destroyers TENEDOS and
SCOUT for interception of Japanese
invasion
convoys, based at Tanjong Priok
22nd Soldiers
disembarked.
23rd Grounded on departure from Tjilatjap
and pulled oof by tugs.
Water inlets to condensers blocked.
24th Sailed
from Tjilatjap for Tangjong
Priok.
25th Enemy
aircraft sighted but ship not attacked.
26th Entered
harbour after delay to allow departure of HM Cruiser EXETER
and HM
Cruiser PERTH who had been despatch to join allied squadron
for attack
on invasion convoys. See WAR WITH JAPAN (HMSO).
28th Despatched
from Tanjong Priok with
ships of Striking Force to carry out
attack on
Japanese convoy at Muntok in Banka Island.
Japanese landings were made in Batavia and Sourabaya.)
After unsuccessful search diverted to
carry out evacuation of civilians
at Emmerhaven, Sumatra with HMS TENEDOS and HMS SCOUT,
destroyers
detached and took passage to embark passengers.
(Note: Ship had been ordered to proceed
to Ceylon in the event of
failure to
defend Sumatra and Java.
For details of operations in Dutch East Indies and the attack
on Singapore see WAR WITH JAPAN (HMSO), OPERATION
PACIFIC by E Gray, THE FORGOTTEN
FLEET by J Winton
ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY and the
Naval Staff
History.)
March
1st Anchored
off Emmerhaven.
2nd HMS
SCOUT disembarked 309 personnel including 15 Nurses,
(Note: 250 others were taken to HMS
DRAGON,
3rd Passage
To join HMAS HOBART.
Refuelled from RFA APPLELEAF and
diverted to assist HM Auxiliary
KEDAH which had been evacuating
personnel from Chilachap and was
disabled
with engine trouble.
Passage south with
HMAS HOBART.
Took HMS KEDAH in tow with HMAS
HOBART in company..
4th Passage
to Colombo
5th HMAS
HOBART detached and made independent passage.
Arrived at Colombo with HMS KEDAH.
18th Sailed
from Colombo for Bombay.
20th At Bombay and nominated for service in Persian Gulf.
22nd Sailed from Bombay for duty in Persian Gulf.
April Deployed in Persian Gulf.
(Note: A guardship
was stationed at entrance for control of convoys
to Aden and ports in India as well as within the Gulf.
May Withdrawn from East Indies Station and
nominated for return to UK for refit.
Took passage Portsmouth via Cape
of Good Hope.
June Joined Home Fleet and prepared for refit
and July Deployed
in Home waters
August Passage to Tyne for refit in commercial shipyard.
7th Taken
in hand for refit.
September Under refit.
to December (Note:
Work carried out included replacement of No 3 6” gun mounting
and both
forward 6” mountings, which were replaced by Quadruple
2pdr Pom Pom Mountings controlled by Radar Type 282. Eight
20mm Oerlikon weapons were fitted to
improve Close Range AA
defence.
Radar Type 291 to provide limited surface and aircraft
warning was
fitted at the foremast head and Fire –control. Radar
Type 283 installed with
