1
9 3 9
September
Deployed with the 8th Cruiser Squadron on
the America
and West Indies Station.
3rd
Took passage to Halifax
for Atlantic convoy defence.
6th
At Halifax.
16th
Deployed as Ocean Escort for Convoy HX1
with HM Cruiser BERWICK as relief
for HM
Canadian Destroyers SAGUENAY
and ST LAURENT.
20th
Returned to Halifax.
23rd
Joined Convoy HXF1 as escort.
26th
Returned to Halifax.
October
2nd
Deployed on convoy defence off Halifax.
5th
Nominated to Join Hunting Group F with HMS
BERWICK for the interception
of
commerce
raiders in West
Indies.
This Group was never deployed due to
other priority
requirements.
8th
Western
Atlantic convoy defence duty in
continuation
31st
Took passage to Bermuda
for repair.
November
5th
Under repair to boilers by HM Dockyard,
Bermuda.
13th
Completion delayed by electrical defects.
22nd
Passage to Halifax
to resume convoy defence duties.
26th
Escorted Convoy HX10 to UK.
(Note: The reason for this Honour is not
clear but ship
December
Under repair at
commercial shipyard in Liverpool.
1
9 4 0
January
Under repair at Liverpool.
February
9th
On completion joined 1st Cruiser Squadron,
Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.
March
1st
Deployed on Northern Patrol for
interception of blockade runners.
3rd
Intercepted German freighter ARUCAS off
Iceland,
on passage from Vigo.
Enemy ship set of fire by crew and
abandoned.
Sunk by gunfire and afterwards 43 of the
survivors were rescued from a boat but
three
later died.
Returned to Scapa
Flow on completion of patrol.
April
Deployed with
Squadron for Atlantic convoy defence.
In Forth
with HM Cruisers DEVONSHIRE, BERWICK and
GLASGOW preparing for
support of
planned allied landings in Norway
(Operation R4).
7th
Embarked troops at Rosyth.
8th
Disembarked troops when German invasion of
Norway
was confirmed and sailed
to Join Home
Fleet with HM Cruisers DEVONSHIRE,
BERWICK and GLASGOW.
9th
Joined Fleet SW of Bergen.
Under heavy and sustained attacks during
which several ships were damaged by near
misses and HM
Destroyer GURKHA (i)
hit and later had to be sunk.
(Note: This event gave a foretaste of the
extent of opposition to be experienced
from air
attacks
involving a very heavy expenditure of AA
ammunition with a not
outstanding
success in destruction of aircraft. See
Naval Staff History – 2000)
10th
Took passage with HM Battleships RODNEY,
VALIANT, WARSPITE. HM Aircraft
Carrier
FURIOUS and HM Cruisers BERWICK and DEVONSHIRE to carry out attacks on shipping
at Bergen
by aircraft from HMS FURIOUS.
(Note: This operation was cancelled on
passage
by orders from
the Admiralty.
11th
Deployed in search for shipping between
Trondheim
and Vestfjord.
Attack by U48 was unsuccessful due to
torpedo failure.
(For details of German torpedo problems
see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by
Corelli
Barnett and BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS by
John Terraine).
16th
Deployed with HM Cruisers EFFINGHAM, CALCUTTA
and HM Destroyer ASHANTI to
intercept
German destroyers reported on passage to Trondheim.
22nd
Embarked troops at Rosyth for passage to
reinforce military at Andalsnes.
Took passage with HM Cruisers BIRMINGHAM
and MANCHESTER
accompanied by HM
Destroyers ACHERON,
ARROW and GRIFFIN.
24th
Landed 3,000 men and 300 tons of stores
at Andalsnes (Operation SICKLE).
29th
Passage from Rosyth with HM Cruiser
DEVONSHIRE screened by HM. Destroyers
AFRIDI,
NUBIAN, HASTY, French cruiser MONTCALM and
French destroyer BISON to escort
three
troopships to evacuate MAURICE FORCE
from Namsos.
May
1st
Evacuation delayed by fog.
2nd
Assisted in evacuation of allied troops
from Namsos
with same ships.
1,170
troops were
embarked for passage to UK.
3rd
Under heavy air attacks during evacuation
operation during which HMS AFRIDI and French
destroyer BISON
were sunk.
(For details of the disastrous allied
campaign in Norway
see above reference, NARVIK by
D. MacIntyre
and ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY).
12th
Deployed at Rosyth for anti-invasion
patrol and interception duty in North
Sea.
(Note: HM Cruisers MANCHESTER and
SHEFFIELD of Squadron which were
transferred
to Nore
Command went to
Humber
for same duty.)
31st
Transferred to 18th Cruiser Squadron and
remained at Rosyth.
June
Deployed on anti-invasion patrol in North Sea based at Rosyth.
July
3rd
Carried out abortive search for GNEISENAU
off Norway
with HM Battlecruisers
RENOWN,
REPULSE, HM Cruisers DEVONSHIRE, SHEFFIELD and AUSTRALIA (RAN), screened
by Fleet
destroyers.
August
Transferred to 7th Mediterranean Fleet.
28th
Escorted military Convoy AP1 on passage to
Middle
East with troops for Desert Army
in Egypt
September
2nd
Arrived at Freetown.
10th
At Capetown.
23rd
Detached from AP1 on arrival at Aden
and relieved by HM Australian Cruiser
HOBART.
HM Cruiser COVENTRY, HM Destroyers DIAMOND
and KANDAHAR
for escort during
Red
Sea passage.
Joined following military Convoy AP2 at Aden
as escort for Red Sea passage
(Note: HMS COVENTRY joined later with HM
Destroyers DAINTY and KINGSTON
Convoys AP1, AP 2 (Single ship mv
SYDNEY STAR)
were all on passage
during this
period and this ship would have provided
cover in event of interception by
a commerce
raider or enemy warship.)
26th
Joined HM Cruisers LIVERPOOL,
GLOUCESTER and SYDNEY (RAN) in 3rd Cruiser
Squadron at Alexandria.
28th
Provided cover for HM Cruisers GLOUCESTER
and LIVERPOOL taking troops to Malta
with Fleet
units including HM Battleships VALIANT,
WARSPITE, HM.
Aircraft Carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS, HM Cruisers ORION and SYDNEY
(RAN) screened by Fleet destroyers.
(Fleet Operation MB5 –
Intended to tempt action by Italian
Fleet. See references)
29th
Under air attacks.
30th
Remained at sea when HMS LIVERPOOL and HMS
GLOUCESTER were detached to land
troops.
October
1st
Took passage from Malta
area when HM Cruisers rejoined Fleet.
3rd
Arrived at Alexandria.
8th
Joined HM Cruisers AJAX, GLOUCESTER,
LIVERPOOL and SYDNEY (RAN) to cover
passage of
Convoy MW2 to Malta
and returning ME2 (Fleet Operation MB6).
11th
Remained with Fleet when convoy arrived
in Malta.
13th
Detached to sink Italian destroyer
ARTIGLIERE which had been damaged in
action with HM
Cruiser AJAX
at 0153 on 12th. A flying boat sighted
her at 0710 and HM Cruiser ORION
reported
a
ship burning at 0712
On arrival ARTIGLIERE was found to be in
tow by another Italian
destroyer which then
departed at
high speed. ARTIGLIERE
surrendered
and personnel abandoned ship using
carley
floats dropped by HMS YORK
which sank the
enemy ship by
gunfire and torpedo
with
spectacular explosion. For details see Naval Staff
History (HMSO 2001).
14th
Took passage to rejoin Fleet for return
to Alexandria.
16th
Arrived at Alexandria
November
4th
Covered passage of Malta Convoy MW3 with
Fleet units.
9th
Under air attacks during which two
aircraft were destroyed.
10th
Met HM Battleship BARHAM, HM Cruisers
BERWICK and GLASGOW escorted by HM
Destroyers GREYHOUND, GALLANT and GRIFFIN
in transit to reinforce the Fleet in
eastern Mediterranean.
(Operation COAT - For details see
ENGAGE THE ENEMY
MORE CLOSELY by
Corelli
Bamett, THE BATTLE
FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN by Donald
MacIntyre
and Naval Staff
History (HMSO-2001).
11th
Detached to escort HM Aircraft Carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS with HM Cruisers BERWICK
GLASGOW
and GLOUCESTER screened by HM Destroyers
HAVOCK, HEREWARD and
HERO
during air
strikes on Italian Fleet at Taranto
(Operation JUDGEMENT).
14th
Embarked troops at Alexandria
for passage to Piraeus with HM Cruisers,
BERWICK,
GLASGOW
GLOUCESTER, AJAX, ORION and SYDNEY
(RAN).
16th
Returned to Alexandria
from Piraeus..
26th
Deployed with HM Cruisers GLASGOW and GLOUCESTER
as Force E to cover passage of
Malta
convoy and to
support Fleet units covering transfer of
reinforcements to the
Mediterranean
Fleet based at Alexandria
(Force F - Operation COLLAR)
(For details see above
references).
30th
Returned to Alexandria.
December
16th
Sailed from Alexandria
with HM Battleships WARSPITE, VALIANT, HM
Aircraft Carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS screened by 11 destroyers as
Force A and HM Cruiser as Force B.
(Operation HIDE – carry
out offensive operations in eastern Mediterranean,
carry out
bombardment and
air attacks on Valona,
air operations on shipping and provide
cover for passage
of convoys. See
Naval Staff History for details.)
17th
At Suda
Bay.
18th
Joined by HM Cruisers ORION, SYDNEY (RAN)
and AJAX,
Detached from Force A
with HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and four destroyers
screen destroyer.
Took passage to
flying-off position.
19th
Provided cover during air operations.
Rejoined Force A which
had carried out bombardment and took
passage to Malta.
20th
Covered entry of HMS WARSPITE into Malta
after bombardments.
23rd
Detached from Force A with all cruisers
and returned to Alexandria.
1
9 4 1
January
6th
Escorted RFA Fleet Tanker BRAMBLELEAF to Suda Bay, Crete with HM Cruiser ORION,
HM Corvettes PEONY, GLOXINIA, HYACINTH and
SALVIA.
7th
Joined Force D at Suda
Bay with ORION, AJAX and PERTH as part of
a Fleet
deployment to
cover transit
of military convoy from Gibraltar
to Malta and
Piraeus,
and convoys to and from
Malta.
(Operation EXCESS.)
(Note: This complex operation was subjected
to sustained air attacks by German
aircraft for the
first time in
the Mediterranean.
See above references).
9th
Met HM Battleships WARSPITE
, VALIANT, HM Aircraft Carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS and a
screen
of Fleet
destroyers deployed as Force A in
position SE of Malta.
Continued the
escort of
military convoy and joined by HM Cruiser
BONAVENTURE which
was in transit
to reinforce Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria.
11th
Passage to Alexandria
as escort for two mercantiles
from EXCESS convoy as Convoy ME5 ˝
with HM Cruiser
CALCUTTA
and two destroyers.
(Note: Main Fleet units providing Distant
Cover were under sustained German air
attacks on
10th during which HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was made
a
special target
and seriously
damaged.)
16th
Arrived in Alexandria.
February
Deployed with Mediterranean Fleet cruiser
force in Eastern
Mediterranean.
March
Covered passage of military convoys to Greece
(Operation LUSTRE).
Transferred to Suda
Bay with Mediterranean Fleet cruisers.
(For details see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY and Naval Staff History)
Deployed at Suda
Bay.
.
26th
Damaged by at Suda
Bay by explosive motor boat launched from
an Italian destroyer.
Ship was at anchor and then beached to
prevent sinking.
April
Used for harbour AA defence.
(Note: Some of ship’s company
provided beach parties during the
evacuation of
allied troops
from Greece
(Operation DEMON).
21st
Two divers examining hull killed by a near
miss which also further damaged structure.
May
Salvage investigations in continuation.
18th
Hit during bombing attacks and damaged
beyond repair.
22nd
Ship abandoned after main armament
destroyed by demolition charges.