1 9 2 2
February Contractors Trials
Commissioned for Trials
March
9th Paid
off on completion of Acceptance Trials.
April
11th Re-commissioned
for service in 8th Light Cruiser Squadron on America and West
Indies Station.
March Deployed with Squadron.
to December (Note:
Visits were paid to Empire communities in the Area and to foreign countries in
the area
1 9 2 3 to 1 9 2 5
January Carried out Squadron exercise
and visits programme based at Bermuda.
to December (Note:
Routine dockings and refits in Canadian dockyards.)
1 9 2 6
January Squadron deployment on Station
in continuation
to September (Note:
During visit to Montreal in this period ship sustained structural damage to
stern by
collision when entering harbour.)
October Resumed Squadron service and
returned to Bermuda.
21st Rescued
29 survivors from HM Sloop VALERIAN which capsized in a hurricane
south of Bermuda.
(Note: HMS VALERIAN sank on 22nd
October.)
November West Indies deployment with Squadron in continuation.
to December
1 9 2 7
January West Indies deployment with Squadron in continuation
to April
May Passage to Devonport to
re-commission.
June Deployed at Devonport
(Note: During this period ship may
have been refitted.)
Paid-off.
July
1st Re-commissioned
for service with 8th Light Cruiser Squadron in West Indies.
August Passage to Bermuda to resume foreign service with Squadron.
to Deployed
with Squadron for visits and exercises.
December
1 9 2 8
Squadron duties based at Bermuda in continuation.
1 9 2 9
January West Indies deployment in continuation.
to November Nominated
for reduction to Reserve status at Devonport.
December Passage to Devonport to pay-off.
17th Arrived
at Devonport
31st Reduction
to Reserve commenced
1 9 3 0 t o 1 9 3 2
Laid-up in Reserve
Fleet Devonport.
1 9 3 3
January Laid-up at Devonport
to October
November Prepared for refit by HM Dockyard,
Devonport prior to foreign service.
December
7th Taken
in hand for refit.
1 9 3 4
January Under refit
to June
July
17th Re-commissioned
for service on China Station with 5th Light Cruiser Squadron.
August Carried out trials and shakedown in Home waters.
to September Passage
to Hong Kong to commence Squadron service.
October Deployed with Squadron and
took part in exercises and duties to protect British
to December flagged
shipping.
1 9 3 5
Squadron duties based at Hong Kong in continuation.
1 9 3 6
January Deployed on China Station.
to March Nominated
for return to UK to re-commission.
April
25th Sailed
from Hong Kong to re-commission
(Note: The reason for early return to
UK is not known.
Foreign commissions usually lasted 2½
years and would have normally
lasted until
December 1936)
May Passage to UK
to June Paid-off
July Deployed at Devonport
30th Re-commissioned
for service on China Station with 5th Light Cruiser Squadron.
August Deployed at Devonport
to December (Note:
Ship may have refitted during this period.)
Passage to rejoin Squadron
1 9 3 7
January Deployed with Squadron on China Station.
to June
July Deployed at Wei-Hei-Wei
with Squadron
15th Arrived at Hong Kong for refit.
(Note: Refit was cancelled and ship
had routine docking before despatch to
Nanking for guardship
duties.)
22nd Sailed
from Hong Kong to Nanking.
August
1st Arrived
at Nanking as relief for HM Cruiser DANAE as guardship.
(Note: Guardship
was responsible for providing shore parties as needed to
protect
British community during threat of Japanese military actions
including
air attacks and to act as a secure wireless communication link
in support
of British Embassy requirements.)
September Guardship
duties at Nanking in continuation.
20th Embarked
British Embassy personnel for evacuation in view of air attacks expected
within 48
hours
21st Passage
to Hangchow with passengers,
(Note: Air raids began on Nanking on 22nd)
October
2nd Arrived
at Hangchow after delay caused by wrecks of Chinese mercantiles deliberately
sunk to
prevent passage of Japanese warships in the Yangtse River.
November Remained at Hangchow pending Japanese permission to sail down river.
December
18th Sailed from Hanchow after
permission by Japanese to leave.
27th Arrived at Hong Kong after call at Shanghai.
1 9 3 8
January Deployed for Squadron duties
based at Hong Kong.
to February
March
6th Despatched
to assist French freighter YOLANDE which was aground in
Betty Cove near Alceste Island.
April Nominated for return to UK for conversion into an anti-aircraft cruiser.
26th Sailed
for UK from Hong
Kong
May Passage to Devonport
to July (Note:
Ship may have been delayed in Mediterranean in view of Italian
aggressive
operations against Abyssinia.)
August Passage from Mediterranean to Devonport.
9th Arrived
at Devonport
September Reduced to Reserve status prior to
conversion by HM Dockyard Rosyth.
October Laid-up at Devonport
to December
1 9 3 9
January Transferred to Rosyth and used
as an Accommodation Ship.
to June Conversion
delayed due to international situation
July Commissioned with Fleet Reserve personnel to
attend review of the
Reserve Fleet by HM King George VI.
August Attended Review in Weymouth Bay and remained in commission to take up
war station
as part of 11th Cruiser Squadron.
(Note: Ship is likely to have done
limited work-up prior to being deployed for
Atlantic convoy defence and must have
stored for war service before sailing.)
28th Sailed
from Plymouth for Gibraltar.
D e t a i l s o f W a r
S
e r v i c e
September
1st Deployed
at Gibraltar
3rd Sailed
for interception patrol to enforce blockade and for defence of Atlantic
convoys
which were commenced after commencement of war with Germany.
12th Returned
to Gibraltar from patrol
(Note: Other ships of the Class were
deployed in northern Atlantic.)
17th Sailed from Gibraltar for escort of SL convoy from Freetown.
27th Returned
to Gibraltar.
October
2nd Sailed
for patrol and convoy escort.
During passage developed defects and
returned to Gibraltar.
3rd Returned
to Gibraltar.
Repair arranged at Malta.
(Note: Deployment to be transferred
to North Atlantic on completion.)
6th Sailed
from Gibraltar for repair.
8th On
arrival taken in hand for repair by HM Dockyard, Malta.
21st Deployed at Malta on completion of repair.
25th Transferred
to 3rd Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet.
(Note: Deployment of this Class of
cruiser in North Atlantic had been found unsuitable.)
27th Deployed
for contraband patrol and sailed from Malta.
November
3rd Returned
to Malta from patrol
7th Deployed
for patrol and convoy defence in western Mediterranean.
9th At
Gibraltar.
12th Deployed for patrol in Gibraltar area.
18th Sailed
from Gibraltar.
20th Returned
to Malta.
26th Sailed
for patrol from Malta
December
5th Returned
to Malta from patrol
18th Sailed
for patrol from Malta
26th Returned
to Malta
1 9 4 0
January Deployed in Malta
12th Taken
in hand for refit by HM Dockyard, Malta
30th Resumed Squadron duties.
February Deployed for blockade duties and
patrol based in Malta.
to May (Note:
During this period extensive Mediterranean Fleet exercises were carried
out in
anticipation of war with Italy.
June Deployed in Eastern Mediterranean for defence of convoys.
26th Escorted
convoy during passage from Egypt to Dardanelles with HM Destroyers
NUBIAN and MOHAWK.
30th Returned
to Alexandria with HM Cruiser CALEDON, HM Destroyers GARLAND,
VAMPIRE (RAN) and same ships having
escorted convoy from Cape Helles
during passage
to Egypt.
July
6th Carried
out bombardment at Bardia in support of shore
military operation.
11th Sailed from Alexandria as escort for convoy to Piraeus during initial stage of passage.
13th Returned
to Alexandria.
18th Transferred
to 7th Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet.
21st Deployed
with HM Cruiser LIVERPOOL, HM Destroyers DIAMOND and STUART
(RAN) as escort for
single ship from Alexandria to Aegean.
22nd Joined
by HM Destroyers DAINTY and DEFENDER with four mercantiles
to form
Convoy AN2 escort during passage.
27th Detached
with AN2 escort when convoy dispersed and joined south bound convoy
to Egypt as escort
31st Transferred to East Indies station.
(Note: This change was made when
experience of the extent and severity of aerial
attacks on
RN warships in eastern Mediterranean clearly showed that this
Class of cruiser was unsuitable for
deployment in the Mediterranean
because of
lack of speed and poor AA armament,)
August
3rd Sailed
from Alexandria to join 4th Cruiser Squadron for convoy defence in
Indian
Ocean and Red Sea.
September
20th Deployed
with HM Cruisers CANBERRA (RAN)), DURBAN, HM Aircraft Carrier
HERMES and HM Armed Merchant Cruiser
WESTRALIA (RAN)) in search for
German raider
ATLANTIS active in Indian Ocean.
October On release from search took
passage to Singapore for refit.
November Under refit by HM Dockyard, Singapore.
December Resumed convoy defence and patrol
duty in Indian Ocean.
1 9 4 1
January Indian Ocean deployment in continuation.
February Nominated for service in Force
“T” for support of planned military operation in
Italian Somaliland.
10th Deployed
with HM Cruiser SHROPSHIRE, HMS HERMES, HMS HAWKINS,
HM Cruiser CERES
and HM Destroyer KANDAHAR as Force “T”.
14th Deployed
at Mogadiscio with Force “T” and provided support
bombardment.
18th On
release from support duties took passage to Mombasa with Force “T” ships.
21st Sailed
from Mombasa and joined HMS HERMES and HM Cruiser EMERALD
in search
for German ADMIRAL SCHEER.
26th Search
abandoned and joined HM Cruiser ENTERPRISE in escort for military
convoy WS5BX
during passage from Mombasa to Bombay,
29th Detached
from WS5BX and took passage to Red
Sea for convoy defence,
patrol
and support
of military operations duties.
31st Arrived
at Port Sudan.
March Deployed in Red Sea for convoy defence and interception patrol.
(Note: In order to ensure convoy
routes were clear of mines ships on patrol
paravanes
were streamed to cut any moored mine cables. Dan buoys were laid
to mark
limits of swept channel.)
April Red Sea deployment in continuation.
8th During
patrol duty north of Massawa, off Mersa
Kuba with HM Australian
Sloop PARRAMATTA came under attack by Italian torpedo boat MAS 213
which
launched two torpedoes.
Hit in after boiler room and
sustained severe damage with flooding.
Ship disabled with many casualties.
9th Under
tow by HMAS PARRAMATTA escorted by HM Indian Sloop INDUS.
10th At Port Sudan
11th Ship
de-stored and commenced preparation for tow to naval dockyard for repair.
(Note: Ship paid off and ship’s
company transferred to other ships on station..
It is not known whether a party was
retained to man ship during tow.)
May Repair arranged at Bombay.
Passage to in Red Sea under tow.
June On arrival at Bombay taken in hand for repair by HM
Dockyard.
July Under repair
to December (Note:
One source suggests that period under dockyard control may have been
extended by
delay in arrival of replacement boilers from UK)
1 9 4 2
January Under repair and refit
to May (Note:
No major alterations were made to increase AA armament or to fit radar.)
June Re-commissioned for service in 5th Cruiser
Squadron, Eastern Fleet
Carried out post
refit trials.
July On completion of storing took passage to
resume Squadron duties in Persian
Gulf.
August Deployed as Base Ship at Hormuz
September
10th After
relief at Hormuz deployed in Persian Gulf deployed for convoy defence
in Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
October
15th Transferred
for convoy defence of traffic in Indian
Ocean between Persian Gulf,
East Africa and India.
November Indian Ocean convoy defence in continuation.
December Deployed with escort for military
convoy WS24 in Indian Ocean (to be confirmed)
1 9 4 3
January Indian Ocean convoy defence in continuation.
to June
July Nominated for return to UK.
August Passage in Atlantic.
September
1st Arrived
at Gibraltar
Passage to Plymouth
October Paid-off and placed under Care
and Maintenance at Devonport.
December Taken in hand for refit to fit
20mm Oerlikon weapons for close range defence
against air
attacks and for installation of surface warning radar Type 273
(Note: For details of development and
use of radar by RN see RADAR AT SEA
by D Howse.)
1 9 4 4
January Deployed at Plymouth as an Accommodation Ship.
February Used for accommodation of
landing craft personnel at Plymouth
to March (Note: Large numbers of Landing
craft were based at Plymouth in preparation
for planned
allied landings in Normandy (Operation NEPTUNE)
April Nominated for service in support of NEPTUNE.
17th Re-commissioned
May Prepared for duty as Control Ship for
military convoys during passage from
beachhead
area.
Nominated for deployment with Western
Task Force in MULBERRY “A”
June Deployed under overall US Command for duty as
Captain Southbound Sailings
Control Ship and Depot Ship at
Mulberry “A”.
4th Operation
delayed for 24 hours
6th Passage
to Solent.
7th Passage
through swept channel from south of Isle of Wight to
Mulberry “A”
in Western
Task Force Area.
9th Commenced
duty as Control Ship Southbound sailings to US landing beaches.
(Note: HM Cruiser CERES was deployed
as Captain North Bound Sailings
at Mulberry
“A”
19th Mulberry
“A” wrecked in severe gale. No serious damage known in ship.
24th NEPTUNE terminated when headquarters moved ashore.
Depot Ship duties
in continuation.
July Beachhead deployment
under command of ANCXF in continuation.
to August
September Passage to Plymouth on release from far shore duties.
October Paid-off and reduced to
Reserve status.
Some secondary armament removed.
Deployed at Falmouth as an Accommodation ships for personnel of Reserve
Fleet ships laid-up there.
November Falmouth deployment in continuation.
to December
1 9 4 5
January Falmouth deployment in continuation.
to May