HMS Aurora (12)
Aurora, July 1942
| |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Aurora |
Builder | Portsmouth Dockyard |
Laid down | 27 July 1935 |
Launched | 20 August 1936 |
Commissioned | 12 November 1937 |
Decommissioned | April 1946 |
Identification | Pennant number: 12 |
Fate | Sold on 19 May 1948 to the Nationalist Chinese Navy |
Republic of China | |
Name | Chung King |
Namesake | Chongqing |
Acquired | 19 May 1948 |
Fate | Defected to Communist China, 25 February 1949 |
People's Republic of China | |
Name | Tchoung King |
Acquired | February 1949 |
Renamed |
|
Fate | Sunk by ROC aircraft, March 1949. Later refloated and converted for other purposes. Scrapped during Cultural Revolution |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Arethusa-class light cruiser |
Displacement |
|
Length | 506 ft (154 m) |
Beam | 51 ft (16 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
Range | Unknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil |
Complement | 500 |
Armament |
|
Armour | |
Aircraft carried | One aircraft (later removed) |
HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, with the keel being laid down on 27 July 1935. She was launched on 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937.
History
Aurora served with the
Between July and August 1941, as part of
On 9 November 1941 leading Force K, consisting of HMS Penelope, HMS Lance and HMS Lively, she was involved in the destruction of the Beta Convoy. In the resulting battle the Italian destroyer Fulmine was sunk, as well as the German transports Duisburg and San Marco, the Italian transports Maria, Sagitta and Rina Corrado, and the Italian Conte di Misurata and Minatitlan. The Italian destroyers Grecale and Euro were damaged.[4]
On 24 November Force K, made up of the British light cruisers Aurora and Penelope and the destroyers Lance and Lively, intercepted an Axis convoy about 100 nautical miles west of Crete. The Axis convoy was bound from the Aegean to Benghazi. The two German transports in the convoy, Maritza and Procida were both sunk by HMS Penelope and HMS Lively despite the presence of the Italian torpedo boats Lupo and Cassiopea. On 1 December 1941 Force K with HMS Penelope and HMS Lively attacked the Mantovani Convoy. The Italian destroyer
HMS Aurora also participated in the First Battle of Sirte on 17 December 1941. On 19 December while steaming off Tripoli she was heavily damaged in a mine field and was forced to retire to Malta.[6]
After her return to the Mediterranean she joined
.Then, as a unit of the 15th Cruiser Squadron, she participated in the
Chinese service
After the war Aurora was sold on 19 May 1948 to the
Commanding officers
- L. H. K. Hamilton
- William Gladstone Agnew
- Robert Sherbrooke
- Deng Zhaoxiang
Footnotes
- ^ Lenton & Colledge 1968 p.41
- ^ Campbell 1985 p.34
- ISBN 0-646-07198-X
- ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3.
- ^ "HMS Aurora, British light cruiser, WW2".
- ^ "Kenneth More, 67 CBE (1914-1982) actor". YouTube.
- ^ Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62.
- ^ Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62.
- ^ "Plates of Cruiser Chongqing". Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
References
- Caruana, Joseph (2006). "The Demise of Force "K"". Warship International. XLIII (1): 99–111. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
- Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-922-7.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 1-86019-874-0.