HMS Calcutta (D82)
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | Calcutta |
Builder | Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness |
Laid down | 18 October 1917 |
Launched | 9 July 1918 |
Commissioned | 28 August 1919 |
Reclassified | Converted to anti-aircraft cruiser in 1939 |
Fate | Sunk 1 June 1941 by air attack off Alexandria, Egypt |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | C-class light cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam | 43 ft 6 in (13.26 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) |
Range | Carried 300 tons (950 tons maximum) of fuel oil |
Complement | 330–350 |
Armament |
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Armour |
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HMS Calcutta was a
Construction and design
Calcutta was laid down at Vickers' Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 28 January 1917 and launched on 9 July 1918, completing in August 1919.[1]
The ship was 451 feet 6 inches (137.62 m)
As built, Calcutta's main armament consisted of five
Modification
In August 1938 Calcutta started conversion at
Service
Following commissioning, Calcutta joined the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron on the
Following repair and a period in reserve, Calcutta was recommissioned on 18 September 1929 as the flagship of the 6th Cruiser Squadron serving on the Africa Station, based at Simon's Town, South Africa, serving on that station until returning to the United Kingdom and paying off into reserve in 1931.[6][7]
Second World War
Following conversion to an anti-aircraft cruiser, Calcutta joined the Home Fleet in August 1939 and in September was allocated to the Humber Force, acting as an anti-aircraft escort for convoys in the North Sea. She returned to the Home Fleet in February but continued to escort convoys as well as the Fleet.[6][7]
In April 1940,
At the end of May 1940, Calcutta took part in
Following the completion of the evacuation from Dunkirk, British Forces continued to operate in France, with Operation Aerial taking part in the second half of June 1940 to evacuate the remainder of British forces from ports in the west of France. Calcutta took part in Operation Aerial, providing anti-aircraft cover for evacuations from Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the far south-west of France, near the border with Spain from 23 to 25 June, when the Armistice between France and Germany ended the evacuations. On the return journey, Calcutta was in company with the Canadian destroyers HMCS Restigouche and Fraser, when on the evening of 25 June Calcutta collided with Fraser off the Gironde estuary, cutting the destroyer in two. The front of Fraser sank quickly, while the aft part was scuttled by Restigouche.[23][24] Calcutta was undamaged.[25]
On 30 August Calcutta set off from
Calcutta provided anti-aircraft support for the battleships Warspite, Valiant and Barham when they bombarded Bardia on 3 January, then on 7 January set off from Alexandria as part of the escort of Malta Convoy MW5. This was part of a complex series of operations, with another Malta convoy, Operation Excess being simultaneously run from Gibraltar. Convoy MW5 arrived unharmed at Malta on 10 January, but the escort for the Operation Excess convoy was heavily hit by German dive bombers, sinking the cruiser Southampton and badly damaging the aircraft carrier Illustrious and the cruiser Gloucester.[30][31] During March 1941, Calcutta escorted a series of troop convoys, known as Operation Lustre, carrying four British divisions from Egypt to Greece.[32] An Italian attempt to attack these convoys resulted in the Battle of Cape Matapan in which three Italian heavy cruisers were sunk.[33]
On 18 April 1941 Calcutta sailed with the Mediterranean Fleet when it escorted the fast transport
On 20 May, Germany launched an invasion of Crete by airborne troops. The British Mediterranean Fleet deployed to counter any sea-borne reinforcement of the German forces, with three groups of cruisers and destroyers (Forces B, C and D) deployed to the north of Crete to intercept invasion convoys, while a force of battleships and destroyers (Force A1) provided cover in case the Italian Navy attempted to intervene.[40] Calcutta was sent from Alexandria to join Force C, meeting it on 21 May. Force C came under heavy attack by German and Italian aircraft during 21 May, with the destroyer HMS Juno (F46) being sunk. On 22 May Force C intercepted a convoy of Caïques carrying German troops to Heraklion, escorted by the Sagittario. While the convoy was forced to turn back, heavy German air attacks caused the commander of Force C, Rear-Admiral King, to break off the attack. The air attacks damaged the cruisers Naiad and Carlisle before Force C rejoined the covering Force A1. Further attacks on the combined force damaged the battleships Warspite and Valiant and sank the cruisers Gloucester and Fiji and the destroyer Greyhound. Force A1 was ordered back to Alexandria early on 23 May to restock anti-aircraft ammunition.[41][42][43]
On 27 May, the deteriorating situation on Crete resulted in the evacuation of Allied forces being ordered, with Calcutta along with the cruisers Coventry, Phoebe and Perth, the destroyers Jervis, Janus and Hasty and the transport Glengyle evacuating 6,000 troops from Sfakia on the night of 29/30 May 1941.[44] On the night of 31 May/1 June 1941, a final effort was made to evacuate the remaining troops from Sfakia, with the cruiser Phoebe, the minelayer Abdiel and the destroyers Kimberley, Hotspur and Jackal picked up a further 3,710 men. Calcutta and Coventry set out from Alexandria on 1 June to provide extra anti-aircraft protection for this force, but the two ships were attacked by two Junkers Ju 88 bombers of Lehrgeschwader 1, which dived out of the sun, giving little warning, about 100 nautical miles (190 km) north-west of Alexandria. Calcutta was hit by two bombs and sank, with 255 men being rescued by Coventry and 107 men killed or missing.[43][45][46]
References
- ^ a b c d Preston 1985, p. 61
- ^ Whitley 1999, p. 71
- ^ Preston 1985, pp. 60–61
- ^ Parkes 1931, p. 53
- ^ Whitley 1999, pp. 71–72
- ^ a b c Whitley 1999, p. 72
- ^ Kiely 1996, p. 66.
- ^ From the Royal Navy log book for HMS Calcutta, 6 March 1920. Transcribed by the Old Weather[?] project.
- ISBN 9780921560036.
- ISBN 9780921560036.
- ^ "The Hurricane: End of H.M.S. Valerian". The Daily Standard. Brisbane. 26 October 1926. p. 4.
- ^ "SAVED THE FLAGSHIP". Edinburgh Evening News. Edinburgh. 7 October 1943. p. 4.
On the day that Admiral Cunningham took over his new job as First Sea Lord one of his young officers of early years was distinguishing himself off the coast of France. Commander Conrad Alers-Hankey was in command of the light forces which routed enemy destroyers off the Sept Isles early on Tuesday.
Alers-Hankey won the D.S.C. at Dunkirk when in command of the destroyer Vanquisher. Since then he has been twice mentioned in dispatches.
As a sub-lieutenant in the West Indies he once had the distinction of saving the flagship, the cruiser Calcutta. A hurricane parted all the wires securing the Calcutta to the centre mole, and the ship was being swept down on to the jetty. Alers-Hankey dived overboard with a rope secured to a stout hawser. He made fast the hawser, which finally stopped the ship's way. The captain of the Calcutta was Capt. A. B. Cunningham. - ^ a b Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 18
- ^ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, May 1940 (Part 1 of 4): Wednesday 1st – Tuesday 7th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 21
- ^ Winser 1999, pp. 15, 83
- ^ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, May 1940 (Part 4 of 4): Wednesday 22nd – Friday 31st". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Winser 1999, pp. 16, 83
- ^ Winser 1999, p. 26
- ^ Winser 1999, p. 30
- ^ Winser 1999, p. 51
- ^ "Operation Aerial - Evacuation from Western France, June 1940". Admiralty War Diaries of World War 2. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ The Naval Review & April 1959, p. 174
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 31–32
- ^ Barnett 2000, pp. 228–234
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 37–38
- ^ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, October 1940 (Part 1 of 2): Tuesday 1st – Monday 14th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 47–48
- ^ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, January 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Wednesday 1st – Tuesday 14th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 53
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 56
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 59
- ^ Barnett 2000, p. 366
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 60
- ^ Barnett 2000, pp. 348–350
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 61
- ^ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, May 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Thursday 1st – Wednesday 14th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Barnett 2000, pp. 352–353
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 64
- ^ Barnett 2000, pp. 354–356
- ^ Barnett 2000, pp. 360, 362–363
- ^ Barnett 2000, p. 363
- ^ Kemp 1999, p. 148
Bibliography
- Barnett, Correlli (2000). Engage The Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-141-39008-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
- Kiely, Ray (1996). The Politics of Labour and Development in Trinidad. Press University of the West Indies. ISBN 9789766400170.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Parkes, Oscar (1973) [1931]. Jane's Fighting Ships 1931. First published by Sampson Low, Marston, London. Newton Abbot, UK: David & Charles (Publishers). ISBN 0-7153-5849-9.
- ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1-85367-117-3.
- Walrus (April 1959). "The Loss of H.C.M.S. Fraser" (PDF). The Naval Review. XLVII (2): 46–49. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- Whitley, M. J. (1999). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-8740.
- Winser, John de S. (1999). B.E.F. Ships before, at and after Dunkirk. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6.
External links
- "Royal Navy Log Books – HMS Calcutta". Retrieved 15 December 2013. Transcription of ship's logbooks September 1920 to September 1923