HMS Cleopatra (33)
Cleopatra at anchor in the Clyde, April 1945
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Cleopatra |
Builder | Hawthorn Leslie and Company, (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK ) |
Laid down | 5 January 1939 |
Launched | 27 March 1940 |
Commissioned | 5 December 1941 |
Decommissioned | 15 February 1953 |
Identification | Pennant number: 33 |
Fate | Scrapped, 15 December 1958 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Dido-class light cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | |
Beam | 50 ft 6 in (15.39 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Installed power | 62,000 kW ) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph) |
Range |
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Complement | 480 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Armour |
HMS Cleopatra was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK), with the keel being laid down on 5 January 1939. She was launched on 27 March 1940, and commissioned on 5 December 1941.
Second World War service
Cleopatra went out to Gibraltar early in 1942, and on 9 February she sailed for Malta, where she was immediately damaged by a bomb. After repair, she was transferred to Alexandria in early March for the 15th Cruiser Squadron. She was Admiral Philip Vian's flagship during the Second Battle of Sirte, when his group of four light cruisers and 17 destroyers held off an Italian force which included the battleship Littorio, two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and 10 destroyers, which had all been sent to intercept their convoy to Malta. During the engagement, Cleopatra's radar and wireless stations were wrecked by a 6" round fired by the Italian light cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere.[1] Other reports state that Cleopatra's after turrets were also damaged.[2] In June 1942, she covered Operation Harpoon and Vigorous, and in August bombarded Rhodes as a diversion for the Operation Pedestal convoy.
Cleopatra was dry docked in Massawa on 19 September 1942 for minor repairs and cleaning and was un-docked five days later. During the refloating, she slipped on the angled dry dock, crushing every wooden keel block on the dock but sustaining little hull damage. Captain G. Grantham considered the resulting leak a minor nuisance and ordered Cleopatra to return to service.[3]
By January 1943, Cleopatra was part of Force "K", later Force "Q" at
Post war service
Cleopatra served post-war with the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the
She returned to
References
- ISBN 978-0-7195-5753-8
- ^ Whitley, p. 132
- ^ Commander Edward Ellsberg, O.B.E. Under the Red Sea Sun, (1946). Dodd, Mead and Co., New York
- ^ H.T. Lenton and A. Raven. Dido Class. Ensign (1973) London
- ^ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
Publications
- Campbell, N.J.M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- 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.