HMS Exeter (68)

Coordinates: 5°00′S 111°00′E / 5.000°S 111.000°E / -5.000; 111.000
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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Exeter.

Exeter underway off the coast of Coco Solo in 1939
History
United Kingdom
NameExeter
NamesakeExeter
Ordered15 March 1928
BuilderDevonport Dockyard, Plymouth
Laid down1 August 1928
Launched18 July 1929
Commissioned27 July 1931
IdentificationPennant number: 68
FateSunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942, wreck destroyed by illegal salvagers 2014–2016
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeYork-class heavy cruiser
Displacement8,390 long tons (8,520 t) (standard)
Length575 ft 1 in (175.3 m) (o/a)
Beam58 ft (17.7 m)
Draught20 ft 3 in (6.2 m) (
deep load
)
Installed power
  • 8
    Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 80,000 
    kW
    )
Propulsion4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbine sets
Speed32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement628
Armament
  • 3 × twin
    8 in (203 mm) guns
  • 4 × single
    AA guns
  • 2 × single
    2 pdr (40 mm)
    AA guns
  • 2 × triple
    21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour
Aircraft carried2 × seaplanes
Aviation facilities2 × aircraft catapults

HMS Exeter was the second and last

commerce raiders. Exeter was one of three British cruisers that fought the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, later that year in the Battle of the River Plate
. She was severely damaged during the battle, and she was under repair for over a year.

After they were completed, the ship spent most of 1941 on

Malayan Campaign, and she continued on those duties in early February 1942 as the Japanese prepared to invade the Dutch East Indies. Later that month, she was assigned to the Striking Force of the joint American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and she took on a more active role in the defence of the Dutch East Indies. The culmination of this was her engagement in the Battle of the Java Sea later in the month as the Allies attempted to intercept several Imperial Japanese Navy invasion convoys. Exeter was crippled early in the battle, and she did not play much of a role as she withdrew. Two days later, she attempted to escape approaching Japanese forces, but she was intercepted and sunk by Japanese ships at the beginning of March in the Second Battle of the Java Sea
.

Most of her crewmen survived the sinking and were rescued by the Japanese. About a quarter of them died during Japanese captivity. Her wreck was discovered in early 2007, and it was declared a war grave, but by 2016 her remains, along with other WWII wrecks, had been destroyed by illegal salvagers.

Design and description

Aerial view of Exeter at anchor with awnings rigged, Balboa, Panama, 24 April 1934

Exeter was ordered two years after her

streamlined, enclosed design that was incorporated into later cruisers.[1]

Exeter was slightly lighter than expected and displaced 8,390

kW) and gave a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). The ship could carry 1,900 long tons (1,930 t) of fuel oil which gave her a range of 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km; 11,510 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[4] The ship's complement was 628 officers and ratings.[5]

The main armament of the York-class ships consisted of six

21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[5]

The cruisers lacked a full-length waterline armour belt. The sides of Exeter's boiler and engine rooms and the sides of the magazines were protected by 3 inches (76 mm) of armour. The transverse bulkheads at the end of her propulsion machinery rooms were 3.5 inches (89 mm) thick. The top of the magazines were protected by 5.5 inches (140 mm) of armour and their ends were 4.375 inches (111 mm) thick. The lower deck over the machinery spaces and steering gear had a thickness of 1.5 inches (38 mm).[5]

Modifications

Exeter at anchor, early 1941

In 1932 Exeter had her side plating extended to enclose her open main deck as far back as the fore funnel.

machineguns replaced the pair of two-pounder "pom-poms" originally installed.[8]

While under repair in 1940–1941 after her battle with the Admiral Graf Spee, the Royal Navy decided to upgrade her armament and fire-control systems. The bridge was rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate a second

aerials, one at each masthead. In addition, a Type 284 fire-control radar was fitted to the DCT.[11]

Construction and career

Exeter at the Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, circa 1936

1928-1939

Exeter, the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,

Abyssinian crisis of 1935–1936, until 1939.[13]

After re-commissioning in England on 29 December, 1936, Exeter departed two days later, returning to Bermuda via St. Vincent, in the

Governor of Trinidad signalled on 20 June for a cruiser to be sent to that colony due to riots that had broken out among strikers in the oil fields of Apex and Fyzabad, which had included the killings of two police officers. Workers in other industries had also staged sympathy strikes. Ajax which was in Nassau at the time, was ordered to Trinidad and Exeter followed the next day. On 2 July, the marines of Exeter joined with those of Ajax and two-hundred police constables to assault the village of Fyzabad. The ship's marines were withdrawn on 5 July after the situation in Trinidad had stabilised, and the heavy cruiser departed immediately for Balboa, Panama to continue its summer (Southern Hemisphere winter) cruise, which took her through the Panama Canal, up the Pacific coast of North America to the HMCS Naden (the old Royal Naval Dockyard, Esquimalt), via San Diego, California. Exeter's return trip took her to both coasts of South America before arriving at Bermuda on 28 March 1938, together with the light cruiser HMS Orion.[16][17] The German sail training ship Horst Wessel visited Bermuda from 21 to 25 May and the crew of Exeter hosted the German cadets during their stay.[18]

Second World War

Battle of the River Plate

Main article: Battle of the River Plate
Damage received by Exeter during the Battle of the River Plate

At the outbreak of the

Second World War, she remained part of the South American Division with the Ajax. The division was transferred to the South Atlantic Station, with the addition of the heavy cruiser Cumberland, under Commodore Henry Harwood. The ship, commanded by Captain Frederick Bell, was assigned to Force G to hunt for German commerce raiders off the eastern coast of South America on 6 October 1939. Two months later, Harwood ordered Exeter and the light cruiser Achilles to rendezvous with his own Ajax off the mouth of the Río de la Plata, while the heavy cruiser Cumberland was refitting in the Falkland Islands.[19] The two other ships arrived on 12 December, and then the Admiral Graf Spee spotted the Exeter during the following morning.[20]

Captain

high-explosive shells and she returned fire two minutes later at a range of 18,700 yards (17,100 m). The German ship straddled the British cruiser with her third salvo; shrapnel from the near misses killed the crew of the starboard torpedo tubes, started fires amidships and damaged both Supermarine Walrus seaplanes. After eight salvos from Exeter, Admiral Graf Spee scored a direct hit on 'B' turret that knocked it out of action and shrapnel from the hit killed all of the bridge personnel except three. Bell, wounded in the face, transferred to the aft conning position to continue the battle. His ship was hit twice more shortly afterwards, but her powerplant was not damaged and she remained seaworthy, although her aircraft had to be jettisoned.[21]

At 06:30, Langsdorff switched his fire to the light cruisers, but only inflicted shrapnel damage on them before some of Exeter's torpedoes forced him to turn away at 06:37 to evade them. Her second torpedo attack at 06:43 was also unsuccessful. In the meanwhile, Langsdorff had switched his main guns back to the heavy cruiser and scored several more hits. They knocked out 'A' turret, started a fire amidships that damaged the ship's fire-control and navigation circuits, and caused a seven-degree

list with flooding.[21] After "Y" turret had temporarily been disabled, Bell said, "I'm going to ram the --------. It will be the end of us but it will sink him too".[22] The turret was repaired and she remained in action until flooding disabled the machinery for "Y" turret at 07:30. At 11:07, Bell informed Harwood that Exeter had a single eight-inch and a four-inch gun available in local control, and that she could make 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Harwood ordered Bell to head to the Falklands for repair.[23]

The ship was hit by a total of seven 283 mm shells that killed 61 of her crew and wounded another 23. In return, the cruiser had hit Admiral Graf Spee three times; one shell penetrated her main armour belt and narrowly missed detonating in one of her engine rooms, but the most important of these disabled her oil-purification equipment. Without it, the ship was unlikely to be able to reach Germany. Several days later, unable to be repaired and apparently confronted by powerful Royal Navy reinforcements (including HMS Cumberland), the Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by her captain in the harbour of Montevideo.[24]

Although very heavily damaged, Exeter was still able to make good speed—18 knots—though four feet down by the bows, with a list of about eight degrees to starboard, and decks covered in fuel oil and water, making movement within the ship very difficult.

HM Dockyard, Devonport between 14 February 1940 and 10 March 1941;[26]

Captain

W.N.T. Beckett was appointed to relieve Bell on 12 December 1940. Then, on 10 March 1941, the day that Exeter was due to be recommissioned, Beckett died at Saltash Hospital from complications following exploratory surgery to repair poison gas injuries that he had received earlier in his career. His replacement was Captain Oliver Gordon.[27]

To the Far East

Upon returning to the fleet, Exeter primarily spent time on 'working up' exercises,

Far East Fleet
).

Exeter then stayed on escort duty in the Indian Ocean (primarily off the coast of Africa)

British India arriving on 24 October. Exeter then spent several days in a graving dock and after undocking (on the 29th)[28][35] conducted exercises off Colombo and visited the Maldives.[28][36]

Upon return to Trincomalee (Ceylon) from the Maldives on 14 November, Exeter then departed for Calcutta on the 16th to cover a small two-ship convoy that left Calcutta for Rangoon (Burma) on the 26th and 27th.[28] After the successful completion of that duty she was then tasked to escort another ship from Calcutta to Rangoon on 6 December. However, during that convoy, on 8 December, Exeter was ordered to urgently proceed to Singapore[28][37] to reinforce Force Z, as the Pacific War had just begun. Exeter arrived at Singapore during the afternoon of 10 December,[38] too late to support Repulse and Prince of Wales as they had both been sunk earlier that day,[39] but some of the survivors from these two ships were treated in Exeter's sick bay.[40]

Exeter thus returned to Colombo the next day (11 December)[28] and spent the next two months – until almost mid-February 1942 – escorting convoys (primarily from Bombay and Colombo)[28][33] bound for Singapore – which fell to the Japanese on 15 February.[28][41][42][43] During this time, in early 1942, Exeter was attached to the newly formed ABDA Command,[33] (American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) which came into being in early January in Singapore, but soon shifted its headquarters to Java in the Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia).

The Gaspar Strait sortie

Exeter under air attack on 15 February 1942

On 13 February, Allied reconnaissance aircraft spotted Japanese invasion convoys north of

light carrier Ryūjō that attacked Exeter with bombs around 10:30. The blast from a near miss badly damaged her Walrus, but the ship was only damaged by shrapnel. They were followed shortly afterwards by a group of 23 Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bombers from the Genzan Air Group that inflicted no damage as they dropped their bombs from high altitude. Another group of six B5Ns attacked without effect at 11:30.[45]

The repeated aerial attacks persuaded Doorman that further progress was unwise in the face of Japanese aerial supremacy and he ordered his ships to reverse course and head for Tanjung Priok at 12:42.[46] The attacks continued as 27 G3Ms of the Mihoro Air Group then bombed from high altitude. Seven more B5Ns attacked fruitlessly at 14:30; a half-dozen more followed an hour later. The final attack was made by 17 Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers of the Kanoya Air Group shortly before dark. The Japanese attacks were almost entirely ineffectual, with no ship reporting anything more than shrapnel damage. In return, allied anti-aircraft fire was moderately effective with most of the attacking bombers damaged by shrapnel. In addition, one G4M crashed while attempting to land, and another was badly damaged upon landing.[47]

First Battle of the Java Sea

Main article: Battle of the Java Sea

On 25 February, Helfrich ordered all available warships to join Doorman's Eastern Striking Force at Surabaya. The Exeter and the Australian light cruiser Perth, escorted by three British destroyers, Jupiter, Encounter, and Electra, set sail at once, leaving behind one Australian cruiser and two destroyers that were short of fuel.[48] After they had arrived the following day, Doorman's entire force of five cruisers and nine destroyers departed Surabaya at 18:30 to patrol off Eastern Java in hopes of intercepting the oncoming invasion convoy which had been spotted earlier that morning. The Japanese were further north than he anticipated and his ships found nothing.[49] His own ships were located at 09:35 on the following morning, 27 February, and were continuously tracked by the Japanese. Doorman ordered a return to Surabaya at 10:30, and his ships were attacked by eight bombers from the Kanoya Air Group at 14:37. They claimed to have made two hits on the Jupiter, but actually they missed the British destroyer. Just as his leading ships were entering harbour, he received reports of enemy ships 90 miles (140 km) to the north and Doorman ordered his ships to turn about to intercept them.[50]

Exeter during the First Battle of the Java Sea

Aware of Doorman's movements, the Japanese commander, Rear Admiral

starboard aft twin four-inch gun mount before detonating in the 'B'[54]: Item #19  or aft boiler room,[55] knocking six of her boilers off-line[53] and killing 14 of her crew. The ship sheered out of line to avoid another torpedo and slowed, followed by all of the trailing cruisers.[56] Moments later a torpedo fired from Haguro stuck the Dutch destroyer Kortenaer, breaking her in half and sinking her almost immediately.[57] Perth laid a smoke screen to protect Exeter[58] and the Allied ships sorted themselves into separate groups as they attempted to disengage. Exeter was escorted by one Dutch and all three British destroyers in one group and the other cruisers and the American destroyers formed the other group. The Japanese did not initially press their pursuit as they manoeuvered to use their torpedoes against the crippled Exeter, which could only make 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph), and her escorts.[59]

The Japanese began launching torpedoes beginning at 17:20 at ranges of 10,000 to 18,500 yards (9,100 to 16,900 m), but they all missed. For some reason, two Japanese destroyers, Asagumo and Minegumo, continued to close before firing their torpedoes at 6,500 yards (5,900 m) and Encounter and Electra pulled out of line to counter-attack. Engaging at close range as they closed, Electra damaged Asagumo, but was sunk by the Japanese ship at 17:46. Meanwhile, the Exeter continued south to Surabaya, escorted by Encounter and the Dutch destroyer Witte de With. Doorman's repeated, unsuccessful, and ultimately fatal attempts to reach the invasion convoy's transports concentrated the Japanese on the task of protecting those ships and allowed the damaged British cruiser to reach harbour.[60]

Second Battle of the Java Sea

Main article: Second Battle of the Java Sea
Exeter sinking after the Second Battle of the Java Sea

The following day, after making temporary repairs and refuelling, the Exeter, escorted by Encounter and the American destroyer Pope, was ordered to steam to Colombo, via the Sunda Strait. They departed on the evening of 28 February, but they were intercepted by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi, Haguro, Myōkō, and Ashigara, and by the destroyers Akebono, Inazuma, Yamakaze, and Kawakaze on the morning of 1 March.[61]

At about 0800, the British ships spotted two of the Japanese cruisers, one of which launched its spotting floatplanes. Two others were seen closing in, and both launched their aircraft before opening fire at about 09:30.

capsized to starboard.[63] Encounter and Pope were also lost; Encounter approximately fifteen minutes after Exeter, while Pope temporarily survived the initial melee, only to be sunk a couple of hours later. Japanese B5N Type-97s armed with one 250 kg (551 lb) and four 60 kg (132 lb) bombs assisted in the sinking of Pope, already crippled by bombing from seaplanes and land-based air, and closed in to make a level bombing attack. No direct hits were scored, but several more near-misses hastened the abandonment and scuttling of the vessel, and she was finished off by gunfire with the late arrival of the two IJN cruisers Ashigara and Myoko.[68][69][70]

The Japanese rescued 652 men of the crew of Exeter, including her captain, who became prisoners of war.[71]

Wreck site

3D rendition of the wreck of Exeter as it looked when discovered in 2007
HMS Exeter veterans debarking HMS Kent, Tandjong Priok, 28 July 2008

The wreck was discovered and positively identified by a group of exploration divers specifically searching for Exeter aboard MV Empress on 21 February 2007.

Bawean Island – some 60 miles (97 km) from the estimated sinking position given by Captain Gordon after the war.[67][74] In July 2008, HMS Kent performed a memorial service over the wreck of Exeter. Aboard, along with several British dignitaries and high ranking naval officers,[72] were a BBC film crew and four of HMS Exeter's veteran survivors, and one of the 2007 wreck discovery dive team[75] representing the other three dive team members.[76] Her wreck, a British war grave, had been destroyed by illegal salvagers by the time another expedition surveyed the site in 2016.[77][78]

References

  1. ^ Raven & Roberts, pp. 139, 141
  2. ^ Raven & Roberts, pp. 141, 414
  3. ^ Whitley, p. 94
  4. ^ Lenton, p. 53
  5. ^ a b c Raven & Roberts, p. 414
  6. ^ Raven & Roberts, p. 266.
  7. ^ Whitley, p. 92.
  8. ^ Lenton, pp. 53–54
  9. ^ Friedman, p. 118
  10. ^ a b Whitley, p. 95
  11. ^ Lenton, p. 54
  12. ^ Colledge, p. 119
  13. ^ Whitley, pp. 94–95
  14. ^ "Local Jottings (first item)". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Bermuda. 27 March 1928. p. 5.
  15. ^ "RAIDERS REPULSED IN COMBINED MANOEUVRES - Spanish Point Scene of Joint Naval & Military Operation EARLY YESTERDAY MORNING". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Bermuda. 4 June 1937. p. 1.
  16. ^ "FORESTERS, FROM TRINIDAD WILL LAND TODAY". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Bermuda. 30 March 1938. p. 1.
  17. ^ H.M.S. EXETER 1936-1939. London: HMS Exeter, Royal Navy. 1939.
  18. ^ H.M.S. EXETER 1936-1939. London: HMS Exeter, Royal Navy. 1939. p. 84.
  19. ^ Rohwer, pp. 6, 11
  20. ^ Stephen, pp. 16, 18
  21. ^ a b Stephen, pp. 18–19
  22. ^ Toase, Aidan (16 September 2005). "WW2 People's War – HMS Exeter- a Royal Marine's Story". BBC. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  23. ^ Stephen, pp. 20–23
  24. ^ Stephens, pp. 21–27
  25. ^ a b Atwill, Ron (30 March 1977). "HMS Exeter at the Battle of River Plate". Naval Historical Society of Australia.
  26. ^ Raven & Roberts, p. 430
  27. ^ "Walter Napier Thomason Beckett". The Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Exeter (68)". Uboat.net.
  29. ^ ADM 53/114251, ADM 53/114251 + ADM 199/655, ADM 53/114252
  30. ^ ADM 199/396, ADM 53/114252, ADM 53/114253
  31. ^ ADM 53/114254
  32. ^ Rohwer, p. 74
  33. ^ a b c Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "HMS Exeter – York-class Heavy Cruiser". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2.
  34. ^ "HMS Exeter: The Final Days". COFEPOW.
  35. ^ a b ADM 53/114258
  36. ^ ADM 53/114259
  37. ^ ADM 53/114260 + ADM 199/408
  38. ISBN 0-713-91042-9
    .
  39. ^ Gill, pp. 480–482
  40. ^ Cox, p. 109
  41. ^ Various ADM's.
  42. ^ Stewart, Terry. "The Fall of Singapore". Historic UK.
  43. ^ Trueman, C.N. (19 May 2015). "The Fall of Singapore". The History Learning Site.
  44. ^ Gill, pp. 565, 571–72
  45. ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 123
  46. ^ Gill, p. 573
  47. ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 124
  48. ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 233
  49. ^ Gill, pp. 607–608
  50. ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 238
  51. ^ Grove, pp. 86–89
  52. ^ Dull, pp. 76–78
  53. ^ a b Grove, p. 93
  54. ^ a b c d e f "Action Report: Captain O. L. Gordon HMS Exeter, Battle of the Java Sea" (PDF). Pacific Wrecks. 1 October 1945.
  55. ^ Lacroix & Wells, p. 298
  56. ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 239
  57. ^ Kehn, p. 306
  58. ^ Grove, p. 94
  59. ^ Dull, pp. 80–82
  60. ^ Dull, pp. 82–86
  61. ^ Grove, p. 95
  62. ^ a b Shores, Cull & Izawa 1993, p. 306
  63. ^ a b Dull, p. 87
  64. ^ Gill, p. 623
  65. ^ Cooper, Lt Cmdr George (1946). "Account of HMS Exeter's last action". Pacific Wrecks. See paragraph five.
  66. ^ "IJN Inazuma: Tabular Record of Movement". Combined Fleet. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  67. ^ a b c "HMS Exeter (68)". Pacific Wrecks. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  68. ISBN 978-1-61234-820-9
    .
  69. ISBN 978-1-47666-293-0
    .
  70. ^ "IJN Ryujo: Tabular Record of Movement". Combined Fleet. See entry for 1 March 1942.
  71. ^ Gill, pp. 623–624
  72. ^ a b Kosmidis, Pierre (August 2017). "A dedication to HMS Exeter, the shipwreck that disappeared, featuring 3D renditions of the wreck, by Kevin Denlay and Stefan Draminski". WW2 Wrecks.
  73. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH7IHTiv-T0 A 3D 'fly-around video' of how the wreck looked when discovered in 2007.
  74. ^ Copping, Jasper (17 May 2008). "Wartime Naval Legend HMS Exeter Found Off Java". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  75. ^ "Kevin Denlay - Shipwreck Discoveries and SCUBA Diver". Pacific Wrecks.
  76. ^ "HMS Kent Wreath Laying". COFEPOW.
  77. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  78. ^ "Java Sea Shipwrecks of World War 2: One of the men who found them reflects on their loss". HistoryAnswers.co.uk. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

Bibliography

Further reading

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