HMS Kenya
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2008) |
![]() Kenya underway
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History | |
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Name | Kenya |
Namesake | Kenya |
Builder | Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland |
Laid down | 18 June 1938 |
Launched | 18 August 1939 |
Commissioned | 27 September 1940 |
Out of service | In reserve September 1958 |
Identification | Pennant number: 14 |
Fate | Scrapped, 29 October 1962 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Fiji-class light cruiser |
Displacement | 8,580 long tons (8,720 t) (standard) |
Length | 555 ft 6 in (169.3 m) |
Beam | 62 ft (18.9 m) |
Draught | 19 ft 10 in (6 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbine sets |
Speed | 32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph) |
Range | 6,250 nmi (11,580 km; 7,190 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement | 733 (peacetime), 900 (wartime) |
Armament |
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Armour |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × seaplanes |
Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult, 2 × hangars |
HMS Kenya was a Fiji-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. The ship was named after Kenya, a British possession at the time of the ship's construction.
Service history
Convoy escort
Kenya was launched on 18 August 1939 from the yards of
Operation Stonewall
During September and October 1941, the Royal Navy devised Operation Stonewall, to intercept U-boats which were escorting outbound blockade runners through the Bay of Biscay into the Atlantic. After providing escort to the Malta convoy Halberd on 24 September on 1 October, Kenya and the cruiser Sheffield made to intercept the blockade runner Rio Grande, destined for Japan and escorted by U-204. Rio Grande escaped but another blockade runner, Kota Pinang, was sunk on 3 October west of Cape Finisterre.
Arctic operations
New research into declassified State Department records on the Soviet Union has revealed that on 19 March 1942, Kenya transported 10 tons of gold from the Soviet Union to the United States as payment for loans and war materials.[1]
Kenya also avoided damage in air attacks by the Germans on 27–28 March. She had by now received the nickname "The Pink Lady", due to her
Operation Pedestal
Kenya played a prominent role in Operation Pedestal during August 1942. Pedestal was a Royal Navy operation to escort a convoy of 14 merchant ships through the western Mediterranean to relieve and resupply the besieged island of Malta. The convoy escort was the largest ever assembled in World War II, comprising 2 battleships, 3 aircraft carriers (Eagle, Victorious and Indomitable), 7 light cruisers (including Kenya) and 26 destroyers. Through 11 and 12 August, it successfully fought off massed air attacks by the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Regia Aeronautica, with the loss of only 1 merchant ship and 1 destroyer. The aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was also lost to a lone submarine attack on 11 August.
The heavily mined waters between Sicily and Tunisia (the Narrows) made it too dangerous for the battleships and surviving aircraft carriers to escort the convoy all the way to Malta, and for the last 300 kilometres (190 mi), the escort comprised a smaller force (Force X) of cruisers and destroyers, including Kenya. During the night of 12 August and during the following day, the convoy was heavily attacked by Axis air forces, submarines and motor torpedo boats. During these actions, Kenya's bow was blown off by a torpedo fired by the Italian submarine Alagi. This necessitated emergency shoring of the forward bulkhead and a reduced maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph).
In all, a further two cruisers and eight merchant ships were lost in the night action of 12/13 August; Only Rochester Castle, Port Chalmers, Melbourne Star, Brisbane Star and the oil tanker Ohio made it to Grand Harbour Valletta, and Kenya was left as the most powerful surviving ship in Force X. After leading the surviving ships of the convoy to the safety of Malta’s fighter screen,. Kenya then led Force X safely back to Gibraltar, despite further air attacks.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/HMS_Kenya_under_attack.jpg/220px-HMS_Kenya_under_attack.jpg)
End of war
Kenya joined the
Korean War
Kenya took part in naval operations in the
After further patrols off Inchon her next action came on 11 April when she was ordered to leave Sasebo to search for a communist aircraft that had been shot down. She was called off the operation early to sail to
Following the war, Kenya had an extensive year long refit in 1945–1946 at Chatham with new radars and standardisation of the light anti-aircraft armament on 5 twin Mk5 Bofors and 8 single 40mm.
Notes
- ^ State Department Documents on the Soviet Union, Microfilm, Marquette University Archives
- ^ Murfin, pp. 56–57 Describes Kenya's rebuild as the most comprehensive of the Colony class, although most authorities believe HMS Newfoundland received more structural and electrical updating.
- ^ Crabb, p. 161
- ^ Crabb, 1998, pp. 168–176
- ^ Crabb, 1998, p. 181
References
- ISBN 1-59114-705-0.
- 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.
- Crabb, Brian James (1998). In Harm's Way: The Story of HMS Kenya, a Second World War Cruiser. Stamford: Paul Watkins. ISBN 1-90028-902-4.
- Crabb, Brian James (2014). Operation Pedestal: The Story of Convoy WS21S in August 1942. Donington, Lincolnshire: Shaun Tyas. ISBN 978-1-907730-19-1.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Murfin, David (2010). "AA to AA: The Fijis Turn Full Circle". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2010. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-84486-110-1.
- 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.
- Smith, Peter C (1970). Pedestal: The convoy that saved Malta William Kimber, London, ISBN 0-947554-77-7
- ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
External links
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