HMS Phoebe (43)

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Phoebe at anchor on completion
History
United Kingdom
Name	Phoebe
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Govan, Scotland)
Laid down	2 September 1937
Launched	25 March 1939
Commissioned	27 September 1940
Decommissioned	14 March 1953
Out of service	14 March 1951
Identification	Pennant number 43
Fate	Scrapped, 1 August 1956
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Dido-class light cruiser
Displacement	5,600 tons standard 6,850 tons full load
Length	485 ft (148 m) pp 512 ft (156 m) oa
Beam	50.5 ft (15.4 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power	Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers 62,000 shp (46 MW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines
Speed	32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph)
Range	2,414 km (1,500 miles) at 30 knots 6,824 km (4,240 miles) at 16 knots
Complement	480
Armament	8 (4x2) 5.25-inch (133 mm) guns , 1 x 4.0 in (102 mm) gun, 8 (2x4) 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns 12 (3x4) 2-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns 6 (2x3) 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 3 inch, Deck: 1 inch, Magazines: 2 inch, Bulkheads: 1 inch.

HMS Phoebe was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Govan, Scotland), her keel was laid down on 2 September 1937. She was launched on 25 March 1939, and commissioned on 30 September 1940.

History

Mediterranean

One of her first Mediterranean duties was Operation Demon, the evacuation of British and Empire troops from Greece. On 27 April 1941 Phoebe and the destroyers Defender, Hereward, and Hero rescued all the crew and all 2,600 soldiers from the Dutch troop ship Costa Rica.^[1] Phoebe then took part in the evacuation of troops from Crete, the landing troops in the Syria–Lebanon campaign, and taking troops to and from Tobruk.

Africa

On 23 October 1942, Phoebe was torpedoed by the German submarine

After the hit, a corvette coming up from the harbour prevented the U-boat from finishing off the cruiser. About 60 crew members were killed. After temporary repairs, Phoebe made for New York for complete repairs. It was an incredible feat to sail 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) with a hole (60 by 30 feet (18.3 m × 9.1 m)) in her hull. The repairs were not completed until June 1943. In October 1943, she returned to the Mediterranean to take part in the Aegean operations.

Far East

In May 1944, Phoebe was transferred to the

Bibliography

• 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, MD: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 0-87021-922-7
  .
• ISBN 1-59114-119-2
  .
• ISBN 1-86019-874-0
  .

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Phoebe (43).

• Whitby, Michael (2022). "The Challenges of Operation 'Tunnel', September 1943 — April 1944". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 29–46.
  ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2
  .