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February 5, 1940. HMS Ajax
HMS Ajax was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II. She was made famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta, as a supply escort in the Battle of Tobruk.Built at Vickers shipyard, Barrow-in-Furness, England, she was laid down on 7 February 1933, launched on 1 March 1934, and completed on 12 April 1935. Ajax served on the America and West Indies Station from completion, then joined the South American Division on the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. There she sank the German merchant Olinda and intercepted the German merchant Carl Fritzen and the passenger ship Ussukuma. Both ships scuttled themselves to avoid capture.Operating off the River Plate, she intercepted the German merchantmen Carl Fritzen, Olinda, and Ussukuma. She was the flagship of Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G during the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee. Ajax was hit seven times by the Germans but inflicted more damage on the Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939. Under repair until July 1940, she then moved to the Mediterranean. On October 11/October 12, 1940 she engaged Italian forces off Cape Passero, sinking the Spica class torpedo boats Airone and Ariel, and badly damaging the Italian destroyer Artigliere, which was later sunk by HMS York. According to Seaman Harry Mansfield, the Ajax intercepted retreating German and Italian warships which were cruising towards Crete and fired a variety of small arms and large guns completely destroying the enemy. The Ajax then took part in the Battle of Taranto, a night operation which was held under by RDF (radio detection finder). Ajax was one of the escort vessels of that highly successful operation, the first all-air attack by a naval force in history. Ajax participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was hit by bombs from Ju 87's on 21 May. She evacuated many troops from Crete up until 29 May 1941. She then covered Syrian operations in June, and joined Force K at Malta in November 1941, but was withdrawn in February 1942.She was refitted in England from May to October 1942, then returned to the Mediterranean where she was again damaged by bombs. After repairs in New York between March and October 1943, Ajax went back to the Mediterranean. As part of Force K, she bombarded Gold Beach during the D-Day invasion, and later supported the landings in southern France. Ajax operated in the Aegean during the reoccupation of Athens and the communist uprising in Greece.She was decommissioned in February 1948. She was initially intended to be sold to the Indian Navy but this deal did not materialize because of Winston Churchill's apparent disapproval of the sale and he felt that such an important vessel would be better off broken up to preserve her history. She duly arrived at Newport for breaking up on 18 November 1949.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ajax_(22)
February 19, 1940. HMS Exeter
HMS Exeter was a York class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that served in World War II. She was laid down on 1 August 1928 at the Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. She was launched on 18 July 1929 and completed on 27 July 1931.At the outbreak of the Second World War, she formed part of the South American Division with Cumberland. Together with the Leander class light cruisers Ajax and Achilles she engaged the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939, which action resulted in the scuttling of the Admiral Graf Spee several days later. Exeter operated as a division on her own, Achilles and Ajax as the other, in order to split the fire of Graf Spee. Exeter was hit by seven 11-inch shells and several near misses caused significant splinter damage. Sixty-one of her crew were killed and another twenty-three wounded. All three 8 inch turrets were put out of action and her speed was reduced to 18 knots (33 km/h), forcing her to withdraw from battle. Exeter made for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands for emergency repairs which took until January 1940, then returned to Devonport without assistance for full repairs between February 1940 and March 1941.On the entry of the Empire of Japan into the war in December 1941, Exeter formed part of the ABDACOM naval force intended to defend the Dutch East Indies from Japanese invasion.On February 27, 1942, Exeter was damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea when she received an 8" shell hit to a boiler room and was subsequently ordered to Surabaya for repairs. The destroyer HMS Electra was sunk covering her withdrawal. Two days later, when she attempted to reach the Sunda Strait, she was intercepted by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi, Haguro, Myoko and Ashigara and the destroyers Akebono, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Yamakaze and Kawakaze on the morning of 1 March 1942. The Second Battle of the Java Sea ensued, now more appropriately called The Battle off Bawean Island, and Exeter was soon badly damaged by gunfire from the above and another crucial 8" shell hit caused the loss of all power to the ship. Scuttling charges were set and she soon began sinking, initially listing to port only to be hit to starboard by a torpedo from the destroyer Inazuma[1] which sat her back upright and rolled her to starboard before she finally sunk about noon. Her escorting destroyers, HMS Encounter and USS Pope were also lost, although Pope temporarily escaped the initial melee only to be sunk with the aid of aerial attack a few hours later. About 800 Allied seamen, including the commander of Exeter, Captain O. L. Gordon, became prisoners of war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Exeter_(68)
March 21, 1940. HMNZS Achilles
HMNZS Achilles was a Leander class cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter.She was the second of five ships of the Leander class light cruisers, designed as effective follow-ons to the York class. Upgraded to Improved Leander class, she was capable of carrying an aircraft, becoming the first ship to carry a Supermarine Walrus although this was removed before the war.Achilles was originally built for the Royal Navy, and was commissioned as HMS Achilles on October 10, 1933. She served with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from March 31, 1937 up to the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, into which she was transferred in September 1941, renamed as HMNZS Achilles. Her crew was approximately 60% from New Zealand.On the outbreak of the Second World War, Achilles started patrolling the west coast of South America looking for German merchant ships, but by 22 October 1939 she had arrived at the Falkland Islands, where she was assigned to the South American Division under Commodore Henry Harwood and allocated to Force G (HMS Exeter and Cumberland).In the early morning of 1939-12-13 a force consisting of Achilles, HMS Ajax and Exeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed at 06:16 to be a pocket battleship, thought to be Admiral Scheer but which turned out to be the Admiral Graf Spee. A fierce battle ensued, at a range of approximately 20 km (22,000 yards). Achilles took some damage: four crew were killed, and her captain, W. E. Parry was injured. In the exchange of fire 36 of Graf Spee's crew were killed. The range reduced to about four miles (7 km) at around 07:15 and Admiral Graf Spee broke off the engagement around 07:45 to head for the neutral harbour of Montevideo which she entered at 22:00 that night, having been pursued by Achilles and Ajax all day. She was forced by international law to leave with 72 hours. Faced with what he believed to be overwhelming odds, the captain of the Admiral Graf Spee, Hans Langsdorff, scuttled his ship rather than risk the lives of his crew.Following the battle, Achilles returned to Auckland, New Zealand on 23 February 1940, where she was refitted until June. After Japan entered the war, she escorted troop convoys, then joined the ANZAC squadron in the south west Pacific. While operating off New Georgia with U.S. forces, she was hit by a bomb on X turret on 5 January 1943. She was repaired at Portsmouth from April 1943 to May 1944, during which X turret was replaced by four two-pounders. Sent to the Eastern Fleet, Achilles then joined the British Pacific Fleet (Task Force 57) in May 1945 for final operations in the Pacific.After the war, Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy at Sheerness, Kent, England on 17 September 1946. She was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on 5 July 1948 as INS Delhi. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap at Bombay on 30 June 1978. As part of the scrapping her Y turret was removed and given as a gift to the New Zealand government, it is now on display at the entrance of Devonport RNZN Base in Auckland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_Achilles_(70)
HMS Ajax was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II. She was made famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta, as a supply escort in the Battle of Tobruk.Built at Vickers shipyard, Barrow-in-Furness, England, she was laid down on 7 February 1933, launched on 1 March 1934, and completed on 12 April 1935. Ajax served on the America and West Indies Station from completion, then joined the South American Division on the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. There she sank the German merchant Olinda and intercepted the German merchant Carl Fritzen and the passenger ship Ussukuma. Both ships scuttled themselves to avoid capture.Operating off the River Plate, she intercepted the German merchantmen Carl Fritzen, Olinda, and Ussukuma. She was the flagship of Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G during the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee. Ajax was hit seven times by the Germans but inflicted more damage on the Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939. Under repair until July 1940, she then moved to the Mediterranean. On October 11/October 12, 1940 she engaged Italian forces off Cape Passero, sinking the Spica class torpedo boats Airone and Ariel, and badly damaging the Italian destroyer Artigliere, which was later sunk by HMS York. According to Seaman Harry Mansfield, the Ajax intercepted retreating German and Italian warships which were cruising towards Crete and fired a variety of small arms and large guns completely destroying the enemy. The Ajax then took part in the Battle of Taranto, a night operation which was held under by RDF (radio detection finder). Ajax was one of the escort vessels of that highly successful operation, the first all-air attack by a naval force in history. Ajax participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was hit by bombs from Ju 87's on 21 May. She evacuated many troops from Crete up until 29 May 1941. She then covered Syrian operations in June, and joined Force K at Malta in November 1941, but was withdrawn in February 1942.She was refitted in England from May to October 1942, then returned to the Mediterranean where she was again damaged by bombs. After repairs in New York between March and October 1943, Ajax went back to the Mediterranean. As part of Force K, she bombarded Gold Beach during the D-Day invasion, and later supported the landings in southern France. Ajax operated in the Aegean during the reoccupation of Athens and the communist uprising in Greece.She was decommissioned in February 1948. She was initially intended to be sold to the Indian Navy but this deal did not materialize because of Winston Churchill's apparent disapproval of the sale and he felt that such an important vessel would be better off broken up to preserve her history. She duly arrived at Newport for breaking up on 18 November 1949.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ajax_(22)
February 19, 1940. HMS Exeter
HMS Exeter was a York class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that served in World War II. She was laid down on 1 August 1928 at the Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. She was launched on 18 July 1929 and completed on 27 July 1931.At the outbreak of the Second World War, she formed part of the South American Division with Cumberland. Together with the Leander class light cruisers Ajax and Achilles she engaged the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939, which action resulted in the scuttling of the Admiral Graf Spee several days later. Exeter operated as a division on her own, Achilles and Ajax as the other, in order to split the fire of Graf Spee. Exeter was hit by seven 11-inch shells and several near misses caused significant splinter damage. Sixty-one of her crew were killed and another twenty-three wounded. All three 8 inch turrets were put out of action and her speed was reduced to 18 knots (33 km/h), forcing her to withdraw from battle. Exeter made for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands for emergency repairs which took until January 1940, then returned to Devonport without assistance for full repairs between February 1940 and March 1941.On the entry of the Empire of Japan into the war in December 1941, Exeter formed part of the ABDACOM naval force intended to defend the Dutch East Indies from Japanese invasion.On February 27, 1942, Exeter was damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea when she received an 8" shell hit to a boiler room and was subsequently ordered to Surabaya for repairs. The destroyer HMS Electra was sunk covering her withdrawal. Two days later, when she attempted to reach the Sunda Strait, she was intercepted by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi, Haguro, Myoko and Ashigara and the destroyers Akebono, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Yamakaze and Kawakaze on the morning of 1 March 1942. The Second Battle of the Java Sea ensued, now more appropriately called The Battle off Bawean Island, and Exeter was soon badly damaged by gunfire from the above and another crucial 8" shell hit caused the loss of all power to the ship. Scuttling charges were set and she soon began sinking, initially listing to port only to be hit to starboard by a torpedo from the destroyer Inazuma[1] which sat her back upright and rolled her to starboard before she finally sunk about noon. Her escorting destroyers, HMS Encounter and USS Pope were also lost, although Pope temporarily escaped the initial melee only to be sunk with the aid of aerial attack a few hours later. About 800 Allied seamen, including the commander of Exeter, Captain O. L. Gordon, became prisoners of war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Exeter_(68)
March 21, 1940. HMNZS Achilles
HMNZS Achilles was a Leander class cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter.She was the second of five ships of the Leander class light cruisers, designed as effective follow-ons to the York class. Upgraded to Improved Leander class, she was capable of carrying an aircraft, becoming the first ship to carry a Supermarine Walrus although this was removed before the war.Achilles was originally built for the Royal Navy, and was commissioned as HMS Achilles on October 10, 1933. She served with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from March 31, 1937 up to the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, into which she was transferred in September 1941, renamed as HMNZS Achilles. Her crew was approximately 60% from New Zealand.On the outbreak of the Second World War, Achilles started patrolling the west coast of South America looking for German merchant ships, but by 22 October 1939 she had arrived at the Falkland Islands, where she was assigned to the South American Division under Commodore Henry Harwood and allocated to Force G (HMS Exeter and Cumberland).In the early morning of 1939-12-13 a force consisting of Achilles, HMS Ajax and Exeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed at 06:16 to be a pocket battleship, thought to be Admiral Scheer but which turned out to be the Admiral Graf Spee. A fierce battle ensued, at a range of approximately 20 km (22,000 yards). Achilles took some damage: four crew were killed, and her captain, W. E. Parry was injured. In the exchange of fire 36 of Graf Spee's crew were killed. The range reduced to about four miles (7 km) at around 07:15 and Admiral Graf Spee broke off the engagement around 07:45 to head for the neutral harbour of Montevideo which she entered at 22:00 that night, having been pursued by Achilles and Ajax all day. She was forced by international law to leave with 72 hours. Faced with what he believed to be overwhelming odds, the captain of the Admiral Graf Spee, Hans Langsdorff, scuttled his ship rather than risk the lives of his crew.Following the battle, Achilles returned to Auckland, New Zealand on 23 February 1940, where she was refitted until June. After Japan entered the war, she escorted troop convoys, then joined the ANZAC squadron in the south west Pacific. While operating off New Georgia with U.S. forces, she was hit by a bomb on X turret on 5 January 1943. She was repaired at Portsmouth from April 1943 to May 1944, during which X turret was replaced by four two-pounders. Sent to the Eastern Fleet, Achilles then joined the British Pacific Fleet (Task Force 57) in May 1945 for final operations in the Pacific.After the war, Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy at Sheerness, Kent, England on 17 September 1946. She was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on 5 July 1948 as INS Delhi. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap at Bombay on 30 June 1978. As part of the scrapping her Y turret was removed and given as a gift to the New Zealand government, it is now on display at the entrance of Devonport RNZN Base in Auckland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_Achilles_(70)
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