HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. She is now permanently moored as a museum ship on the River Thames in London and is operated by the Imperial War Museum.
The Fiji-class cruisers were a class of eleven light cruisers of the Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout the Second World War. Each ship of the class was named after a Crown colony or other constituent territory of the British Commonwealth and Empire. The class was also known as the Colony class, or Crown Colony class. Developed as more compact versions of the preceding Town-class cruisers, the last three were built to a slightly modified design and were sometimes also called the Ceylon class.
HMS Jupiter was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy.
HMS Rodney was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship entered service in 1928, and spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, sometimes serving as a flagship when her sister ship, Nelson, was being refitted. During the early stages of the Second World War, she searched for German commerce raiders, participated in the Norwegian Campaign, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean. Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in mid-1941.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of her class of five dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s, and was often used as a flagship. She served in the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet, and participated in the inconclusive action of 19 August 1916. Her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. She and the other super-dreadnought battleships were the first of their type to be powered by oil instead of coal. Queen Elizabeth later served in several theatres during the Second World War, and was scrapped in 1948.
The Renown class consisted of two battlecruisers built during the First World War for the Royal Navy. They were originally laid down as improved versions of the Revenge-class battleships, but their construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds they would not be ready in a timely manner. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart their construction as battlecruisers that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but they were delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. They were the world's fastest capital ships upon their commissioning.
HMS Renown was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the Revenge-class battleships. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart her construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Renown, and her sister HMS Repulse, were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.
HMS Hood was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). Hood was the first of the planned four Admiral-class battlecruisers to be built during the First World War. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design despite drastic revisions before she was completed four years later. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed, as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to the never-built G-3 class. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood".
The County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruisers constructed for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 tons standard displacement and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers".
The Dido class consisted of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The first group of three ships were commissioned in 1940; the second group of six ships and third group of two were commissioned between 1941 and 1942. A fourth group, also described as the Improved Dido or Bellona class were commissioned between 1943 and 1944. Most members of the class were given names drawn from classical history and legend. The groups differed in armament, and for the Bellonas, in function. The Dido class were designed as small trade protection cruisers with a secondary role in the battlefleet as large flotilla leaders. As designed, they mounted five twin 5.25-inch high-angle gun turrets on the centreline providing dual-purpose anti-air and anti-surface capacity; the complex new turrets were unreliable when introduced, and somewhat unsatisfactory at a time when the UK faced a fight for survival. During the war, the original 1939-42 ships required extensive refit work to increase electrical generating capacity for additional wartime systems and in the final Bellona,HMS Diadem, fully-electric turrets. While some damage was experienced initially in extreme North Atlantic weather, changes to gun handling and drill partially mitigated the problems. The fitting of the three forward turrets in the double-superfiring A-B-C arrangement relied upon the heavy use of aluminium in the ships' superstructure, and the lack of aluminium after the evacuation of the British Army from France was one of the primary reasons for the first group only receiving four turrets, while the third group received four twin 4.5-inch mounts and no 5.25-inch guns at all. The Bellonas were designed from the start with four radar-directed 5.25-inch gun turrets with full Remote Power Control and an expanded light anti-aircraft battery, substantially increasing their efficiency as AA platforms.
The C class was a group of twenty-eight light cruisers of the Royal Navy, and were built in a sequence of seven groups known as the Caroline class, the Calliope class, the Cambrian class, the Centaur class, the Caledon class, the Ceres class and the Carlisle class. They were built for the rough conditions of the North Sea, and proved to be rugged and capable vessels, despite being somewhat small and cramped.
HMS Cornwall, pennant number 56, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship spent most of her pre-World War II career assigned to the China Station. Shortly after the war began in August 1939, she was assigned to search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean. Cornwall was transferred to the South Atlantic in late 1939 where she escorted convoys before returning to the Indian Ocean in 1941. She then sank the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in May. After the start of the Pacific War in December 1941, she began escorting convoys until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942. The ship was sunk on 5 April by dive bombers from three Japanese aircraft carriers during the Indian Ocean Raid.
HMS Suffolk, pennant number 55, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, and part of the Kent subclass. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK, with the keel being laid down on 30 September 1924. She was launched on 16 February 1926, and commissioned on 31 May 1928. During the Second World War, Suffolk took part in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 and then the Battle of the Denmark Strait in 1941, before serving in the Arctic throughout the following year. After a refit that concluded in April 1943, the cruiser served in the Far East until the end of the war. In the immediate post-war period, Suffolk undertook transport duties between the Far East, Australia and the United Kingdom before being placed in reserve in mid-1946. The vessel was sold off and then scrapped in 1948.
HMS Bulldog (H91) was a B-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy (RN) between 1929 and 1931. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she transferred to the Home Fleet in 1936. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Bulldog saw service throughout World War II on convoy escort duty during the Battle of the Atlantic and in the Arctic. Her most notable actions were the capture of an Enigma machine and codebooks from the German submarine U-110 in 1941, sinking another German submarine in 1944 and taking the surrender of the German garrisons on the Channel Islands on 9 May 1945. Surplus after the war, she was broken up for scrap in 1946.
HMS York was the lead ship of her class of two heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1920s. She mostly served on the North America and West Indies Station before World War II. Early in the war the ship escorted convoys in the Atlantic and participated in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. York was transferred to the Mediterranean theatre in late 1940 where she escorted convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet. She was wrecked in an attack by Italian explosive motorboats of the 10th Flotilla MAS at Suda Bay, Crete, in March 1941. The ship's wreck was salvaged in 1952 and subsequently scrapped.
HMS Effingham was one of five Hawkins-class heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was not finished during the war and construction proceeded very slowly after the end of the war in 1918. Completed in 1925, the ship was assigned to the East Indies Station, sometimes serving as a flagship. She returned home in 1932 and was assigned to the Reserve Fleet as its flagship for the next four years. Effingham was rearmed and modernized in 1937–1938 and then resumed her previous role.
HMS Suffolk was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion she was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet and was then assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in 1909 after a lengthy refit. She returned home for another refit in 1912 and became the flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1913.
HMS Hawkins was the lead ship of her class of five heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War, although the ship was not completed until 1919. She was assigned to the China Station until 1928 and was briefly assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in 1929–1930, always serving as a flagship, before being placed in reserve. Hawkins was recommissioned in 1932 for service on the East Indies Station, but returned to reserve three years later. The ship was disarmed in 1937–1938 and converted into a cadet training ship in 1938.
HMS Frobisher was one of five Hawkins-class heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was not finished during the war and construction proceeded very slowly after the end of the war in 1918. Completed in 1924, the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in 1929, sometimes serving as a flagship. Placed in reserve in 1930, Frobisher was converted into a cadet training ship in 1932 before being returned to reserve in 1937. Two years later she was reactivated to again serve as a training ship.
HMS Acheron was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War in Home waters and off the Norwegian coast, before becoming an early war loss when she sank after hitting a mine off the Isle of Wight on 17 December 1940. The wreck site is designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
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