.jpg/300px-HMS_Dorsetshire_(40).jpg) |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | County class heavy cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Dorsetshire |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 21 September 1927 |
| Launched: | 29 January 1929 |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1930 |
| Fate: | Sunk by IJN aircraft 5 April 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,035 tons standard 13,420 tons full load |
| Length: | 610 ft (190 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft (20 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (4. Design & development The 10000 ton treaty cruisers were the first type of warships built to internationally-agreed restrictions by the original requirement that they should be capable The heavy cruiser was a type of Cruiser, a naval Warship designed for long range high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 8in in calibre Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For Combined Fleet, please see that article For Carrier Striking Task Force, please see that article Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons geared or Brown Curtis steam turbines 4 shafts 8 boilers 80,000 shp (60 MN) |
| Speed: | 31. 5 knots (58 km/h) |
| Range: | 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 653 |
| Armament: |
8 × 8 inch (203 mm) guns Smaller anti-aircraft guns |
| Aircraft carried: | Two Walrus aircraft (operated by 700 Naval Air Squadron) |
HMS Dorsetshire (pennant number 40) was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county (now usually known as Dorset). In the modern Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers (sometimes referred to as pendant The heavy cruiser was a type of Cruiser, a naval Warship designed for long range high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 8in in calibre Design & development The 10000 ton treaty cruisers were the first type of warships built to internationally-agreed restrictions by the original requirement that they should be capable The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In World War II, she was commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C.
Contents |
Career
Interwar
Upon commissioning she became the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels a designation given on account of being either the largest fastest newest most heavily armed or for publicity purposes the most well In 1931 she was part of the Atlantic Fleet during the Invergordon Mutiny but the incident was brought to a close before her crew joined the mutiny. The Invergordon Mutiny was an Industrial action by around a thousand Sailors in the British Atlantic Fleet, that took place on 15 September - Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the Military; or the Crew of any ship even From 1933 until 1936 she served on the Africa Station. In 1936 she received a refit, and the following year she joined the China Station. The China Station was a historical geographical Area of operations of the British Royal Navy 's China Squadron.
The Atlantic and South Africa
In December 1939, a couple months after war was declared, Dorsetshire, with other Royal Navy heavy units, was sent to Uruguay in pursuit of German surface raider pocket battleship (heavy cruiser) Admiral Graf Spee, in the aftermath of the Battle of the River Plate. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Description German capital ships were restricted by the Treaty of Versailles to a displacement of 10000 tons for "armoured ships" The heavy cruiser was a type of Cruiser, a naval Warship designed for long range high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 8in in calibre Description Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland class cruiser. The Battle of the River Plate ( December 13, 1939) was the first major naval battle in World War II. Dorsetshire left Simonstown, South Africa on December 13, and was still in transit on December 17 when the Germans scuttled the Graf Spee. Simon's Town (also widely but incorrectly referred to as Simonstown) and in Afrikaans Simonstad) is a village and a naval base in South Africa, The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila
She operated in the Atlantic for a short while, and in February 1940, she intercepted the German supply freighter Wakama, which was promptly scuttled by her crew. On 2 March 1940 Devonshire left the Falklands with wounded sailors from the cruiser HMS Exeter, enroute to Cape Town via Tristan da Cunha, where the islanders were supplied with stores. Events 986 - Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 - Assassination of Charles the Good Design Exeter was ordered two years after her sister ''York'' and therefore her design incorporated improvements in the light of experience with the latter Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Tristan da Cunha (ˈtrɪstən də ˈkuːnə is a group of remote volcanic Islands in the south Atlantic Ocean, 2816 km (1750 miles from South On the 11th, the wounded and the prisoners from the German freighter were put ashore.
Devonshire then returned to the UK, arriving at Plymouth on May 25. Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. She spent less than a week here, departing again for Freetown at the end of the month. Freetown is the Capital and largest City of Sierra Leone, and a major Port on the Atlantic Ocean. In June, she set out from Freetown to follow the French battleship Richelieu which had left Dakar for Casablanca. Design Derived from the ''Dunkerque'' class Richelieu and ''Jean Bart'', as well as the unfinished Clemenceau and Gascogne, For the Dakar Rally see Dakar Rally. For the Israeli submarine see INS Dakar. Casablanca (in Standard Arabic: الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ; Moroccan Arabic: dar beïda الدار البيضا The Richelieu was eventually ordered to return to Dakar by her admiral, François Darlan. François Darlan (7 August 1881 &ndash 24 December 1942 was a French Naval officer. Dorsetshire continued to monitor French Naval Forces off Dakar throughout July. On September 4, she was dry-docked at Durban, and on the 20th she arrived back in Simonstown. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Durban (eThekwini is the third most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the EThekwini metropolitan municipality. Simon's Town (also widely but incorrectly referred to as Simonstown) and in Afrikaans Simonstad) is a village and a naval base in South Africa, She sailed for Sierra Leone the next day.
Now operating in the Indian Ocean, in November she bombarded Zante in Italian Somaliland. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface Italian Somalia (also known as Italian Somaliland) was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia) from the 1880s until 1942 in the territory In December she was back in dock at Simonstown, before departing later that month to search for the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, which had recently sunk a British refrigerator ship in the South Atlantic. Simon's Town (also widely but incorrectly referred to as Simonstown) and in Afrikaans Simonstad) is a village and a naval base in South Africa, History During World War II Admiral Scheer, under Captain Theodor Krancke, was by far the most successful capital ship Commerce raider of the war On 18 January 1941, she captured the Vichy French freighter Mendoza and escorted the ship to Takaradi. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 By March, she was once again at Simonstown.
The Bismarck and Singapore
In late May 1941, Dorsetshire was one of the ships which engaged the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic. Background Design of the ship started in the early 1930s following on from Germany's development of the ''Deutschland'' class cruisers and the ''Scharnhorst'' class On 27 May Dorsetshire was ordered to torpedo Bismarck, which had by that point been crippled by repeated aircraft and naval attacks. Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed The modern torpedo (historically called an automotive automobile locomotive or fish torpedo is a self-propelled explosive Projectile weapon launched above or below Bismarck's crew however had already begun the process of scuttling the ship, which then sank rapidly. Dorsetshire was able to recover only 110 of Bismarck's crew from the sea, before being forced to evade a suspected U-boat. U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers
In September, she departed Freetown to cover the five ships of convoy WS-10X which arrived in South Africa from the U. K. with troops on deployment to the Middle East. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. During November/December, a convoy of 10 troop transports set out from Halifax, Canada en-route to Bombay, India. The City of Halifax (est 1841 is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country On December 9 WS-12X arrived in Cape Town, and departed with Dorsetshire as an escort. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city This convoy was labelled “12X” instead of “13” in deference to nautical superstition, but to no avail. The entire 18th Division landed at Singapore but had barely time to get into action before the capitulation. Singapore The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold The Units involved were 53, 54, and 55 Brigades.
Eastern Fleet and sinking
On 21 November 1941, Dorsetshire was involved in sinking Atlantis (the "Raider C") which had preyed on Allied shipping. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Early history Formerly a Freighter named Goldenfels, she was built by Bremer Vulkan in 1937 and was owned and operated by the Hansa Line She also chanced upon the German supply ship Python on 1 December 1941, which was refuelling U-boats in the South Atlantic. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers The submarines dived, and one of them fired torpedoes at Dorsetshire which missed. The crew of Python scuttled their ship.
In 1942 Dorsetshire was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. The British Eastern Fleet (also known as the East Indies Fleet and the Far East Fleet) was a fleet of the Royal Navy during World War II The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface In the Indian Ocean raid, Dorsetshire and her sister ship Cornwall were attacked by Japanese dive-bombers 320 km southwest of Ceylon on 5 April 1942. The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942 History Upon completion in 1928 Cornwall joined the China Station. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dorsetshire was hit by ten bombs and sank stern first at about 13:50; Cornwall was hit eight times and sank bow first about ten minutes later. Of Dorsetshire's crew, 234 men were killed in the attack; more than 500 survived in the water or on rafts to be picked up by the cruiser Enterprise and the destroyers Paladin and Panther the next day. History Pre-war Enterprise served with the 4th Cruiser Squadron in the East Indies until 1934 HMS Paladin (G69 was a P-class Destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. HMS Panther was a P class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down on 5 March 1940 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Captain Agar was among the survivors.
See also
- Augustus Agar for a more detailed discussion of the circumstances surrounding Dorsetshire’s last days.
References
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). James Joseph Colledge (born 1908 was a noted naval Historian, author of Ships of the Royal Navy, the standard work on the fighting ships of the British Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. For a list of ships of the Royal Navy, see List of Royal Navy ships. ed. , London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
- HMS Dorsetshire at U-boat.net
- Cruisers of World War II
External links
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