HMS Enterprise entering Portsmouth harbour March 1938 - note flying a paying-off pennant
Career
Class and type:	Emerald-class light cruiser
Name:	HMS Enterprise
Builder:	John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Design The E class were based on the preceding ''Danae'' class, but had a very high ratio of length to beam and only one more gun despite being much bigger and more A light cruiser is a Warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light Armoured cruiser " describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way John Brown and Company of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, was a pre-eminent Shipbuilder, responsible for building many notable (Clydebank, Scotland)
Laid down:	28 June 1918
Launched:	23 December 1919
Commissioned:	7 April 1926
Decommissioned:	13 January 1946
Reclassified:	In reserve between 5 January 1945, but was used for trooping duties postwar. Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar
Fate:	Scrapped Handed over to BISCO for scrapping 11 April 1946 Arrived at Cashmore's yard at Newport, Wales on 21 April 1946 for breaking up
General characteristics
Displacement:	7,580 tons
Tons burthen:	9,435 tons
Length:	570 ft (170 m)
Beam:	54 ft 6 in (16. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Newport (Casnewydd is a city and principal area in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 6 m)
Draught:	16 ft 6 in (5. 0 m)
Propulsion:	Four shafts Brown-Curtis geared turbines Eight boilers in four compartments - part forward of amidships magazine and part abaft forward engine room 80,000 shp (59. 6 MW)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:	1,350 nautical miles at 32 knots (2,500 km at 59 km/h) 8,000 nautical miles at 15 knots (15,000 km at 28 km/h) 1,746 tons fuel oil
Complement:	572 officers and enlisted
Armament:	Original configuration: 7 × 6-inch single guns 4 × 3 pdr pom-pom guns 3 × 4-inch AA single guns 2 × 21-inch quadruples torpedo tubes
Armour:	Original configuration: Side: 3-inch (Amidships) Side: 2. 5 - 1. 5-inch (Bow) Side: 2-inch (Stern) Upper Deck: 1-inch (Amidships) Deck: 1-inch (Over Rudder).
Aircraft carried:	One aircraft with one catapult Catapult later removed
Motto:	Spes aspera levat ‘Hope lightens difficulties’
Honours and awards:	Atlantic (1939-40) Norway (1940) Biscay (1943) Normandy (1944)
Badge:	On a Field Red, a lion rampant under a star Silver.

HMS Enterprise (D52) was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. Design The E class were based on the preceding ''Danae'' class, but had a very high ratio of length to beam and only one more gun despite being much bigger and more A light cruiser is a Warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light Armoured cruiser " describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. John Brown and Company of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, was a pre-eminent Shipbuilder, responsible for building many notable Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor She was the 14th ship to serve with the Royal Navy to carry the name Enterprise, a name which is still used in the Royal Navy today.

History

Pre-war

Enterprise served with the 4th Cruiser Squadron in the East Indies until 1934. The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term often used to refer to the islands of SE Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago After her return home she reduced to care and maintenance on 4 July 1934, followed by a major refit. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples She returned to the East Indies in January 1936, but was relieved by HMS Manchester at the end of 1937 and came home. The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term often used to refer to the islands of SE Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago Early war service Manchester was serving in the East Indies with the 4th Cruiser Squadron at the outbreak of war but was ordered home and arrived back Britain In 1938 she was employed to take crews to the China Station, returning home to pay off on 30 September and she was reduced to the reserve fleet. The China Station was a historical geographical Area of operations of the British Royal Navy 's China Squadron. Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the

Second World War

Initial stages

At the start of World War II, in October 1939, she was recommissioned and joined Atlantic patrols with 4th 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 She later joined the North America and West Indies Squadron. Enterprise was employed on Atlantic escort duties with the Halifax Escort Force during 1939 to 1940. In October 1939, she oversaw the transfer of ₤10 million in gold bullion to Canada. This article discusses buying gold as an investment. Gold price The usual benchmark for the price of gold is known as the London Gold Fixing, a twice-daily

In April 1940, she was transferred to the Home Fleet for the Norwegian Campaign. The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom 's territorial waters The Norwegian Campaign, lasting from 9 April to 10 June 1940, led to the first direct land confrontation between the military forces of the Allies During April and May she supported the army ashore by bombardments in and around Narvik, Norway and, on 19 April, was unsuccessfully attacked by U-65. Narvik ( Northern Sami: Narviika) is a town and municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer After some repairs Enterprise joined the newly formed Force H in June 1940 and set sail for the Mediterranean Sea where, in July, she participated in negotiations with the French Navy regarding the future of the French fleet in the war. Force H was a British naval task force (though that term was not used during World War II. The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm Following the unsatisfactory outcome of the negotiations, she participated in Operation Catapult at Mers-El-Kébir, sinking many French warships. The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, also known as Operation Catapult, was a hostile engagement off the coast of French Algeria where a British Royal Navy Mers-el-Kébir (المرسى الكبير “the Great Harbor” is a port town in northwestern Algeria, located by the Mediterranean Sea near Oran She also participated in the delivery of aircraft to Malta in late July. Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands

Outside Home Waters

Force H was then re-organised and Enterprise was sent to Cape Town after which she became the flagship for operations in South America, primarily involved in trade defence and interception duties. Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a In December 1940, she was deployed with HMS Cumberland and Newcastle in an unsuccessful search for the German auxiliary cruiser Thor which had attacked and defeated HMS Caernarvon Castle. Career Cumberland served on the China Station with the 5th Cruiser Squadron from 1928 until 1938 returning to the UK in March 1935 for a refit Early history Formerly a Freighter named Santa Cruz, she was built by Deutsche Werft Hamburg (DWH in 1938 and was owned and operated by the Oldenburg Portuguese

In early 1941, she was redeployed to the Indian Ocean where, accompanied by a sizeable fleet of Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships lead by HMS Hermes, participated in a search for the German ship Admiral Scheer. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface The Royal Australian Navy ( RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the History During World War II Admiral Scheer, under Captain Theodor Krancke, was by far the most successful capital ship Commerce raider of the war After the search was abandoned, she took up convoy escort duty before being sent to Basra after a pro-German revolt by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani started the Anglo-Iraqi War. Basra ( BGN: AlBasrah also called Basorah Abillah and Uruk or IRAQ The name that British colony has adopted for Basra Rashid Ali al-Gaylani (رشيد عالي الكيلاني also spelled Sayyad Rashid Ali al-Gillani or Sayyad Rashid Ali al-Gailani, son of Sayyad Abdul The Anglo-Iraqi War was a conflict between the United Kingdom and the Nationalist government of Iraq during World War II. The war was won by the end of May, after which Enterprise was released back into convoy escort duty in the Indian Ocean.

HMS Cornwall sinking after a Japanese attack, HMS Enterprise rescued some of her crew.

In November, she was under refit and repair in Colombo, which was finished just in time for the start of the War with Japan in December 1941. Colombo ( Sinhala:, ˈkoləmbə Tamil: கொழும்பு is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The Pacific War was the part of World War II —and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands and in East Asia, between She escorted troop ships to Singapore and Rangoon, Burma, and then joined the Eastern Fleet under Admiral Sir James Somerville, taking part in protection of trade for the next year. Singapore Yangon (also known as Rangoon) is the largest city and a former capital of Burma. Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. 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 Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville GCB, GBE, DSO ( 17 July 1882 &ndash 19 March 1949 On 6 April 1942, together with HMS Paladin and HMS Panther, she picked up some the 1,120 survivors of the cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, which had been sunk by the Japanese in their Easter Sunday Raid. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus 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 History Upon completion in 1928 Cornwall joined the China Station. Career Interwar Upon commissioning she became the Flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron The Easter Sunday Raid was an air raid carried out by the Empire of Japan on Easter Sunday, 5 April, 1942 on Colombo, The Easter Sunday Raid was part of the larger Japanese Indian Ocean raid, which threatened British Ceylon. 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 British Ceylon refers to the British rule in the island territory known as Sri Lanka since 1798 HMS Enterprise participated in yet another fruitless search for enemy ships during this period, when it was believed the Japanese were preparing to strike and possibly invade the Indian Ocean island.

Home Waters

On 25 December 1942, she returned to Clyde for extensive refit and modernisation works, which were only completed in October 1943. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian The River Clyde ( Gaelic: Abhainn Chluaidh, avɪɲˈxɫ̪uəj is a major River in Scotland. Trials and tests continued throughout November.

In late December 1943, she was deployed with HMNZS Gambia and HMS Glasgow for Operation Stonewall. Early wartime career She saw active service in the East Indies with the British Eastern Fleet, and was involved in the Battle of Madagascar in Norwegian Campaign Captain F H Pegram was commanding officer of Glasgow from July 1939 to April 1940 Operation Stonewall was a World War II operation to intercept blockade runners off the west coast of France On 28 December, she engaged a force of eleven eleven German destroyers and torpedo boats, the tardy escort for their blockade runner Alsterufer (which had been sunk the previous day by air attack). Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval Ship designed to carry Torpedoes into battle A blockade runner is a term applied to ships used to evade a naval Blockade of a harbor or strait as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade HMS Enterprise sank the torpedo boat T26 with a torpedo, while T25 and Z27 were also sunk. Four other German ships were damaged in the engagement.

From 3 February to 29 February 1944 Enterprise was docked at Devonport for refit, and from March 27 to March 31 she was fitted for missile jamming gear at Devonport. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Leap years Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor

The Invasion of Normandy

In May, HMS Enterprise was then assigned to Bombardment Force "A" serving with USS Nevada, HMS Hawkins, HMS Black Prince, HMS Erebus, USS Tuscaloosa, HNLMS Soemba and USS Quincy. Design The Nevada class marked "another graduated step in the rapidly evolving American battleship" Interwar career HMS Hawkins was commissioned on 25 July 1919 and became the Flagship of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron on the China World War I During World War I Erebus bombarded German naval forces based at the Belgian ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge. 1934–1940 Tuscaloosa devoted the autumn to a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo, before External references Detailed descriptions and histories World War II After shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Paria, between Trinidad and Venezuela, the new cruiser was assigned on 27 March Her sub-group was Assault Force "U" (for Utah Beach). Utah Beach was the codename for one of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June

HMS Mauritius bombards enemy positions on the French coast.

When the Normandy Landings started on 6 June 1944, Bombardment Force "A" bombarded St. The Normandy Landings were the first operations of the Allied Invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year Martin de Vassville. Twenty days later, she was also involved in the bombardment of Querqueville, silencing the German guns there. Querqueville is a commune in the French département of Manche. German shore batteries opened fire, but caused no significant damage to Enterprise.

In July, she was deployed off the French coast in support of British operations, and on 17 July, she provided naval gunfire for two days in support for British attacks near Caen with HMS Mauritius and HMS Roberts. Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Caen (kɑ̃ is a commune in northwestern France. It is the Prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Service Mauritius operated on trade protection duties in the Atlantic on completion and remained with the Home Fleet until going to the East Indies In September, she was deployed in a similar capacity off the Dutch coast in support of the Second Army, however, she was not required to support the troops. The British Second Army existed in both the First and Second World Wars World War I During World War I, the army was formed on

In October, after a considered transferral to the Royal Canadian Navy was not implemented, Enterprise was taken out of active service and placed in reserve at Rosyth. For the history of Canada's naval forces after 1968 see Canadian Forces Maritime Command The Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN) was the Rosyth (pronounced Ross-sythe ( Scottish Gaelic: Ros Saidhe or Ros Saoithe) is a town located on the Firth of Forth on Scotland 's

Post-war

Starting in May, HMS Enterprise helped return British troops from Asia and Africa. On 13 January 1946, she returned to the United Kingdom for the final time. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located She was handed over to BISCO for scrapping on 11 April 1946, arriving at JH Cashmore in Newport, Wales, on 21 April 1946 for breaking-up. British Steel was a major British Steel producer It originated as a nationalised industry the British Steel Corporation (BSC formed in 1967 Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Newport (Casnewydd is a city and principal area in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)

Armament Refits

Throughout her service, HMS Enterprise was refitted with a slightly differing array of weaponry. Below is a table of the new armament after her first refit:

Dates	Armament
Aug 1939 - Aug 1942	7 × 6-inch single guns 2 × 0. 5-inch MG quadruple guns 4 × 3 pdr pom-pom single guns 2 × 21-inch quadruples torpedo tubes
Apr 1943 - Apr 1944	5 × 6-inch single guns 2 × 2 pdr pom-poms quad guns 4 × 3pdr pom-pom single guns 6 × 20 mm dual power-operated guns 2 × 21-inch quadruples torpedo tubes
Apr 1944 - 1945	5 × 6-inch single guns 2 × 2 pdr pom-poms quad guns 4 × 3pdr pom-pom single guns 6 × 20 mm dual power-operated guns 2 × 21-inch quadruples torpedo tubes 6 × 20 mm single guns

Battle Honours

For her service in the Second World War, HMS Enterprise was awarded four battle honours:

• Atlantic (1939-40)
• Norway (1940)
• Biscay (1943)
• Normandy (1944)

In addition, the ship inherited a battle honour from the fourth-rate ship of the line HMS Enterprize, which fought against Spain in the Seven Years War:

• Havana (1762)

References

• Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). A battle honour is a military tradition practised in the Commonwealth countries of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous Military campaign of World War II, (though some say it was a series of naval Military campaigns The Norwegian Campaign, lasting from 9 April to 10 June 1940, led to the first direct land confrontation between the military forces of the Allies Operation Stonewall was a World War II operation to intercept blockade runners off the west coast of France In the British Royal Navy, a fourth-rate was during the first half of the 18th century a Ship of the line mounting from 46 up to 60 guns A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle The Age of Enlightenment (in Spanish Ilustración) came to Spain in the eighteenth century with the French Bourbon dynasty, after the decay The Seven Years' War (1756&ndash1763 involved all of the major European powers of the period causing 900000 to 1400000 deaths The British expedition against Cuba was a military action from March to August 1762 as part of the Seven Years' War. 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  
• HMS Enterprise at Uboat.net
• NAVAL-HISTORY.NET
• A History of Ships Named Enterprise

See Also