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HMS Arethusa |
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Name :
HMS Arethusa Laid Down : 25th January 1933 Launched : 6th March 1934 Completed : 23rd May 1935 Type : Cruiser Class : Arethusa Builder : Chatham Country : UK Pennants : 26, C26 Fate : Scrapped 1950 |
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His Majesty’s Dockyard Chatham launched this Arethusa class light cruiser on 6 March 1934 and she entered service in the Royal Navy on 23 May 1935. ARETHUSA joined the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean on commissioning, and towed the seriously damaged destroyer HMS HUNTER in from Almeria to Gibraltar after HUNTER had hit a mine during the Non-intervention patrol off Spanish south coast. | |
After refit in Chatham in 1937, she returned to the Mediterranean and was still there at the onset of World War II in September 1939. However, early in 1940 she and her sister HMS PENELOPE returned to the Home Fleet, where they formed the 2nd Cruiser Squadron with the remainder of the class. In April 1940 she took part in the Norwegian campaign, before joining the Nore Command on 8 May, where she supported the defending forces in Calais and later assisted evacuations from French Atlantic ports. | |
In June 1940 she joined the newly formed Force "H" at Gibraltar, with whom she participated in the action against Vichy French forces at Mers el Kebir in July 1940, took part in convoy protection patrols in the Atlantic and operated in the Mediterranean, escorting Malta convoys and running supply trips to the island herself. Towards the end of 1941 she returned to home waters and in December took part in a raid on the Lofoten, in northern Norway, where near misses damaged her. After refit and repair at Chatham until April 1942, she joined the 15th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in June 1942, operating mostly in support of the resupply of Malta. | |
While on one such operation ("Stoneage"), a torpedo from an Italian aircraft struck her on 18 November 1942, but she reached Alexandria with many casualties. Temporary repair work lasted until 7 February 1943, after which she proceeded to Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, for full repair. This was complete by 15 December 1943, and she then returned to Britain, but did not become fully operational again until early June 1944, when she immediately sailed for the invasion of Normandy, forming part of Force "D" off Sword Beach. By January 1945 she was again part of the Mediterranean Fleet’s 15th Cruiser Squadron and stayed there until October 1945 when she returned to the United Kingdom and was immediately placed in the reserve (at the Nore). | |
She was too small to be worth modernising, and she was took part in trials and experiments in 1949 before arriving at Cashmore's, Newport for breaking up, on 9 May 1950. |
HMS Arethusa Photos for Sale |
HMS Arethusa | HMS Arethusa | HMS Arethusa, 1935. | HMS Arethusa, August 1948. | HMS Arethusa, at breakers, August 1950. |
HMS Arethusa pictured February 1937 with sea plane on her catapult. |
Timeline Entries : | |||
February 1931 - Authorised under the 1931 programme 25th January 1933 - Laid down at Chatham Dockyard 25th January 1933 - Pennant Number 26 25th January 1933 - Laid down at Chatham Dockyard 27th April 1933 - Arrived Malta March 1934 - Scrapped 6th March 1934 - Launched 6th July 1934 - Launched 28th July 1934 - Fitting out at Chatham 28th July 1934 - Capt. W.S. Green Assumed Command 26th February 1935 - Commissioned for trials 16th March 1935 - Arrived Lamlash 22nd March 1935 - Arrived Chatham 27th March 1935 - Paid off 2nd April 1935 - Fitting out in Chatham for duty with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron 21st May 1935 - Completed at Chatham 21st May 1935 - Commissioned for service in the Mediterranean 23rd May 1935 - Completed 23rd May 1935 - Commissioned 23rd May 1935 - Became the flagship of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean 3rd July 1935 - Arrived Portland 20th August 1935 - Arrived at Malta 3rd April 1936 - Sailed Alexandria for Malta 5th April 1936 - Arrived Malta 22nd April 1936 - Sailed Malta for Alexandria 12th May 1936 - Sailed Alexandria for Haifa 10th June 1936 - Arrived Larnaka 17th June 1936 - Sailed Limasol for Haifa 18th June 1936 - Arrived Haifa 1st September 1936 - Sailed Malta for Haifa 13th January 1937 - Arrived Palma February 1937 - Suffered from excessive rolling in bad weather off NW Sardinia and had to return to Malta for repairs 6th March 1937 - Arrived Gibraltar 25th March 1937 - Arrived Malta 17th April 1937 - At Malta 17th April 1937 - Flagship of Rear-Admiral G.H. D'Oyly Lyon 18th April 1937 - Flagship of Rear-Admiral Lionel V. Wells 27th April 1937 - Sailed Malta for Palma 28th May 1937 - Arrived Gibraltar 10th June 1937 - Arrived Gibraltar 19th June 1937 - Arrived Malta 7th July 1937 - Arrived Golfe Juan, on the French Riviera 17th July 1937 - Sailed Golfe Juan, on the French Riviera 18th July 1937 - Arrived Valencia 27th July 1937 - Arrived Tangier 7th August 1937 - Arrived Palma 10th August 1937 - Arrived Gibraltar 16th August 1937 - Sailed Gibraltar for Malta 27th August 1937 - Arrived Chatham 2nd November 1937 - Recommissioned after refit at Sheerness January 1938 - 3rd Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean 10th March 1938 - Arrived Barcelona 11th March 1938 - Arrived Palma 24th March 1938 - Arrived Barcelona 28th March 1938 - Sailed Palma for Malta 29th March 1938 - Arrived Malta 4th April 1938 - Sailed Malta for Port Said 7th April 1938 - Arrived Port Said 30th July 1938 - Arrived Rab 10th December 1938 - Sailed Malta for Gruz 3rd January 1939 - Sailed Gibraltar to join the Home Fleet and join the 2nd Cruiser Squadron 10th January 1939 - Sailed Malta for Petala 14th January 1939 - Arrived Zaverda 21st January 1939 - Arrived Malta 18th March 1939 - Sailed Gibraltar 21st March 1939 - Arrived Golfe Juan 30th March 1939 - Sailed Golfe Juan 30th March 1939 - Sailed Golfe Juan 1st April 1939 - Arrived Malta 1st April 1939 - Arrived Malta 2nd September 1939 - Sailed Alexandria on anti-shipping patrol 2nd September 1939 - Sailed Alexandria with the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla to patrol between Cape Matapan and Crete 3rd September 1939 - 3rd Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet 6th September 1939 - Arrived Alexandria December 1939 - To UK for duty in Home Waters 7th December 1939 - Arrived Malta from Alexandria for refit 18th December 1939 - Completed refit 28th December 1939 - Ceased to be the flagship of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean 31st December 1939 - Sailed Malta 3rd January 1940 - Arrived Gibraltar 26th January 1940 - Sailed Portsmouth for Scapa Flow 26th January 1940 - Sailed Portsmouth 29th January 1940 - Arrived Scapa Flow for duty with the Home Fleet 29th January 1940 - Arrived Sacapa Flow for duty with 2nd Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet 29th January 1940 - Arrived at Scapa Flow. 13th February 1940 - Carried out OperationDT 14th February 1940 - Arrived Rosyth 14th February 1940 - Sailed Rosyth on Operation DT 14th February 1940 - Capt. Q.D. Graham in Command 14th February 1940 - Sailed Rosyth to sweep the Norwegian coast for enemy shipping 14th February 1940 - Flagship of Rear-Admiral R.H.C. Hallifax 16th February 1940 - Close support for Convoy HN.12 16th February 1940 - Ordered to search for the Altmark 17th February 1940 - Joined Convoy HN.12 17th February 1940 - Sighted Altmark off Egero Light 17th February 1940 - Detached Convoy HN.12 for Scapa Flow 18th February 1940 - Arrived Scapa Flow 19th February 1940 - Sailed Scapa Flow to cover Convoy 4 20th February 1940 - Sailed Scapa Flow 21st February 1940 - Joined Convoy ON.14 22nd February 1940 - Arrived Bergen with Convoy ON.14 22nd February 1940 - Arrived Bergen with Convoy ON.14 25th February 1940 - Arrived Rosyth. 3rd March 1940 - Sailed Rosyth for Convoy close support duties 6th March 1940 - Arrived Portsmouth 8th March 1940 - Near cover for Convoy ON.18 10th March 1940 - Arrived Bergen with Convoy ON.18 13th March 1940 - Sailed Rosyth for Scapa Flow 14th March 1940 - Arrived Scapa Flow 20th March 1940 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron 20th March 1940 - Sailed Scapa Flow on Operation DU 23rd March 1940 - Arrived Rosyth 17th April 1940 - Sailed Rosyth with 1,000 troops of 148 Infantry Brigade for Namsos 19th April 1940 - Sailed Aandalsnes 22nd April 1940 - Took stores, light AA guns and an advance party of RAF for a forward airfield to Molde 30th April 1940 - Involved with the evacuation of Aandalsnes 11th May 1940 - Escorted two bullion ships from Ljmuiden to Southend 24th May 1940 - Sailed Portsmouth to bombard concealed batteries off Calais. Called off returned to Sheerness 26th May 1940 - Sailed Sheerness to bombard concealed batteries off Calais. Called off returned to Sheerness 16th June 1940 - Arrived Le Verdon 19th June 1940 - Sailed with British Embassy staff from Bordeaux and the President of Poland and his staff to Plymouth 28th June 1940 - Sailed Portsmouth for Gibraltar wearing the flag of Vice Admiral Somerville October 1940 - Took part in the Norwegian campaign October 1940 - Returned to Sheerness to refit. 31st October 1940 - Arrived on the Tyne for repairs after collision with Merchant ship 23rd November 1940 - Completed repairs on the Tyne. Rejoined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow May 1941 - Patrolled the Iceland-Faroes gap August 1941 - Arrived on the Mediterranean 24th August 1941 - Commenced refitting in the Tyne 1st November 1941 - Completed refitting in the Tyne 1st January 1942 - Returned to Scapa Flow May 1942 - Sailed to join the Mediterranean Fleet via the Cape of Good Hope 13th June 1942 - Sailed from Alexandria to join Convoy MW11 which had sailed earlier from Egypt (Operation VIGOROUS). 14th June 1942 - Met convoy and came under air attacks. Under threat of attack by U77 15th June 1942 - Under attack by German E-Boats 12th August 1942 - Bombarded Rhodes November 1942 - Took part in Operation Stoneage 18th November 1942 - Torpedoed by low flying enemy aircraft 18th November 1942 - Sailed Alexandra to provide cover for passage of Convoy MW13 to Malta. February 1943 - Sailed Alexandria for Charleston, South Carolina June 1944 - Completed refitting at Sheerness 2nd June 1944 - Sailed from the Clyde for the D-Day Beaches 6th June 1944 - Arrived off the D-Day beaches at 0455 6th June 1944 - Participated in the Normandy Landings 14th June 1944 - Arrived Portsmouth 16th June 1944 - Sailed for D-Day beachhead at 0830 wearing the standard of King George VI 16th June 1944 - Arrived Portsmouth in the evening 25th June 1944 - Off the D-Day beaches. attacked by an aircraft which dropped a mine and suffered internal damage. January 1945 - Sailed for Gibraltar to rejoin the 15th Cruiser Squadron November 1945 - Relieved by Liverpool in the Mediterranean. Returned to the U.K. and placed in reserve 29th April 1949 - Moored off Nab Tower for Atomic tests April 1950 - Broken up May 1950 - Broken up at Troon |
Everything we obtain for this site is shown on the site, we do not have any more photos, crew lists or further information on any of the ships. COPYRIGHT NOTICE. ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW, AND ARE OWNED BY CRANSTON FINE ARTS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO REPRODUCTION OR COPYING ALLOWED ON OTHER WEBSITES, BOOKS OR ARTICLES WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT. |
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