HMS Diadem (84)
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HMS Diadem was a British light cruiser of the improved Dido class, also known as the Bellona class, with only four 133 mm twin turrets and improved anti-aircraft armament. She was the third at Hawthorn Leslie built Dido - antiaircraft cruiser and came on January 6, 1944 as the last cruiser of this class in the service of the fleet.
The ship used by the British Home Fleet was involved in the final battle between larger surface units of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War , when it tried to prevent three German destroyers from marching from Norway into the Baltic Sea with the Mauritius . Z 31 was damaged in this battle off Bergen on January 28, 1945 .
The diadem served in the Home Fleet until 1950 when it was assigned to the reserve. In 1956 she was sold to Pakistan. As Babur , then Jahangir , she last served in the Pakistani Navy as a training ship for midshipmen . It was not until 1985 that the cruiser was scrapped.
Calls
After commissioning in January 1944, the Diadem was used as part of the Home Fleet with the protection of northern sea convoys (e.g. convoy JW 58 , convoy JW 58, RA 59 , RA 60 , JW 63 and RA 63 , JW 65 and RA 65 ) entrusted and secured the aircraft carriers in their attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in April 1944. In June she was part of Kampfgruppe E (Force E) during the Allied invasion of Normandy . After the landing operations, she patrolled the British coast and sank the German barrier breaker 7 off La Rochelle on August 12 in cooperation with several destroyers . In September she returned to northern waters, escorting Russian convoys and patrolling the Norwegian coast.
On January 28, 1945, the Diadem, together with the Mauritius near Bergen, tried to intercept three German destroyers who wanted to move from Norway to the Baltic Sea. In the last battle between German destroyers and the Royal Navy, Z 31 was badly damaged; Z 34 and Z 38 were able to continue their transfer march the following night and reached Copenhagen on February 1, 1945 .
From April 16, the last use of the Diadem took place in a northern sea escort, when she carried the 27 merchant ships of convoy JW 66 together with escort carriers Vindex and Premier , nine destroyers of the Home Fleet (including the Norwegian Stord and the Canadian Haida with two sister ships), the “7th Escort Group” with fifteen mission ships and the “19th Escort Group” with another five units. Neither a submarine group set up near the Bear Island nor the German aerial reconnaissance discovered the escort, which was only attacked shortly before entering the Kola Bay .
On May 4, 1945, the day of the partial surrender of the Wehrmacht in north-west Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands , the diadem was used for the last time when it was involved in Operation Judgment . A British combat group attacked the German submarine base in Kilbotn Bay near Harstad in northern Norway in the last offensive action by the Home Fleet . In addition to the diadem , three escort carriers, the heavy cruiser Norfolk and seven destroyers were involved in the operation. The carrier's aircraft attacking the base sank U 711 , a depot ship and a small supply steamer.
The diadem was part of the 10th cruiser squadron until the end of the war and served in the Home Fleet until 1950. After that she was assigned to the reserve from 1950 to 1956.
In 1956 it was decided to sell it to Pakistan and after an overhaul it was handed over to the Pakistani Navy on July 5, 1957 and christened Babur . She was later renamed Jahangir and served as a training ship for midshipmen from 1961 . In 1985 the old cruiser was scrapped.
literature
- Roger Chesneau (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1922-1946 , Conway Maritime Press, London (1980), ISBN 0-85177-146-7
- James Joseph Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy , Chatham, London (Rev. ed. 2006), ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8 . OCLC 67375475.
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships: Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford.
- Bernard Ireland: The Illustrated Guide to Cruisers , Hermes House, London (2008), ISBN 978-1-84681-150-0
- Alan Raven, H. Trevor Lenton: DIDO class Cruisers , Ensign 2 Bivouac books 1973
- Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronicle of the Naval War 1939-1945 , Manfred Pawlak VerlagsGmbH, Herrsching 1968, ISBN 3-88199-009-7 .
Web links
- Jürgen Rohwer, G. Hümmelchen: Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945 , Library for Contemporary History - Württemberg State Library (Stuttgart 2007)
- HMS DIADEM - Bellona-class AA cruiser
- HMS Diadem on Uboat.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 3.- 04/11/1944 North Sea convoy operation RA.58.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , April 21–26, 1944 North Sea and April 28–6, 1944 North Sea
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 15.9.- 10.5.1944 North Sea convoy operation JW.60 / RA.60 .
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , 1.– 8.1.1945 Nordmeer, convoy operation JW.63 / RA.63 and 11.– 21.1.1945 Nordmeer
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , March 11–21, 1945 Northern Sea, operation against convoy JW.65 and March 23–31, 1945 Northern Sea, operation against convoy RA.65 in the Northern Sea .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 06.06.1944 channel; Allied invasion (»Decision Day«) in Normandy .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 25.- 27.06.1944 channel; attack of VII US Corps against Cherbourg..
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 5.8.- 02.09.1944 Biscay / Brittany; Brit. Naval forces often advance into the Bay of Biscay .
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , November 1–28, 1944 Norway, attacks on German coastal shipping .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 7.- 12/14/1944 Norway, Operation Urban .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 01/28/1945 Norway
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , April 16–25, 1945 North Sea, convoy operation JW.66 .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 05/04/1945 North Sea, Operation Judgment .