HMS Fiji (C58)

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Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom, svg
HMS FIJI, August 28, 1940 FL13125.jpg
history
Class: Crown Colony class
Shipyard: John Brown & Company , Clydebank
Commissioned: 1938
Keel laying: March 30, 1938
Launch: May 31, 1939
Commissioning: May 5, 1940
Decommissioning: Sunk by air raid on May 22, 1941
Data
Displacement: 8530 ts (standard)
10,450 ts (max.)
Length: 169.3 m
Width: 18.9 m
Draft: 5.0 m
Drive: 4 oil-fired Admiralty steam boilers (3-drum type)
4 Parsons steam turbines with single gear
72,500 HPw (54,100 kW) on 4 screws
Top speed: 33 knots (61 km / h)
Range: 6,520 nm at 13 kn
Crew: 730 sailors
Armament:
Armor: Hull: 83 mm
Deck: 51 mm
Gun turrets: 51 mm
Control center: 102 mm
Board aircraft: 2 * Supermarine Walrus

The HMS Fiji (C58) was a light cruiser of the Crown Colony-class cruiser , that of the British Royal Navy in the Second World War was used and was lost in May 1941 after an air raid. She was the only ship in the Royal Navy that ever bore that name.

construction

The HMS Fiji was laid down at the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank and launched on May 31, 1939. She entered service on May 5, 1940 as the first ship of the Crown Colony class, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the Fiji class . After commissioning, it was initially assigned to the Home Fleet .

Calls

On August 31, 1940, the Fiji set sail for the African Atlantic coast to take part in Operation Menace , an attack on the port of Dakar . Before she could join the combat group, however, she was so badly damaged by a torpedo from the German submarine U 32 on September 1 that she had to return to Great Britain for repairs . The repair work took the next six months to complete, with Fiji being fitted with a 279 radar and, if only minimally, improved anti-aircraft armament.

In March 1941 she was operational again and was commissioned to monitor the Denmark Strait . She missed the returning German ironclad Admiral Scheer , and in April she was seconded to Force H to block the heavy German ships that were stationed in Brest at the time . Together with the ships of the Force H, she then set course for the Mediterranean Sea to ensure the supply of the island of Malta by convoys.

Downfall

After completing these tasks, Fiji was involved in the airborne battle for Crete .

On May 22, 1941, shortly after the loss of HMS Gloucester , she was involved in fighting together with the destroyers HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston , during which one Ju 88 was shot down and two others were damaged. Fiji used up all of its anti-aircraft ammunition in repelling the two-hour air raids . She was bombed by Messerschmitt Bf 109 and received several bomb hits before a machine from Jagdgeschwader 77 dropped a bomb right next to her port side . The pressure of the explosion crushed the floor panels of Fiji and the water penetrating through the broken rivet tunnels caused the ship to heel to port. The ship lost speed and stopped. With the 102 mm ammunition almost exhausted, Fiji was practically defenseless. A Stuka hit her with three bombs. Commander William-Powlett gave the order to leave the ship and at 8:15 p.m. the Fiji capsized and sank. ( Situation ) The destroyers withdrew to the south after they had previously dropped life rafts for the survivors. They returned after dark and recovered 523 survivors. 241 crew members had sunk with the ship.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. Shore, Cull, and Malizia, P357-8: "Meanwhile the other warships continued to fight back, one Ju88 of 5 / LG 1, being hit and severely damaged. Fw Hans Richter struggled to regain his base but the aircraft crashed in flames just north of Eleusis, the crew perishing. Two other bombers from II / LG 1 were also damaged, crash landing on return. "
  2. ↑ THE TRUE EXPERIENCES OF MR LEONARD CHARLES EADES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

literature

  • James J. Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy. The complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. New revised edition. Chatham, London 2006, ISBN 1-86176-281-X .

Web links