HMS Jamaica (C44)
 HMS Jamaica at anchor, September 18, 1943
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The HMS Jamaica ( C44 ) - named after the island of Jamaica - was a conventional light cruiser of the British Royal Navy . The ship belonged to the Crown Colony-class cruiser and was founded in 1940 by stack left. During the Second World War , with the exception of a stowage to secure the Allied landings in North Africa , it was mainly used to secure northern sea convoys . In this context, she also took part in the hunt for the German battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst .
After the war it was part of the Eastern Fleet and was used with the outbreak of the Korean War for artillery support - including in Operation Chromite . In early 1951, she moved back to her home country and became part of the reserve fleet .
In 1954 the ship was reactivated and assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1956 she took part in Operation Musketeer , the Anglo-French landing in Egypt in the wake of the Suez Crisis . Following this, the Jamaica was decommissioned in 1958 and sold for scrapping in 1960 .
description
The ships of the Crown Colony class were built, with 8,631 tn.l. up to a maximum of 11,017 tn.l. Displacement and a length of 169 m (= 555 ft ), still under the limitations of the naval conferences on arms restriction in the 1920s and 1930s . This resulted in a concept which was based on the ships of the Town class . However, with the main difference that in order to comply with the weight restrictions, continuous belt armor for the waterline was dispensed with in the design. Instead, the magazines and engine rooms were individually armored with 51-89 mm steel.
According to the naval agreement, the caliber of the main artillery was also limited to 6 inches (152 mm). Twelve manually loaded guns of the type BL 6 "MK XXIII in four triple turrets of the type Mark XXI were used on the Jamaica . Two turrets each in front and behind the superstructure . These were supplemented by eight 4" (102 mm) multi-purpose guns from Type QF 4 "Mk XVI against sea and air targets and two four-barreled 40-mm QF-2-pounder rapid-fire cannons against aircraft . Apart from the barrel armament, the ship also had two 3 × 533-mm torpedo launchers, each of which was rotatable a per page amidships were positioned. Similarly were for reconnaissance and recovery two seaplanes type Super Walrus on board, which were launched from a catapult.
The drive was provided by four Parsons steam turbines , which were supplied with superheated steam at 2.0 MPa and 316 ° C from four Admiralty steam boilers , each with three drums . A total of 80,000 hp (60,000 kW) were available on the four screws driven in this way. Enough to reach a maximum speed of 32.25 kn (60 km / h). At a speed reduced to 13 kn (24 km / h), the up to 1,700 tons of heavy fuel oil in the ship's bunkers allowed a range of 12,000 km .
In peacetime, a crew of 733 was provided for the operation of the ship. In times of war the number increased to 900 men.
history
The Jamaica was laid on April 28, 1939 at Vickers-Armstrongs in Barrow-in-Furness . The ship was launched on November 16, 1940 and the ship was then fully equipped by June 29, 1942.
After the first test drives, which were very short due to the war, the Jamaica moved to the North Sea in September 1942 and secured the convoy PQ 18 .
She was then ordered to the Mediterranean in November 1942, where she took part in the Allied landings in French North Africa ( Operation Torch ). There the ship was assigned to the Central Task Force and supported the landing in Oran against the troops of the French Vichy regime and narrowly escaped a torpedo hit by the French submarine Fresnel during this mission .
In December of the same year, the North Sea convoys resumed with the convoy JW 51A . Together with the light cruiser HMS Sheffield and several destroyers formed the Jamaica group Force R under the command of Vice Admiral Robert Burnett and had the task to repel German surface ships. On December 25, 1942, the convoy reached its destination, the Kola Bay near Murmansk, unmolested .
Battle of the Barents Sea
On December 27, 1942, the Force R group set sail from Kola to meet the convoy JW 51B , consisting of 14 merchant ships and 4 destroyers . The aim was to meet JW 51B in the Norwegian Sea and secure the rest of its passage to Murmansk. However, the convoy's units were widely dispersed due to a major storm the previous evening and some units had drifted to the south. As a result, it was not possible to read a uniform position of JW 51B from the Force R's radar images .
When the heavy German cruisers Admiral Hipper and Lützow , accompanied by their own destroyers, attacked the convoy in the morning hours of December 31, Force R was 48 km too far north. With the first exchange of fire between the attacking German ships and the destroyers accompanying the convoy, the group turned south to intervene in the fight from noon. The Sheffield sank the German destroyer Friedrich Eckoldt from a short distance , who - presumably due to the poor visibility - had mistakenly mistaken the ship for the Admiral Hipper and went into formation with him. The Jamaica sat down at the same time without success with the Destroyers Richard Beitzen apart. Less than an hour later, Sheffield and Jamaica spotted the two German cruisers, opened fire and scored hits on the Admiral Hipper (despite the persistently poor visibility in the Arctic winter) , which reduced its top speed to 28 knots. The captain of the Hipper , Oskar Kummetz , decided to turn south, back to his base of operations in Altafjord . Half an hour later there was another exchange of fire between the cruisers, but no hits could be achieved. By the afternoon, contact with the attackers was finally lost and the convoy of merchant ships reached Kola Bay on January 3, 1943.
Following the battle in the Barents Sea, Force R accompanied the RA 52 convoy back to Great Britain until the group was replaced by the cruisers HMS Kent and HMS Berwick .
The Jamaica was withdrawn at their return from the Geleitzugschutz and the Home Fleet allocated. In March 1943, the ship received new gun barrels for the main artillery and it was followed by a shipyard stay in Portsmouth from July to September for repair work and the upgrade of the anti-aircraft armament by additional 6 × 2 and 4 × 1 20 mm guns.
In November, Jamaica again accompanied convoys through the Arctic Ocean. Convoys RA 54B, JW 54A, JW 54B and convoy RA 54B passed through the passage without any problems. On December 15, 1943, she became part of Force 2 , an escort group under Admiral Bruce Fraser with the battleship HMS Duke of York and four additional destroyers, which was set up to accompany convoy JW 55A. After its passage was uneventful, the group moved back to Iceland for oiling on December 18 . Just arrived there, Admiral Fraser received the news that the German battleship Scharnhorst had set out to attack convoy JW 55B and Force 2 left on December 23rd shortly before midnight at full speed to catch up with this convoy.
Sea battle off the North Cape
After German submarines had already made contact with individual escort ships in the night of December 17, 1943, the German aerial reconnaissance discovered the exact position of convoy JW 55B on December 22, 1943. The German Scharnhorst , accompanied by five destroyers, then set out from the Altafjord at sea on December 25th to intercept the convoy. In stormy weather and poor visibility, on the morning of December 26, the attackers met the escort ships of the Force 1 tasked with protecting the convoy , consisting of the cruisers HMS Belfast , HMS Sheffield and HMS Norfolk , accompanied by four destroyers, and surrendered two first skirmishes. As a result, the Scharnhorst under Rear Admiral Erich Bey stopped the attack at around 2:00 p.m. and turned to the southeast, followed by Force 1 , while Force 2 with the Jamaica came closer from the southwest .
Against 16:17, the radar detected the Duke of York , the Scharnhorst km at a distance of 41.6. Half an hour later, Force 2 opened fire. With the third volley , the guns of the Jamaica struck . After 19 salvos, however, the fire had to be stopped because the Scharnhorst made significantly more speed in the heavy seas and increased the distance increasingly. Only a hit by the Duke of York changed the situation, as a shell destroyed the boiler room No. 1 of the Scharnhorst , thereby significantly reducing the ship's speed. The then first catching British destroyer got four torpedo hits and slowed the enemy ship further, so that the Jamaica and the Duke of York also came within range again. At a distance of 9.5 km they opened fire again. But even after 28 minutes of continuous loading with grenades and at least ten heavy hits, the Scharnhorst still ran at 10 knots. Even when the ammunition of its heavy main artillery was exhausted, the ship continued to fight with its smaller guns.
Thereupon Admiral Fraser ordered the re-torpedoing of the ship. Six torpedoes from the Jamaica hit the target in two volleys. Two of the first volleys missed and the third went blind . Two torpedoes hit from the second volley. After further hits from the Belfast and the destroyers, the Scharnhorst capsized and finally sank at 7.45 p.m. The ships involved in the sinking searched for survivors until 20:40.
Map of the naval battle at the North Cape
The torpedo operation of the Jamaica after the sinking of the Scharnhorst in Scapa Flow
The German battleship Scharnhorst
Chases the Tirpitz and the post-war period
In the following year the Jamaica accompanied further convoys. Among other things, in February and March 1944 JW 57 , JW 58 and RA 58, but without getting involved in any significant disputes.
At the end of March 1944, the ship was then parked to secure Operation Tungsten . The aim of the operation was to attack the German battleship Tirpitz with naval bombers. In particular, to prevent the ship from disrupting the foreseeable imminent landing in Normandy . Since the Tirpitz with its base of operations in the Kåfjord was beyond the reach of long-range bombers, 5 aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy were dispatched to it.
The Jamaica was part of Force 2 and accompanied the porters. Force 1 under the Duke of York and the HMS Anson were supposed to prevent the Tirpitz from escaping .
On March 30, the association left Scapa Flow and made its way to Norway . On April 3, 40 dive bombers and 80 fighters took off in two waves from the porters and surprised the Tirpitz in the morning hours. However, despite 15 bomb hits, it was not possible to sink the ship.
In July of the same year, the Royal Navy repeated the attempt to turn the Tirpitz off with Operation Mascot and so the Jamaica accompanied the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable , HMS Furious and HMS Indefatigable . 44 naval bombers and 40 fighters set off this time, but again the sinking of the battleship failed.
Afterwards, Jamaica continued to escort convoys in August and September 1944. JW 59 and RA 59 reached their destination unscathed before the ship went to the shipyard for overhaul in October. By April 1945, in addition to the repairs due, the radar system was also modernized, and the penultimate main gun turret ('X' turret) was replaced in favor of two further 4-fold 40 mm anti-aircraft guns of the type QF 2-pounder .
After the end of the war, the Jamaica carried King George VI. and his wife on June 6th to visit the Channel Islands . She then moved to Ceylon and from October 1945 became part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron in Colombo . From April 1946 she also took over the role of the flagship of this group, in the successor to HMS Norfolk .
In November 1947 he returned to Devonport for repair work. This was followed in August 1948 by the transfer to the Pacific and the assignment under the command of the North America and West Indies station . Hong Kong became the new base of operations from April 1949 and the ship remained there until the beginning of the Korean War in June 1950.
Korean War
The fighting between North and South Korea began on June 25, 1950, while the Jamaica was on a passage to Japan . She and her escort, the HMS Black Swan , were immediately ordered to a rendezvous with the US light cruiser USS Juneau off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula , with the task of bombarding the advancing North Korean troops .
On July 2, 1950, a supply convoy of North Koreans returning from Chumunjin was discovered and attacked. The three torpedo boats and two gunboats accompanying the convoy took up the fight, but were sunk without causing any significant damage themselves. The cruiser association then continued to bomb the coast. Six days later, Jamaica was shelled from the land. A 75 mm shell hit the ship, killing six crew members and wounding five. On August 15, the ship shelled the port facilities in Kunsan , which the North Koreans had captured . A preparatory artillery attack on Wolmi-do Island ( Incheon ) followed the following month . This formed the prelude to Operation Chromite - the landing in Incheon - during which the allied UN troops succeeded in conquering a bridgehead in the rear of the advanced North Korean army . While landing at September 15, 1950 even revealed Jamaica the southern flank and supported the actions of the 1st Marine Regiment . Two days after the end of the operation, the Jamaica and the USS Rochester were attacked at dawn by two fighter jets (a Yakovlev Jak-9 and an Ilyushin Il-2 ) flying low. A sailor was killed on the Jamaica before the Il-2 could be shot down.
In October 1950 the ship went to Singapore for repairs and overhauls . After completing this, she was ordered back home and reached Plymouth in February 1952 . There she was assigned to the reserve fleet.
Suez crisis and whereabouts
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From May 1953 on, the Jamaica was the flagship of the Reserve Fleet . Until she was reactivated in the course of 1954 and assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. Another overhaul in the Chatham shipyard followed from June 1955.
At the turn of the year 1955/56 the ship made its grand entrance when it was involved in the filming of the feature film Panzerschiff Graf Spee . She embodied the HMS Exeter , which was badly damaged by the armored ship Admiral Graf Spee in the battle off the Río de la Plata .
She then participated, back on active duty, in Operation Musketeer in November 1956 and led the bombing of Port Said to aid the landing of the Royal Marines and thus secure the Empire's control of the Suez Canal . The ship had to do without its 6-inch guns, however, as the UK cabinet had banned the use of calibers larger than 4.5 inches (114 mm) for fear of widespread destruction in the Egyptian city.
In September 1958 the Jamaica was reassigned to the reserve after a last visit to Kiel . On November 14, 1960, it was sold for scrapping , towed to Dalmuir to dismantle the superstructure (which it reached on December 20, 1960) and then in 1963 to Troon to also dismantle the shell.
literature
- JJ Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. (Rev. ed.), Chatham Publishing, London 1969, 2006.
- Robert Gardiner, ed .: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. Conway Maritime Press, London 1980.
- Alan Raven, John Roberts: British Cruisers of World War II. Arms and Armor Press, London 1980.
- MJ Whitley: Cruisers of World War Two: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Arms and Armor Press, London 1995.
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d Alan Raven and John Roberts: British Cruisers of World War Two, page 201, 422f, . Naval Institute Press, 1980, ISBN 0-87021-922-7 .
- ↑ a b c d M. J. Whitley: Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, p 120, 124f . London: Cassell, 1995, ISBN 1-86019-874-0 .
- ↑ Jürgen Rohwer: Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.), Pp. 195, 209f, 221 . Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59114-119-2 .
- ↑ a b c Martin Stephen: Sea Battles in Close-Up: World War 2, pp. 182 (94), 198 (99), 205 (16) . Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988, ISBN 0-87021-556-6 ( archive.org ).
- ↑ a b c d e f g HMS JAMAICA - Colony-class Light Cruiser including Convoy Escort Movements. Geoffrey B. Mason, Lt. Cdr., October 12, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .
- ^ A b c Jürgen Rohwer: Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.), Pp. 292f (93), 307ff and 350 . Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59114-119-2 .
- ^ Heinrich Bredemeier: Battleship Scharnhorst, p. 238 . Koehler in Maximilian Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1997, ISBN 978-3-7822-0592-4 .
- ^ JD Brown: Carrier Operations in World War II: Volume One - The Royal Navy, p. 40 . Ian Allan Ltd., London, 1968, ISBN 0-7110-0040-9 .
- ^ SW Roskill: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Volume III: The Offensive Part II, p. 171 . Naval and Military Press ;, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84342-806-0 .
- ^ Peter C. Smith: Destroyer Leader: The Story of HMS Faulknor 1935-46, p. 269 . Barnsley, Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2004, ISBN 1-84415-121-2 .
- ^ HMS Jamaica Korean War Service 1950 "on Britains-Small Wars.com. John Hagerty, (Lt. Cdr. RN.), Accessed March 25, 2020 .
- ↑ James A. Jr. Field: History of United States Naval Operations: Korea, Chapters 3-4, 5-2, 6-3, and 7-2 . University Press of the Pacific, 2001, ISBN 978-0-89875-675-3 ( navy.mil ).
- ^ Bernard Fergusson: The Watery Maze; The Story of Combined Operations, p. 391 . London: Collins, 1961, ISBN 978-1-111-22375-5 .
- ↑ Derek Varble: The Suez Crisis 1956, pp. 64-66 . Botley, Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-84176-418-3 .