HMS York (90)
 The York (around 1930).
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The HMS York was a British Navy heavy cruiser that entered service in the early 1930s and was lost during World War II . The ship named after the city of York belonged to the York class of the same name and was at the same time the type ship of this class consisting of two units. Approved in June 1926 , the York , the eleventh ship in the history of the British Navy to bear this name, was laid down on May 16, 1927 at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company in Jarrow, England , and launched on July 17, 1928. It was finally put into service on May 6, 1930.
Technology and modifications
As a result of the comparatively early loss of the war, the York underwent very few modifications. Only around 1940 were two 2.0 cm Oerlikon flak on board, which (presumably) replaced the 12.7 mm machine guns. In addition, the splinter protection of the 10.2 cm guns has been improved. There was no radar equipment on board.
period of service
Pre-war period
After the commissioning and the completion of the test drives, the York was initially assigned to the 2nd cruiser squadron of the Home Fleet and remained in local waters until 1932. Used between 1932 and 1934 with the 8th Cruiser Squadron on the West Indies station of the Royal Navy , the York relocated to the Mediterranean in the late summer of 1935 in the context of the Abyssinia conflict and was temporarily stationed in Alexandria as part of the British Mediterranean fleet . In the fall of 1936 the cruiser returned to the West Indies. The ship remained there until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. During the war and until its loss in 1941, the York was under the command of Captain Reginald H. Portal.
Use in World War II
After the outbreak of war, the York completed convoy security services between Halifax and the West Indies for two months before the cruiser moved to the United Kingdom in late 1939. After the ship had undergone a shipyard overhaul in Liverpool between December 1939 and February 1940, the York operated from March 1, 1940 between the Faroe Islands and Iceland against German blockade breakers and merchant ships returning to Germany. In the midst of a strong storm, the cruiser sighted and stopped the German cargo steamer Arucas (3,359 GRT) coming from Vigo on March 3, 1940, about 50 nautical miles southeast of Iceland . In order to avoid a detention , the German crew sank their ship despite the bad weather when the British cruiser itself approached, although there was little prospect of a rescue. With great difficulty, some lifeboats of the freighter were in the storm capsized that could York 42 of 52 crew members of Arucas mountains. Of these, however, three more died on board the cruiser as a result of hypothermia , so that a total of 13 fatalities were to be mourned. A few days later, the 39 survivors were given ashore in Kirkwall .
Fight for Norway 1940
In April 1940 the York was involved in the preparations for the planned Allied attack on Norway and therefore took troops on board in Rosyth on April 7, 1940 . When it became known that the German Wehrmacht had only anticipated the Allied invasion plans by hours (see Operation Weser Exercise ), the troops were unloaded again and the York , meanwhile, left Rosyth on April 8 with three other British cruisers to head southwest of Bergen with the Home Fleet , which was already at sea there , which was achieved the following day.
On April 9, 1940, there were strong German air raids on the Home Fleet, but the York remained undamaged. Two days later, the cruiser only narrowly escaped a torpedo compartment of the German submarine U 48 off the Vestfjord . The York was very lucky here, because all three torpedoes fired by the submarine exploded prematurely due to technical defects (see torpedo crisis ). Following the ship took, together with the two light cruisers HMS Birmingham and HMS Manchester and three destroyers , to the reinforcement of in Åndalsnes landed allied contingents in part ( Operation Sickle ) and helped in the transfer of 3,000 soldiers and 300 tons of supplies from Rosyth to Åndalsnes between April 18 and 24, 1940. During the march from Åndalsnes the following day, the York was attacked with two torpedoes by the German submarine U 23 (or U 25 ?) Standing in front of the harbor . However, the magnetos of the torpedoes failed again and the cruiser remained undamaged.
At the beginning of May 1940, after the situation of the Allied troops in Norway had deteriorated, the first landed units were transported away again. Here, the York evacuated , together with three French auxiliary cruisers and three destroyers, on the night of 2/3. May 1940 around 5,400 Allied soldiers of the so-called "Maurice Force" from Namsos (the cruiser had 1,170 men on board). The York then operated in the northern North Sea for the next two months against possible German naval advances. At the end of August 1940, the ship was finally detached to the Mediterranean , as on June 10, 1940, Italy had entered the war on the German side.
Use in the Mediterranean 1940/41
The York moved between August 28 and September 26, 1940 via Freetown , Cape Town and Aden (the cruiser temporarily secured the AP-1 and AP-2 convoys) to Alexandria . From the end of September 1940, the York formed the 3rd cruiser squadron there , together with the light cruisers HMS Gloucester , HMS Liverpool and HMAS Sydney . The first supply trip to Malta took place at the end of September .
In mid-October 1940, the York involved in the Malta supply operation MB-6 succeeded in sinking the Italian destroyer Artigliere . The Italian ship was hit by artillery during a night battle off Capo Passero on 11/12. October was damaged and was immobilized. After the visual report of a reconnaissance aircraft of the light cruiser Orion on the morning of October 13, the York set course for the damaged vessel . When the cruiser approached, the Italian crew surrendered and the survivors (of the night battle) were picked up from the British ship. Then the York sank the destroyer with a torpedo shot.
After the cruiser had made another supply trip to Malta in November 1940 , it was on 11/12. November was involved in the British carrier raid against Taranto (Operation Judgment) and acted as a security ship for the aircraft carriers involved in this operation . In connection with the Italian attack on Greece at the end of October 1940 and the accompanying support for Greece by the United Kingdom, the York secured several supply and troop transport convoys from Alexandria to Piraeus ( Operation Luster ) between November 1940 and March 1941 . The Greco-British garrison on Crete was also reinforced. In addition , as part of the so-called Force B, the York participated in the bombardment of the Italian-controlled port of Valona in December 1940.
Whereabouts
On the night of 25/26 In March 1941, the York lay in the Suda Bay on Crete , together with two other cruisers, a destroyer and three tankers as well as some auxiliary ships . The ships were protected by torpedo nets, but these were temporarily opened to allow entry of the British flak cruiser HMS Coventry, which entered the bay shortly after midnight for the purpose of fuel supply . Almost at the same time, the two Italian destroyers RN Francesco Crispi and RN Quintino Sella , which had been converted into explosive vessel carriers, launched six MT type explosive vessels of the Decima Flottiglia MAS (under the command of Luigi Faggioni ) about ten nautical miles from the bay . As a result of the network locks that were temporarily open, these boats were able to penetrate the bay unnoticed in the dark and attacked the ships lying there in the early morning hours. At 5:11 a.m., two explosive vessels hit the York on the port side . The explosions led to severe water ingress, with both boiler rooms and one turbine room full of water. Two crew members were killed and five others were injured. Since the on-board power supply also collapsed and as a result the bilge pumps no longer worked, the cruiser , which was gradually sinking over the stern , was towed towards the shore by the destroyer Hasty and set aground there.
The York remained in this condition for the following weeks, with the cruiser temporarily serving as a stationary anti-aircraft battery . On April 21 and May 18, 1941, the ship suffered further damage from bomb hits and close-up impacts during attacks by German Ju 88 bombers . After the beginning of the German air landing on Crete on May 20, 1941 and the associated strong German air superiority over the island, it had become apparent that it was hardly possible to hide the cruiser, the order was issued on May 22 to finally abandon the York . In the context of the abandonment of the ship, the cruiser was again badly damaged by British explosions inside the gun turrets. The half-sunken ship lay in Suda Bay until the end of the war in 1945. The partly burned-out and increasingly rotting wreck was finally recovered in early 1952, towed to Bari and scrapped there from March 3, 1952.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.wlb-stuttgart.de
- ↑ www.schiffe-maxim.de
- ^ Newpower, Anthony: Iron man and tin fish: The race to build a better torpedo during World War II . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport (CT) 2006, p. 47.
- ↑ www.wlb-stuttgart.de
literature
- Konstam, Angus / Wright, Paul: British Heavy Cruisers 1939-1945 . Osprey Publishing. Oxford 2012.
- Marriott, Leo: Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition . Leo Cooper Limited. London 2005.
- Whitley, Mike J .: Cruiser in World War II. Classes, types, construction dates . Motorbuch Verlag. Stuttgart 1997.