HMS Naiad (93)
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 HMS Naiad on Malta convoy operations, May 1941 |
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Dido-class light cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Naiad |
| Builder: | Hawthorn Leslie and Company (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK) |
| Laid down: | 26 August 1937 |
| Launched: | 3 February 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 24 July 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 11 March 1942 by torpedoes from German submarine U-565, south of Crete while seeking an Italian cruiser that had been reported damaged (77 lost). |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,600 tons standard 6,850 tons full load |
| Length: | 485 ft (148 m) pp 512 ft (156 m) oa |
| Beam: | 50.5 ft (15.4 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons geared turbines Four shafts Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers 62,000 shp (46 MW) |
| Speed: | 32.25 knots (60 km/h) |
| Range: | 2,414 km (1,500 miles) at 30 knots 6,824 km (4,240 miles) at 16 knots 1,100 tons fuel oil |
| Complement: | 480 |
| Armament: | Original configuration: 8x 5.25 in (133 mm) dual guns, 1x 4.0 in (102 mm) gun, 2x 0.5 in MG quadruple guns, 3x 2 pdr (37 mm/40 mm) pom-poms quad guns, 2x 21 in (533 mm) triple Torpedo Tubes. 1941 - 1942 configuration: 10x 5.25 in (133 mm) dual guns, 5x 20 mm (0.8 in) single guns, 2x 0.5 in MG quadruple guns, 2x 2 pdr (37 mm/40 mm) pom-poms quad guns, 2x 21 in (533 mm) triple Torpedo Tubes. |
| Armor: | Original configuration: Belt: 3inch, Deck: 1inch, Magazines: 2inch, Bulkheads: 1inch. |
| Notes: | Pennant number 93 |
HMS Naiad was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK), with the keel being laid down on 26 August 1937. She was launched on 3 February 1939, and commissioned 24 July 1940.
She initially joined the Home Fleet and was used for ocean trade protection duties. As part of the 15th Cruiser Squadron she took part in operations against German raiders following the sinking of HMS Jervis Bay in November 1940. In December and January she escorted convoys to Freetown, but at the end of January 1941 was back in northern waters when she briefly sighted the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau south of Iceland as the German ships were in the course of breaking out into the Atlantic (Operation Berlin). By May 1941 Naiad was with Force H on Malta convoy operations, and Flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. She participated in the Crete operations and then operated against Vichy French forces in Syria, where, together with HMS Leander, she engaged the French destroyer Guépard. The remainder of her service was in the Mediterranean, mostly connected with the continual attempts to resupply Malta. However, in March 1942 she sailed from Alexandria to attack an Italian cruiser reported damaged. This report was false, and on the return, on 11 March 1942, HMS Naiad was sunk by the German submarine U-565 south of Crete. 77 of her complement were lost.
[edit] References
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- WWII cruisers
- HMS Naiad at Uboat.net
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