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HMS Cornwall (1927) CC (5th) |
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This the fifth ship to bear the name HMS Cornwall was a Kent
Class (1927) cruiser Built at Devonport Dockyard, laid down 09-Oct-1924, launched 11-Mar-1926 and commissioned 06-Dec-1927. On commissioning went to the China Station until 1936 when she returned home refit and modification which took until 1938 when she joined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. Then she went back to the China Station as part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron. At the start of WW2 she joined the Eastern Fleet and moved to the Indian Ocean as part of Force I at Ceylon on anti-raider patrols, spending the rest of 1939 in the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee. In November 1939 moved to the South Atlantic Command, returning to England with a convoy in July 1940. Sailing again in early August, she operated off West Africa, supporting the Dakar operation and the Free French occupation of Duala. Sep-1940 in company with HMS Delhi intercepted a Vichy French force and forced it into Casablanca. Based in Simonstown from December 1940, she escorted convoys in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean and undertook searches for armed merchant raiders. On 08-May-1941 she found and sank the raider Pinguin, north of the Seychelles. After Japan entered the war undertook convoy escort work across the Indian Ocean to the Sunda Straits until Mar-1942. When joined the Eastern Fleet, operating in the Ceylon area forming part of the fast Division of the Eastern Fleet. On 05-Apr-1942, when Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire were detached from the Fleet they were sighted by Japanese aircraft. A short while later they were attacked by approximately 50 dive-bombers which hit and sank both ships quickly; 190 of Cornwall's crew of 650 were lost.
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This page last edited -
11 February, 2013.
Copyright © Ian M King, except where otherwise indicated. |
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