H. M. S. C O R N W A L L
KENT-Class Cruiser ordered from HM Dockyard,
Devonport on 2nd June 1924 and laid down on 9th October that year. The ship was launched on 11th March 1926 and was the 6th RN ship to bear this name,
introduced in 1692 for a 3rd Rate.
The last ship to bear the name was a Cruiser built in 1902 and sold in 1920. Build
was completed on 10th May 1928 at a cost of £1,252,110. She was then deployed on the
China Station with the 5th Cruiser Squadron until return to UK for a major refit in 1936. On completion she served in Home
waters in the 2nd Cruiser Squadron and used for training of
boy seamen. In March 1939 this ship recommissioned for further
service on the China Station where she was deployed in September 1939. She had a well established relationship with the
county whose name she
carried and this has continued until the present with the 7th
ship.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
GRENADA 1779 - OFF
MARTINIQUE 1780 -
FALKLANDS 1914 - DARDANELLES 1915
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge: On a Field Black, fifteen bezants Gold
M o t t o
'One and all'
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
September
Deployed as Flagship of 5th
Cruiser Squadron, China Station with cruisers KENT, DORSETSHIRE and BIRMINGHAM.
6th - Carried out search
with ships of Squadron for German shipping in Andaman Islands area.
27th - Arrived at Colombo
after transferred to East Indies Station.
28th - Took passage to
Calcutta.
October
2nd - Escorted convoy from
Calcutta for part of passage to Singapore.
5th - Detached to join
aircraft carrier EAGLE and cruiser DORSETSHIRE in Hunting Force I for
interception patrol.
6th - Return passage to
Colombo for docking.
11th - Sailed for patrol
after docking.
November
3rd - Returned to Colombo
from patrol.
10th - Sailed with
DORSETSHIRE to join EAGLE and destroyers VENDETTA (RAN) and WATERHEN (RAN) in
search for German pocket battleship GRAF SPEE in area south of Ceylon.
18th - Returned to Colombo.
25th - Took passage from
Colombo to resume patrol.
December
8th - At Diego Suarez and
attached to South Atlantic Station.
12th - At Durban.
14th - Sailed for patrol in
Indian Ocean from Durban.
22nd - Took passage from
Durban to Simonstown for interception patrol duties in South Atlantic.
26th - At Simonstown. (Note:
For details of interception patrol duties see THE BLOCKADERS by P Kemp, ARMED
MERCHANT CRUISERS by K Poolman and AXIS BLOCKADE RUNNERS by M Bryce.)
1 9 4 0
January
2nd - Sailed for patrol.
11th - Returned to Capetown.
25th - Sailed for patrol.
30th - Returned to Capetown.
(Note: cruiser HOBART (RAN) and EAGLE were also deployed in South Atlantic for
interception and trade defence.)
February
Transferred to Freetown.
Patrol duty in continuation.
March
Passage to Freetown from
patrol
4th - Arrived at Freetown.
April
Interception patrol and
trade defence in continuation based at Freetown.
May
Passage to Simonstown on
release from Patrol.
June
Patrol duties in
continuation based at Simonstown.
24th - Took passage from
Simonstown to UK for repair.
July
Under repair in Liverpool commercial shipyard.
August
Post repair trials
5th - Joined military convoy
WS2 on departure from Liverpool as Ocean Escort during Atlantic passage.
25th - Arrived at Capetown.
31st - Deployed as Ocean
Escort for WS2 during passage to Durban.
September
3rd - Detached from WS2
after relief by Armed Merchant cruiser KANIMBLA. Took passage to Freetown for
support of landings by Free French troops at Dakar (Operation MENACE).
13th - Joined cruiser
CUMBERLAND, sloops MILFORD and BRIDGEWATER in escort of military convoy on
passage to Freetown from Gibraltar.
15th - Arrived at Freetown.
18th - Deployed with cruiser
DELHI in search for Vichy French warship on passage from Dakar to Gabon, French
Guinea.
19th - Intercepted cruiser
PRIMAGUET and tanker TARN in Gulf of Guinea and persuaded them to
return to Casablanca rather than being forced into a naval engagement. (Note:
Tanker was intended to replenish Vichy French cruisers recently arrived in
Dakar. See CUMBERLAND. PRIMAGUET remained in Vichy French control until being
sunk by US ships in November 1942). Escorted Vichy French ships during passage
to Casablanca.
October
West African deployment in
continuation. Nominated for return to UK for escort of military convoy and took
passage to UK.
November
2nd - Joined military convoy
WS4 in Clyde as Ocean Escort during passage to Aden.
December
18th - Detached from WS4 on
arrival at Aden. Resumed trade defence and patrol duties and took passage to
Capetown.
1 9 4 1
January
Deployed for interception
patrol and convoy defence based at Simonstown.
February
2nd - Taken in hand for
refit and docking at Simonstown. AA Armament improved by addition of 20mm
weapons.
22nd - Refit work completed
28th - Sailed to join
military convoy WS6 as Ocean Escort during passage to Middle East from Freetown.
March
13th - Joined BIRMINGHAM and
PHOEBE as relief in WS6 Ocean Escort for armed merchant cruiser CATHAY.
April
15th - Detached from WS6 on
arrival at Aden. Resumed trade defence and convoy escort duties in Indian Ocean
May
At Mombasa
7th - During passage from
Mombasa to Seychelles intercepted Distress Signal from tanker BRITISH PREMIER
being attacked by German commerce raider PINGUIN in position 5o miles north.
8th - Ships aircraft
reported sighting of mercantile identified as being Norwegian TAMERLANE.
Intercepted ship and ordered her to stop enforced by two rounds. Vessel then
opened fire which temporarily damaged steering gear. In subsequent exchange of
fire PINGUIN sank after an explosion. Rescued 82 survivors of whom 22 were
prisoners from captured ships. (For full details of problems related to
identification of merchant ships see WAR AT SEA by SW Roskill and WAR WITH JAPAN
(HMSO)). Passage to Durban
June
Under repair at Durban.
10th - Resumed trade defence
duties on completion of repair.
July
11th - Joined specially
formed military convoy WS9A2 at Durban as Ocean Escort during
passage to Aden. Embarked passengers.
19th - Detached from WS9A2
on arrival at Aden and landed passengers.
20th - Trade defence and
patrol in Indian Ocean resumed.
August to November
Indian Ocean deployment in continuation.
December
28th - Joined military
convoy WS12ZA as Ocean Escort during passage to Bombay.
1 9 4 2
January
6th - Detached on arrival of
WS12ZA at Bombay. Retained in Bombay for escort of convoys to and from
Singapore.
February
Convoy defence and covering
duties in Bay of Bengal. (Note: Evacuation convoys were on passage from
Singapore and ports in Dutch East Indies. See WAR WITH JAPAN.)
March
1st - Sailed from Colombo
with battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN, destroyers EXPRESS, VAMPIRE (RAN), NIZAM, Armed
Merchant cruiser MANOORA (RAN) and corvette HOLLYHOCK as escort for military
convoy SU1 during passage to Fremantle. (Note: This convoy of 12 troopships was
taking 11,000 ANZAC troops back to Australia from Middle East service after the
Japanese threat to Australia and New Zealand).
14th - Detached from SU1 on
arrival at Freetown and took passage to Ceylon to rejoin newly formed Eastern
Fleet.
31st - Joined battleship
WARSPITE, aircraft carriers FORMIDABLE and INDOMITABLE, cruisers ENTERPRISE,
EMERALD and DORSETSHIRE screened by six destroyers as Force A in position south
of Ceylon.
April
1st - Deployed with Force A
in unsuccessful search for Japanese naval force reported on passage toward
Ceylon.
3rd - Detached from Force A
with DORSETSHIRE for escort of military convoy SU4 during passage in Indian
Ocean.
4th - Recalled to join Force
A again with DORSETSHIRE after Japanese warships had been sighted. (See WAR WITH
JAPAN and THE FORGOTTEN FLEET by J.Winton).
5th - Sighted during return
passage to Force A by aircraft from Japanese cruiser TONE. Came under heavy and
sustained attacks by dive bombers from the aircraft carriers AKAGI, SORYU and
HIRYU. Deficient AA armament overwhelmed and careful manoeuvring by enemy
aircraft gave ship little defence and she was quickly disabled. Sank within 15
minutes with heavy casualties including 190 killed or missing. (Casualty
List -
note on casualties) (Note: Some
6 minutes later, DORSETSHIRE was sunk by similar attacks).
6th - 1,122 survivors from
the two cruisers were rescued by ENTERPRISE and destroyers PALADIN and PANTHER.
P o
s t W a r N o t e
This
name was carried forward when the Type 22 Frigate HMS CORNWALL was launched by
Yarrow shipbuilders in 1986 and became the 7th ship to bear this distinguished
name.
Addenda
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS CORNWALL
by Don Kindell
Date convoy Joined
convoy
Convoy
No. Left convoy Date convoy
sailed as escort arrived
26/05/40 26/05/40 CM 18/06/40 18/06/40
20/06/40 20/06/40 BCS 23/06/40 23/06/40
24/06/40 24/06/40 BCS 1 05/07/40 05/07/40
06/07/40 06/07/40 BC A 16/07/40 16/07/40
05/08/40 05/08/40 WS 002 08/08/40 08/08/40
08/08/40 08/08/40 WS 002F 25/08/40 25/08/40
31/08/40 31/08/40 WS 002B 03/09/40 15/09/40
10/06/41 10/06/41 CM 012 17/06/41 17/06/41
12/08/41 12/08/41 CM 015 19/08/41 19/08/41
16/12/41 16/12/41 CM 024 23/12/41 23/12/41
23/01/42 23/01/42 AJ 001/1 01/02/42 01/02/42
03/02/42 03/02/42 JS 001 10/02/42 14/02/42
14/02/42 14/02/42 JS 002X 20/02/42 21/02/42
01/03/42 01/03/42 SU 001 15/03/42 15/03/42
(Note on Convoys)
MOVEMENTS OF HMS CORNWALL
DECEMBER 1937 to JUNE 1938
from Mr G Ransome, Manchester
In researching my
father's career, which included
service on HMS Cornwall from 1
January 1938 to 6 May 1938, I am grateful for the
following information provided by Mr Ransome in response to a request
published in "Navy News" in January 1994 (Gordon Smith):
| |
arrived
|
departed |
|
Devonport |
18.12.37
|
25.1. 38
|
|
Portsmouth |
25.1.38
|
2.2.38 |
|
Gibraltar |
6.2.38 |
8.2.38
|
|
Palma |
8.2.38 |
11.2.38 |
|
St Tropez |
16.2.38 |
2.3.38 |
|
Mentone |
2.3.38 |
8.3.38 |
|
Marseilles |
9.3.38 |
10.3.38 |
|
Gibraltar |
12.3.38 |
14.3.38 |
|
Gibraltar |
18.3.38 |
25.3.38 |
|
Devonport |
29.3.38 |
10.5.38 |
|
Lamlash |
11.5.38 |
26.5.38 |
| Milford Haven
|
27.5.38 |
8.6.38 |
