HMS Royalist (89)
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 HMS Royalist leaving Valletta Grand Harbour, Malta 1956. She had just recently had a major refit for her transfer to the Royal New Zealand Navy, April 1956. |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Built By: | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) |
| Laid down: | 21 March 1940 |
| Launched: | 30 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 10 September 1943 |
| Reserve: | In reserve between 1946 to 1956. |
| Loaned: | Loaned to Royal New Zealand Navy between 1956 to 1966. |
| Reverted back to Royal Navy control: | 1967 |
| Decommissioned: | November 1967 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, Sold to Nissho Co, Japan, in November 1967 and she left Auckland under tow to Osaka on 31 December 1967. |
| Penant: | 89 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Type: | Light (Anti Aircraft) Cruiser |
| Displacement: | 5,950 tons standard
7,200 tons full load |
| Dimensions: | 485 pp, 512 by 50.5 by 15.0 ft (156 by 15.4 by 4.6 m) |
| Armament: | Original configuration:
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| Armour: | Original configuration:
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| Propulsion: | Parsons geared turbines, 4 shafts, 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 62,000 shp (46 MW) = 32.25 knots maximum speed |
| Range: | 2,414 km (1,500 miles) at 30 knots, 6,824 (4,240 miles) at 16 knots ; 1,100 tons fuel oil |
| Complement: | 530 |
HMS Royalist was a Bellona-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was a modified Dido design with only 4 turrets but improved AA armament - aka Dido Group 2. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland), UK), with the keel being laid down on 21 March 1940. She was launched on 30 May 1942, and commissioned 10 September 1943.
[edit] History
After commissioning, Royalist saw the following World War II actions:
- Sep 1943 - Stationed in British Home Fleet.
- 1943 - Served on Arctic convoys.
- 1944 - Served in carrier raids against German battleship Tirpitz in Norway.
- 1944 - Ordered to Mediterranean Theater of Operations
- 15 Aug 1944 - Served in support of the invasion of south of France (Operation Dragoon), as part of the escort carrier squadron TF88.1.
- 15 Sep 1944 - Sank the transports KT4 and KT26 off Cape Spatha, accompanied by HMS Teazer.
- 1944 - Stationed in the Aegean Sea.
- Late 1944 - Ordered to the East Indies.
- April 1945 - Now detailed to the 21st Escort Carrier Squadron as Flagship.
- 1 May 1945 - Served in support of the Rangoon landings of Operation Dracula.
- June 1945 - Part of a force that unsuccessfully attempted to intercept a Japanese cruiser and destroyer evacuating troops from the Andaman Islands.
- July-Aug 1945 - Served in support of carrier raids against objectives in the East Indies and Sumatra.
Royalist was withdrawn from the East Indies after the conclusion of hostilities, and returned home to Naval Reserve.
Scottish author Alistair MacLean served on Royalist during all of this time, and used his experiences as background for his acclaimed first novel HMS Ulysses as well as for some of his subsequent works.
In 1954 she began a major refit which was completed in April 1956, and the ship was handed over to the Royal New Zealand Navy on 9 July 1956. Paid off on 4 June 1966, After eleven years in RNZN, Royalist was reverted back to Royal Navy control in 1967. She was sold to Nissho Co, Japan, in November 1967 and was towed from Auckland on 31 December 1967, destined for Osaka.
See HMS Royalist for other ships of this name.
| Royal Navy |
| Dido group |
| Argonaut | Bonaventure | Charybydis | Cleopatra | Dido | Euryalus | Hermione | Naiad | Phoebe | Scylla | Sirius |
| Bellona group |
| Bellona | Black Prince | Diadem | Royalist | Spartan |
| Royal New Zealand Navy |
| Bellona | Black Prince | Royalist |
| Pakistan Navy |
| Babur (ex-Diadem) |
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |
