HMS Calypso (D61)

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HMS Calypso (D61) was a C class cruiser of the "Caledon" sub-class of the Royal Navy, launched in 1917 and sunk in 1940 by the Italian submarine Bagnolini.

HMS Calypso was built by Hawthorn Leslie. Her keel was laid down in February 1916 and she was completed in June 1917.

HMS Calypso was involved in the 2nd Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917 when she and her sister ship HMS Caledon intercepted German minesweepers near the German coast. The battle also involved numerous German and Royal Naval Battleships/crusiers and other ships. During the battle the Calypso's bridge was struck by an 11" shell which killed all personnel on the bridge including the captain.

HMS Calypso came to the rescue of the Greek royal family in 1922 after King Constantine of Greece abdicated and a military dictatorship seized power. The King's brother, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark was banished for life by a revolutionary court and was forced to flee with his family (which included his son, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was just 18 months old).^[1] The British Government had received news of the situation and dispatched HMS Calypso to evacuate them. The family boarded with minimal possessions (Prince Philip was carried onboard in a cot made from an orange box) and taken to Brindisi where they were put on a train to Paris.

During the early part of the war HMS Calypso served with the 7th Cruiser Squadron on Northern Patrol duty as a blockade ship in the North Sea between Scotland and Iceland where on 24 September 1939 she intercepted the German merchant ship Minden south of Iceland. The crew of the Minden scuttled her before she could be captured. On 22 November 1939 HMS Calypso captured the German merchant Konsul Hendrik Fisser off Iceland.

She was also involved in the search for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau following the sinking of HMS Rawalpindi.

During 1940 she was sent to Alexandria in the eastern Mediterranean.

HMS Calypso had the erroneous distinction of being the first Royal Naval (and British) vessel to be sunk by the Italian navy in World War 2. This was the Italian submarine R.Smg. Alpino Bagnolini captained by C.C. Franco Tosoni Pittoni, at 12.59 am on 12 June 1940 (2 days after Italy declared war on Great Britain) in the Eastern Mediterranean, south of Crete (about 50 miles South of Cape Lithion). One torpedo struck the cruiser whilst she was on an anti-shipping patrol against Italian ships travelling to Libya. 1 officer and 38 ratings perished in the sinking. The majority of surviving members of the crew were taken off by the destroyer HMS Dainty where they were taken to Alexandria.

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Calypso.