HMS Despatch (D30)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Danae-class light cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Despatch |
| Ordered: | March 1918 |
| Builder: | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan Completed at Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 8 July 1918 |
| Launched: | 24 September 1919 |
| Commissioned: | 2 June 1922 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking up 5 April 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,850 tons |
| Length: | 471 ft 2 in (143.6 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft 3 in (14.1 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft 3 in (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Six Yarrow-type water-tube boilers Parsons geared steam turbines Two shafts 40,000 shp |
| Speed: | 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range: | 2,300 nm |
| Complement: | 350 |
| Armament: | 1918: six BL 6 in L/45 Mark XII on single mountings CP Mark XIV (152 mm) two 3 inch (76.2 mm) Mk II AA guns two 40 mm QF 2 pdr "Pom-pom" AA guns twelve 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes (4 triple launchers) |
| Armour: | 3 inch side (amidships) 2, 1¾, 1½ side (bow and stern) 1 inch upper decks (amidships) 1 inch deck over rudder |
HMS Despatch was a Danae-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was launched from the yards of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 24 September 1919 and commissioned on 2 June 1922.
Despatch had a relatively quiet wartime career, compared to her sisters. She was operating in the South Atlantic for the early part of the war, where she captured the German merchant Düsseldorf and intercepted the German merchant Troja. However the crew of the Troja scuttled her before she could be captured. She was in the Mediterranean, escorting convoys in late 1940, and became involved in the Battle of Cape Spartivento. Despatch was reduced to the reserve in January 1945, and sold on 5 April 1946 for scrapping. She arrived at the yards of Arnott Young, of Troon, Scotland on 5 May 1946 to be broken up.
[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.
- Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
- HMS Despatch at U-boat.net
- Ships of the Danae class
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