HMS Galatea (71)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS Galatea in 1941 |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Arethusa-class light cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Galatea |
| Builder: | Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Greenock, Scotland) |
| Laid down: | 2 June 1933 |
| Launched: | 9 August 1934 |
| Commissioned: | 14 August 1935 |
| Fate: | Sunk 14 December 1941 by a salvo of torpedoes from U-557, off Alexandria (470 lost). She sank in three minutes. U-557 was sunk shortly afterwards. |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,220 tons standard 6,665 tons full load |
| Length: | 506 ft (154 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft (16 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Four Parsons geared steam turbines Four Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers Four shafts 64,000 shp |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | Unknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil |
| Complement: | 500 |
| Armament: | Original configuration: 3x 6-inch (152 mm) dual guns 4x 4-inch (102 mm) single AA guns 2x 0.5 inch quadruple machine guns 2x 21-inch (533 mm) triple torpedo tubes October 1940 - December 1941 configuration: 3x 6 in (152 mm) dual guns, 4x 4 in (102 mm) dual AA guns, 2x 0.5 in MG quadruple guns, 8x 20 mm (0.8 in) single guns, 2x 2 pdr (37 mm/40 mm) pom-poms quad guns, 2x 21 in (533 mm) triple Torpedo Tubes. |
| Armour: | Original configuration: 1to 3inches - magazine protection 2.25inches - belt 1inches - deck, turrets and bulkheads |
| Aircraft carried: | One aircraft (later removed). |
| Notes: | Pennant number 71 |
HMS Galatea (71) was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland), with the keel being laid down on the 2 June 1933. She was launched on the 9 August 1934, and commissioned 14 August 1935.
[edit] History
Galatea joined the Mediterranean Fleet on commissioning and acted as flagship, Rear Admiral (Destroyers). After the outbreak of war she was ordered home, and between February and March 1940 she took part in the operations to intercept Axis merchantmen attempting to break out of Vigo. In April 1940 she was involved in the Norwegian campaign, and in May joined the Nore Command as Flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.
On 4 April 1940, the Polish destroyers Burza, Grom and Błyskawica reached their new homebase Rosyth. In the afternoon they left the harbour with Galatea, her sister ship Arethusa and three destroyers. They were ordered to conduct a patrol in the North Sea and were later ordered to intercept German invasion groups heading for Norway.
On 1 September 1940 Galatea struck a mine. She remained with the Home Fleet (under refit, between October 1940 to January 1941) until May 1941, and was involved in hunting the Bismarck operations. In July 1941 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet via the Red Sea, and by November was based at Malta with Force "K", operating against the Axis supply convoys to North Africa.
[edit] Fate
On 14 December 1941 before midnight Galatea (Capt. E.W.B. Sim, R.N.) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-557 off Alexandria, Egypt. Captain Sim, 22 officers and 447 ratings were killed. Some 100 survivors were picked up by the destroyers HMS Griffin and HMS Hotspur.
Ironically, U-557 was accidentally sunk less than 48 hours later, by the Italian Torpedo Boat Orione.
[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.
- HMS Galatea Memorial web page
- HMS Galatea at Uboat.net
|
||||||||
