HMS ''Berwick'',
pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
65, was a
heavy cruiser
A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, part of the ''Kent'' subclass. She was built by
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Na ...
,
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, with the
keel being laid down on 15 September 1924. She was launched on 30 March 1926 and
commissioned 12 July 1927. When completed, ''Berwick'' was sent to the
China Station
The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941.
From 1831 to 1 ...
, where she remained until a temporary detachment to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
in 1936. Along with the rest of her ''Kent'' class sub-group of ships, ''Berwick'' underwent reconstruction between 1937 and 1938, where her single 4-inch guns were replaced with double mounts, numerous light machine guns were added, along with a significant addition of note; a cemented thick and deep armoured
belt was added to both sides of her hull beginning at the armoured
deck down past her water line.
History

After these modifications, she completed her
sea trials
A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on o ...
and then proceeded west, to serve on the
North America and West Indies Station
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956, with main bases at the Imperial fortresses of Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ...
with the
8th Cruiser Squadron, arriving on 18 January 1939. Once there, she replaced as station
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
. When the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
started, she served on ocean convoy escort duties, then formed part of Force "F", with ''York'', when hunting groups were created to find German raiders. She did not make contact with any raider, but did intercept the mercantile blockade runners ''Wolfsburg'' and ''Uruguay'' in the
Denmark Straits during March 1940.
On 9 April 1940 she participated in the
Norwegian Campaign and on 10 May 1940 in the
Invasion of Iceland
The United Kingdom invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940, during World War II using its Royal Navy and Royal Marines forces. The operation, codenamed Operation Fork, occurred because the British government feared that Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland woul ...
. She was then allocated to Force "H" at
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
arriving on 7 November. On 27 November, while taking part of
Operation Collar, ''Berwick'' was hit by a single 203 mm (8 in) shell from an Italian heavy cruiser, either or , which knocked out her "Y" turret and killed seven men. A second round that struck her some minutes later destroyed the aft electric switchboard, leaving the cruiser's aft section without power. Some sources credit the second hit to an Italian , either
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
ship
''Trento'' or her sister-ship
''Trieste'', the only
Italian Royal Navy heavy cruisers within range at the time of the strikes.
On 25 December 1940, ''Berwick'' engaged the German heavy cruiser off the
Canaries when she formed part of the escort to convoy WS-5A, a troop convoy to the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. Despite being thoroughly ready for combat, ''Berwick'' got the worst of the encounter. She scored no hits on ''Admiral Hipper'', and sustained a fair amount of damage, being hit by several 8-inch (which for the most part passed right through the ship) and 4.1-inch shells. The action did however, drive off ''Admiral Hipper'', and saved the convoy from any losses. Four of her complement were killed and she had to return to Britain for repairs, which lasted until June 1941.
When repaired ''Berwick'' joined the
Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet.
Before the First ...
and for the remainder of her wartime career she was escorting convoys to
North Russia and operating in the northern
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, where she served under the captaincy of
Norman Vere Grace from January to August 1944.
In late October 1944 the ship carried
Free Norwegian Forces
The Norwegian armed forces in exile () were remnants of the armed forces of Norway that continued to fight the Axis Powers, Axis powers from Allies of World War II, Allied countries, such as United Kingdom, Britain and Canada, after they had escap ...
from Britain to
Murmansk
Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
, so that they could participate in the
Liberation of Finnmark.
[Simon Orchard, "THE EVACUATION OF FINNMARK & THE RE-ENTRY OF NORWEGIAN FORCES INTO NORWAY, OCT 1944-MAY 1945.]
/ref> She escorted two carrier raids against the in 1944 and again in 1945. ''Berwick''s last role was to escort carriers that were raiding the Norwegian coast in 1945.
After the war she was allocated to British Iron & Steel Corporation, BISCO for scrapping on 15 June 1948 and arrived at Hughes Bolckow, Blyth, on 12 July for breaking up.
Citations
References
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External links
HMS Berwick at U-boat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berwick (65)
Kent-class cruisers
County-class cruisers of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Govan
1926 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom