HMS Dido (37)

HMS ''Dido'' was the name ship of her class of light cruisers for the Royal Navy. Constructed by Cammell Laird Shipyard of Birkenhead, United Kingdom, she entered service in 1940 during World War II. The cruiser took part in several battles in the Mediterranean and Arctic theatres of war. Following the war, the ship performed ceremonial functions before being sold for scrapping in 1957.

Construction and career

''Dido''s keel was laid down on 26 October 1937 by Cammell Laird Shipyard of Birkenhead. She was launched on 18 July 1939 and commissioned on 30 September 1940 at Birkenhead. Following her commissioning, ''Dido'' was sent to Scapa Flow for working up in September 1940. Part of this included high-speed sweeps off Fair Isle and Greenland. Immediately after this, ''Dido''s first mission, in November 1940, was to escort the aircraft carrier to West Africa, ferrying aircraft.

Mediterranean

''Dido'' then spent four months on convoy duty in the Atlantic before running supplies to Malta where she joined the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in April 1941. In May of that year ''Dido'' was sent to Crete and assisted in the evacuation of the British forces. As part of a convoy from Souda Bay to Egypt on 14 May, she carried bullion from Greece worth $7,000,000. On 29 May 1941 ''Dido'' was badly damaged by bombs whilst taking troops from Crete to Alexandria. ''Oberleutnant'' Wolf-Dietrich Huy from ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 scored one of the hits. On 8 June 1941, Marines from ''Dido'' accepted the surrender of Assab in Eritrea. From July to November 1941, ''Dido'' was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City for a refit, rejoining the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in December 1941. The first three months of 1942 were spent on convoy escort duty between Alexandria and Malta but in March that year, ''Dido'' took part in a bombardment of Rhodes. A week later ''Dido'' joined the cruisers , , , and under the command of Rear Admiral Philip Vian at the Second Battle of Sirte.

On 18 August 1942 Captain H. W. U. McCall brought ''Dido'' to Massawa for major repairs to its bomb-damaged stern. As ''Dido'' was at that time one-quarter of British surface power in the Eastern Mediterranean it was critical that she be repaired as quickly as possible. The only working dry dock in Massawa was not large enough to lift ''Dido'' entirely so she was partially floated up to clear the stern, leaving the bow low in the water. Six days later ''Dido'' was undocked to return to battle with its sister ships, ''Euryalus'', ''Cleopatra'' and . ''Dido'' then spent the rest of the year supporting the British campaign in North Africa before being transferred to the Western Mediterranean Fleet in December 1942. ''Dido'' then performed the duty of anti-aircraft guard at Bone and Algiers until March 1943.

In April 1943, ''Dido'' returned to Liverpool for a three-month refit before rejoining the Western Mediterranean squadron. The next month was spent taking part in diversionary bombardments against North Sicily during the Operation Husky landings. ''Dido'' was then used as an anti-aircraft guard for invasion bases at Palermo and Bizerte. On 12 September 1943, ''Dido'' escorted 600 troops to Taranto where the Italian Fleet surrendered. From Taranto, ''Dido'' went to Sorrento where she took part in the shelling to support troops. October and November 1943 saw ''Dido'' back in Alexandria for another refit. On return to service, ''Dido'' spent time in Malta and Taranto before taking part in a diversionary action off Civitavecchia in support of the Anzio landings. August 1944 saw ''Dido'' supporting the Allied Operation Dragoon the landing in southern France. In September 1944, ''Dido'' returned to the UK.

Arctic

In October 1944, ''Dido'' escorted a convoy to Russia before supporting carrier strikes off Norway. In April 1945, ''Dido'' escorted , and to the North Kola Inlet to lay mines. ''Dido''s last mission in the war was to go to Copenhagen, firing the last naval shot in the war in Europe on the way for the surrender of the German ''Kriegsmarine'' which was signed aboard ''Dido''. ''Dido'' escorted the German cruisers and to Wilhelmshaven.

Postwar

In July 1945, ''Dido'' took King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the Isle of Man. Between 1946 and 1948 she was commanded by P Reid. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, where she was flagship of the Reserve Fleet.Souvenir Programme, ''Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953'', HMSO, Gale and Polden She was subsequently decommissioned and sold for scrap to Thos. W. Ward and scrapped at Barrow-in-Furness in 1957.

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External links

World War II cruisers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dido (37)
Dido-class cruisers
Ships built on the River Mersey
1939 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom