HMS Hermione (74)

HMS ''Hermione'' was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons (Glasgow, Scotland), with the keel laid down on 6 October 1937. She was launched on 18 May 1939 and commissioned 25 March 1941. On 16 June 1942, ''Hermione'' was torpedoed and sunk by the in the Mediterranean. Eighty-eight crewmembers were killed.

Construction and design

The ''Dido''-class were designed as small cruisers capable of being built quickly and in large numbers to allow a shortfall in numbers of cruisers against the numbers which were required to meet the Royal Navy's needs. Rather than the mixed armament of single-purpose 6-inch (152 mm) low-angle (anti-ship) and 4-inch (102 mm) high-angle (anti-aircraft) guns carried by previous light cruisers, it was decided to fit a dual-purpose main armament, capable of both anti-ship and anti-aircraft fire. This used the new 5.25-inch (133 mm) gun as used in the ''King George V''-class battleships.

''Hermione'' was one of two ''Dido''-class cruisers ordered under the 1937 construction programme for the Royal Navy, following on from five ships ordered the previous year. ''Hermione'' was laid down at Alexander Stephen and Sons Linthouse, Glasgow shipyard as Yard number 560 on 6 October 1937, was launched on 18 May 1939 and completed on 25 March 1941.

''Hermione'' was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a mean draught of (increasing to at full load. Displacement was standard and full load. The ship's machinery was arranged in a four-shaft layout, with four Admiralty 3-drum boilers supplying steam at to Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines, rated at , giving a speed of . of fuel oil were carried, giving a range of at , reducing to at and at .

The ship's main armament consisted of ten 5.25-inch guns in five twin turrets on the ship's centreline, with three forward and two aft. Two quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom mounts were mounted on the ship's beams to provide close-in anti-aircraft protection, backed up by two quadruple .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns on the bridge wings. Two triple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes provided additional anti-ship capability. Fire control for this armament was provided by a single low angle director control tower (DCT) on the ship's bridge, together with two High Angle Control System (HACS) director towers, one on the ship's bridge and one aft. A armour belt protected the ship's machinery and magazines with protecting the ship's shell rooms. Deck armour was also an inch thick, with plates over the magazines. The 5.25 inch gun turrets had armour of thickness.

Modifications

While several of the ''Dido''-class were completed with reduced main armaments owing to production problems (the ''King George V''-class battleships had priority for the new guns), ''Hermione'' was completed with the full ten-gun outfit. In October–November 1941, the ship's .50 in machine guns were replaced by five single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

History

After commissioning and workup, ''Hermione'' joined the 15th Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet. ''Hermione'' took part in the pursuit of the and heavy cruiser when they sortied into the North Atlantic in May 1941. ''Hermione'' left Scapa Flow on 22 May as part of a force including the battleship and the aircraft carrier . On 24 May, ''Victorious'', escorted by ''Hermione'', and , was detached to launch an air attack against ''Bismarck''. The attack by ''Victorious''s Swordfish torpedo bombers resulted in a single torpedo hit on ''Bismarck'' which did little damage to the German ship. On 25 May, ''Hermione'', short of fuel, was detached from the chase in order to refuel at Iceland. Following the sinking of ''Bismarck'', the British launched a major operation against German supply ships in the Atlantic which supported the operations of surface raiders, with ''Hermione'' taking part in searches for these supply ships and German blockade runners before joining Force H, based at Gibraltar on 22 June.
''Hermione'' was then deployed to the Mediterranean. On 2 August 1941, whilst helping to protect a convoy, ''Hermione'' attacked by ramming the Italian submarine Tembien, sinking her; an action commemorated in a propaganda painting by artist Marcus Stone.

Fate

While under Captain G.N. Oliver, DSO, RN, ''Hermione'' was part of the ''Force A'' group which escorted supply convoy MW-11, under Rear Admiral Philip Vian, from Alexandria to Malta in Operation ''Vigorous''. On the 14th and 15 June 1942, the ''Hermione'' expended most of her ammunition while defending the ships against heavy air attacks and had to return to Alexandria, escorted by , , and .

At 23:20 hours on 15 June, ''U-205'' (under ''Kapitänleutnant'' Franz-Georg Reschke) spotted a group of warships north of Sollum and attacked two destroyers with one G7e torpedo each at 23:38 and 23:40 hours, but missed both. Only then did ''U-205'' recognize one of the shadows as a cruiser and fired a spread of three torpedoes at 00:19 hours, hitting ''Hermione'' on the starboard side. The ship immediately settled by the stern with a list of 22° before ultimately capsizing, remaining afloat for 21 minutes before sinking. Eight officers and 80 ratings were lost, including the ship's cat. The survivors were picked up by the escorting destroyers and were landed at Alexandria.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

External links

WWII cruisers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermione (74)
Dido-class cruisers
Ships built on the River Clyde
1939 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Maritime incidents in June 1942