HMS Sheffield (C24)

HMS ''Sheffield'' was the third of ten light cruisers of the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down in January 1936, launched in July 1936, and commissioned in August 1937. She was active in all major naval European theatres of the Second World War, in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

Her career started with service in the Home Fleet, which took her on patrols against German blockade runners and on actions during the Norwegian Campaign. In August 1940, ''Sheffield'' was transferred to Force H stationed in Gibraltar. During her service with Force H, most of the operations involved either ferrying aircraft or escorting convoys to Malta. ''Sheffield'' also operated against German surface raiders in the Atlantic, and took part in the chase for the German battleship . On 26 May 1941, she directed torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier to ''Bismarck,'' but took no part in the sinking of ''Bismarck'' one day later.

In January 1942, ''Sheffield'' was assigned to the escort of Arctic convoys to Northern Russia; in March, she was damaged by a mine and needed four months' repair. In September, ''Sheffield'' went back to the Arctic, but in October Arctic convoys were suspended in preparation for Operation Torch. The cruiser participated in Operation Torch as part of the Eastern Task Force, which covered the landings at Algiers. Arctic convoys resumed in December 1942, and ''Sheffield'' went back to the Arctic. In that same month, she was part of a cruiser force that repelled a German attack on Convoy JW 51B in the Battle of the Barents Sea. During the battle, ''Sheffield'' damaged the German heavy cruiser and sank the destroyer .

In March 1943, Arctic convoys were suspended once more, this time due to the threat of the German surface fleet stationed in Norway. ''Sheffield'' moved again to the Mediterranean and took part in Operation Avalanche. Arctic convoys were resumed in November when the threat of the German surface fleet was reduced after the disabling of the German battleship in September. In December 1943, during the Battle of the North Cape, ''Sheffield'' assisted in the sinking of the German battleship whilst escorting convoy Convoy JW 55B. ''Sheffield'' went in for an extended refit in 1944 and saw no more service during the war. She was placed in reserve for a first time in 1959, and after a short reactivation she was decommissioned in 1964 and finally scrapped in 1967.

Characteristics

The Town-class light cruisers were designed as counters to the Japanese s built during the early 1930s. ''Sheffield'' displaced tons at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by four geared steam turbine sets, each driving one shaft, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ship had a capacity of of fuel oil as built, which provided a cruising radius of at a speed of . Vickers-Armstrongs built ''Sheffield'' at High Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. Her keel was laid on 31 January 1935, she was launched on 23 July 1936 and she was completed on 25 August 1937. By 1942 the ship's complement was 796 officers and Naval rating, ratings.

''Sheffield'' mounted twelve BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun, BL six-inch (152 mm) Mk XXIII guns in four triple-gun turrets. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from front to rear. The secondary armament consisted of eight QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun, QF Mk XVI dual-purpose guns in twin mounts. Their light anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of quadruple mounts for the QF 2 pounder naval gun, two-pounder (40 mm) AA gun ("pom-pom") and two quadruple mounts for Vickers .50 machine gun, Vickers AA machine guns. By 1942 the latter had been removed and replaced by nine Oerlikon 20 mm cannon in single mounts. The ship carried two above-water, triple mounts for British 21 inch torpedo, torpedoes. ''Sheffield'' was protected by a main armour belt, with deck armour varying between . The armour protecting the main gun turrets had a thickness of . The ''Sheffield'' was equipped with a fixed catapult and could operate three aircraft.

The first operational Radar system was placed into service in August 1938 on the ''Sheffield''. The Type 79 radar, Type 79Y was an air-warning radar, capable of detecting aircraft at , away. In 1940 the set was replaced by a more powerful Type 279 radar, Type 279 air-warning radar, which could also be used as a barrage predictor for anti-aircraft fire with a range of . By the end of 1942 ''Sheffield'' was equipped with a List of World War II British naval radar#Type 273, Type 273 surface search radar, a Type 281 radar, Type 281 air warning radar, List of World War II British naval radar#Type 282, Type 282 radars for the 2-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft guns, List of World War II British naval radar#Type 283, Type 283 radar for automatic barrage firing for anti-aircraft fire by the main guns, List of World War II British naval radar#Type 284, Type 284 radar for surface target direction and Type 285 radar for the heavy anti-aircraft guns.

The anti-aircraft armament was continuously upgraded. During her 1944 refit ''Sheffield'', like many contemporary British cruisers, had her 'X' turret removed to make space and save top weight for anti-aircraft guns. By 1945 her anti-aircraft defense was to consist of four quadruple Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun, Bofors 40 mm guns, ten double and six single Oerlikon cannons in addition to her existing armament of four-inch and two-pounder guns. After several refits in the 1950s, her final light anti-aircraft armament consisted of eight twin Bofors Mk 5 and two single Bofors Mk 7. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the more traditional brass. This was an attempt to reduce the amount of cleaning required on the part of the crew. Her nickname, the "Shiny Sheff", stemmed from this.

War service

Even before the outbreak of war, ''Sheffield'' was as part of the 18th Cruiser Squadron, together with the Home Fleet already patrolling the waters between Iceland, Scotland and Norway, in search for German merchant ships trying to reach home port before the declaration of war. From 6 to 10 September the light cruisers ''Sheffield'' and operated with the Home Fleet consisting of the battleships and and the battlecruiser with ten destroyers along the Norwegian coast against German blockade runners. ''Sheffield'' and ''Aurora'' were then transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron together with the light cruisers and . On 22 September the force sortied into the North Sea but the operation was abandoned when two of the escorting destroyers collided. Three days later the force sailed again, to cover the retreat of the damaged submarine . This sortie marked the first occasion of using an air warning radar by naval forces when ''Sheffield'' detected nine German aircraft searching for the British force. On 8 October ''Sheffield'' and ''Aurora'' were deployed together with the battlecruisers and ''Repulse'' as the "Humber Force" against a reported sortie of the German battleship , the light cruiser and nine destroyers in the North Sea. The Germans retreated quickly and no battle ensued. On 21 October ''Sheffield'' intercepted and captured the German Cargo ship, freighter ''SS Empire Conveyor, Gloria''.

Following the sinking of the armed merchant cruiser by ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' off Iceland on 23 November, ''Sheffield'' was ordered to set out from Loch Ewe with three destroyers to take part in the search for the German force. ''Sheffield'' took part in a tight cruiser patrol line that blocked the return path to Germany but the German ships took advantage of the heavy weather and broke through the patrol line undetected to return home. In April 1940, ''Sheffield'' had returned just in time from a refit to get involved in the Norwegian Campaign. When in the evening of 7 April news was received of a massive German naval operation, she set out from Scapa Flow as part of the Home Fleet under the command of Admiral Charles Forbes (Royal Navy officer), Charles Forbes. On 9 April Forbes detached five cruisers including ''Sheffield'' and seven destroyers from the Home Fleet to attack the German forces at Bergen (city), Bergen. The force had to abort its mission when attacked by 47 Junkers Ju 88 and 41 Heinkel He 111 bombers. The bombers sank the destroyer and damaged two cruisers. On 14 April the cruiser was part of a covering force for the Allied Namsos campaign and on 23 April transferred part of the 15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), 15th Infantry Brigade for the Åndalsnes landings. The landings were not successful and in the night of 30 April ''Sheffield'' assisted in the evacuation of British troops from Åndalsnes and Molde (town), Molde. On 9 May, ''Sheffield'' sortied into the North Sea with the light cruiser to cover operations against a German Minelayer, mine-laying operation; when the German Battle of France, invasion of France started on 10 May, she was ordered south. During the Dunkirk evacuation, she was stationed with the 18th cruiser squadron in the Humber estuary.

Force H

After the surrender of France, the Royal Navy took over the control of the Western Mediterranean from France by stationing Force H (Vice admiral James Somerville) in Gibraltar on 27 June. In August 1940, ''Sheffield'' and the 8th Destroyer Flotilla joined Force H, which consisted further of the battlecruiser and ''Ark Royal''. On 7 November Force H executed Operation Coat, escorting reinforcements for the Mediterranean fleet in Alexandria from Gibraltar to Malta. Fairey Swordfish aircraft from Force H attacked Cagliari on 9 November. Italian bombers retaliated but obtained only near-misses. Before Force H returned to Gibraltar, three Fairey Fulmar fighter aircraft were flown off to Malta as reinforcements. In Operation White on 15 November Force H escorted the aircraft carrier to a point West of Malta, where 12 Hawker Hurricanes were flown off at the extreme of their flight endurance. Only four aircraft made it to Malta due to unexpected head wind. On 24 November ''Sheffield'' sailed with Force H for Operation Collar (convoy), Operation Collar, a supply convoy to Malta. The operation was detected by the Italians and the Italian fleet consisting of two battleships and six heavy cruisers, tried to intercept the convoy. During the inconclusive battle of Cape Spartivento both fleets bombarded each other at long distance and retreated. On 10 December ''Sheffield'' left Gibraltar again with Force H to meet and escort the battleship on transfer from Alexandria as reinforcement for Force H.

During Operation Nordseetour, the German heavy cruiser attacked convoy WS 5A 25 in December. The convoy, destined for Gibraltar, was reinforced by Force H, who searched for the German raider. She was back in Gibraltar on 30 December. In Operation Excess, several Convoy WS 5A ships continued to Malta and Piraeus, and between 7 and 9 January 1941, Force H provided cover for the ships as far as Skerki Banks. An attack by ten Italian bombers was detected by ''Sheffield'''s radar at the maximum working distance of and defences could be prepared in time to repulse the attack without loss. After Force H turned away, the escort of the convoy was taken over by the Mediterranean Fleet, which was attacked by Italian torpedo bombers and German dive bombers. In the following days these dive bombers sank ''Southampton'', and damaged severely the aircraft carrier .

Between 31 January and 4 February Force H launched an air strike against the Lake Omodeo, Tirso dam in Sardinia, but a further planned attack on Genoa had to be abandoned because of bad weather. The operation against Genoa was repeated in Operation Grog between 6 and 11 February. ''Renown'' and ''Malaya'' fired 273 rounds of 15-inch shell into the harbour and ''Sheffield'' added 782 rounds of 6-inch but to not much effect; only five out of 55 ships in the harbour were sunk. This sortie left the Gibraltar convoys without cover, ''Admiral Hipper'' sailed unopposed towards Gibraltar and on 12 February attacked SL convoys, Convoy SLS 64 and sank seven ships. On 17 March Force H left Gibraltar for the Atlantic in search of ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', which were raiding in the North Atlantic. Aircraft of ''Ark Royal'' found in the morning of 20 March two Tanker (ship), tankers that were taken as Prize (law), prizes by the German battleships and which were Scuttling, scuttled by their prize crews on approach of surface units of Force H. In the afternoon the German battleships were sighted by a reconnaissance plane of ''Ark Royal'' but the German ships managed to escape during the night. Force H continued to search for the German ships after refueling in Gibraltar on 24 March, but after air reconnaissance reported the ships in the harbour of Brest, France, Brest, Force H put back to Gibraltar on 28 March.

Two days later, ''Sheffield'' and four destroyers were dispatched to check some Vichy French merchant vessels for contraband but the ships escaped being boarded when they reached the cover of coastal batteries at Ghazaouet, Nemours. During April, ''Sheffield'' participated with Force H in two more Club Run, aircraft transfer runs to Malta: In Operation Winch twelve Hurricanes were flown off to Malta on 3 April and twenty more were delivered during Operation Dunlop on 24 April. Operation Tiger (1941), Operation Tiger involved two supply convoys from Alexandria to Malta, whilst from Gibraltar a convoy was to sail through the Mediterranean to Alexandria, instead of going round the Cape, in order to deliver 295 tanks and 53 aircraft which were urgently needed for the upcoming Operation Battleaxe. Force H with ''Sheffield'' escorted the convoy until Skerki Banks. They were attacked on 8 May by Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero torpedo bombers and German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers with fighter escort, but none of the ships suffered any damage. Between 19 and 22 May ''Sheffield'' sortied once more with Force H together with the aircraft carrier in Operation Splice to fly 48 Hurricane fighters to Malta.

After the disastrous Battle of the Denmark Strait in which the German battleship ''Bismarck'' and heavy cruiser sank the British battlecruiser and damaged the battleship , Force H left Gibraltar on 24 May with ''Ark Royal'', ''Renown'', ''Sheffield,'' and six destroyers to counter the German ships' breakout attempt into the Atlantic from the South. After learning through intelligence that the damaged ''Bismarck'' was heading for France, Swordfish from ''Ark Royal'' and a RAF Coastal Command Consolidated PBY Catalina, Catalina were able to locate ''Bismarck'' on 26 May. Whilst ''Ark Royal'' was recovering her reconnaissance Swordfish and arming them for a torpedo attack, ''Sheffield'' was ordered ahead to make contact with ''Bismarck'' but the aircrew were not informed of that and were even told that no friendly ships were in the vicinity of ''Bismarck''. As a result, the fifteen Swordfish, which were armed with torpedoes equipped with magnetic pistols, accidentally attacked ''Sheffield''. Some of the magnetic detonators failed to work properly and about half of the torpedoes exploded prematurely, whilst ''Sheffield'' was able to dodge the others.

A second attack by the Swordfish was ordered with torpedoes equipped with contact detonators. This time the aircrew were told to make contact with ''Sheffield'' before attacking. In the deteriorating weather some of the aircraft did not find ''Bismarck'' and had to return to ''Sheffield,'' asking for a bearing to the enemy. After the Swordfish had rendered her un-manoeuvrable with a hit on the rudder compartment, ''Bismarck'' fired six salvoes at ''Sheffield''. The first salvo went a mile astray but the subsequent salvoes straddled her, causing splinter damage and killing three crewman. ''Sheffield'' retreated under a smoke screen and lost contact with the ''Bismarck''. Still she was able to vector five destroyers under the command of Philip Vian to ''Bismarck'' and these destroyers took over the task of shadowing the enemy. Force H remained in the vicinity until the next morning when ''Bismarck'' was finally sunk by the battleships ''Rodney'' and , and the heavy cruisers and .

On 8 June ''Sheffield'' left Gibraltar again together with Force H to avoid air attacks from the Vichy French Air Force as reprisal for the Syria–Lebanon campaign. She detached from Force H to return to Britain and on her way she located and sank one of ''Bismarck''s tankers, on 12 June. ''Sheffield'' returned briefly to the Mediterranean in September for Operation Halberd, another supply convoy to Malta. On 24 September the convoy consisting of nine ships left Gibraltar, escorted by the aircraft carrier ''Ark Royal'', the battleships ''Nelson'', ''Rodney'' and ''Prince of Wales'', the cruisers ''Edinburgh'', ''Kenya'', ''Sheffield'', ''Euryalus'', ''Hermione'', and eighteen destroyers. On 26 September, the British fleet was detected by air reconnaissance and the Italian fleet sailed to intercept with two battleships, three heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and, fourteen destroyers.

The next day, the Italian fleet hesitated to engage the British fleet as the Italian commander gradually realized he was facing superior forces. A strike from ''Ark Royal'' did not find the Italian fleet, but Italian torpedo bombers damaged ''Nelson''. ''Sheffield'' shot down one of the attacking aircraft. Unlike in previous operations, not all covering forces turned back at Skerki Banks: the battleships did, but the five cruisers remained with the convoy and sailed on to Malta. Italian torpedo aircraft attacked the convoy at dusk on 27 September. ''Sheffield'' avoided two torpedoes but one freighter was sunk. The convoy arrived at Malta at noon on 28 September. The escorts refueled at Malta and returned the same day, and reached Gibraltar at dusk on 29 September. On her return to the United Kingdom, ''Sheffield'' joined the light cruiser in the search for German blockade runners in the North Atlantic, which had been located by Ultra (cryptography), ULTRA codebreaking. Only ''Kenya'' was able to intercept and sink the supply ship ''MV Kota Pinang (Reconnaissance ship), Kota Penang'' on 3 October west of Cape Finisterre.

Arctic convoys

On 7 January 1942, ''Sheffield'' arrived in Scapa Flow and was allocated to the 10th Cruiser Squadron together with the light cruiser . In March, the cruiser sailed with the Home Fleet to cover Convoy PQ 12, as a replacement for the heavy cruiser , which had engine trouble. In Operation Sportpalast the Germans tried to attack the convoy with ''Tirpitz'' but due to bad weather the Germans did not find the convoy and abandoned the operation. ''Sheffield'' hit a mine off Iceland on 4 March 1942 and was under repair until July. In September 1942 she was stationed at Spitsbergen as part of a force for the relief and supply of the escort for Convoy PQ 18. Arctic convoys were then suspended to reinforce the Allied landings in North Africa in November.

''Sheffield'' joined Force O under the command of Rear admiral (Royal Navy), Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt, which was part of the Eastern Task Force responsible for the landings in Algiers. ''Sheffield'' ferried also some troops for Operation Terminal: the storming of Algiers Harbor. These troops were transferred to the British destroyers and in the night of 7 November. During the landings on 8 November, she was on standby for shore bombardment, but the resisting French fortresses surrendered before she could open fire. In the evening, ''Sheffield'' and the light cruiser were attacked by torpedo aircraft, but both cruisers could evade the launched torpedoes. After the conclusion of the initial landings in Algiers, the cruiser left the harbor in the evening of 10 November to escort a troop convoy to Béjaïa, Bougie to execute landings closer to Tunisia. During the trip to Bougie ''Sheffield'' damaged the minesweeper ' in a collision. The troops had an unopposed landing but Axis aircraft appeared soon in large numbers over Bougie and sank three large troopships. ''Sheffield'' however returned the same day to Gibraltar.

In December 1942, the Arctic convoys resumed. Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, insisted that the convoys required against an attack by the German surface fleet stationed in Norway, by giving them cover of a cruiser force all the way to North Russia. The Home Fleet usually sailed as well but kept its distance. ''Sheffield'' and ' formed "Force R", under the command of Rear-Admiral Robert Burnett (in ''Sheffield''). Force R escorted the first Convoy JW 51A into Kola Bay on 24 December and left on 27 December to meet Convoy JW 51B. The convoy was attacked on 31 December by two German forces, consisting of a heavy cruiser, ''Admiral Hipper'' and ''German cruiser Deutschland, Lützow'', and three destroyers each. In the Battle of the Barents Sea, both German forces were able to reach the convoy but whilst tried to lure the convoy escort vessels away from the convoy, failed to press on and did not sink any merchant ship. Finally Force R arrived and in several engagements, damaged with three hits. Whilst the Germans were withdrawing, ''Sheffield'' sank the German destroyer . There were some more skirmishes, but the Germans were under strict orders not to risk their big ships against equal opponents and avoided an engagement. In the bad visibility and the darkness of the polar nights, the Germans had difficulty finding and identifying their opponents whilst the British with their superior radars did not have these problems.

In January 1943, ''Sheffield'' was part of the distant cover force based on the battleship , for the outbound Convoy JW 52 and the homebound convoy RA 52. As this force was meant to counter any threat from the German surface fleet only, it kept its distance from the convoy itself in order to remain clear of the threat posed by German aircraft and U-boats. In February 1943, the 10th Cruiser Squadron consisting of ''Sheffield, '' ''and '' as Force R were assigned to escort the next convoy JW 53. On 19 February she was damaged in a gale when a giant wave buried her forecastle and ripped off half of the roof of 'A' turret. ''Sheffield'' had to be replaced by and returned to Iceland for repairs. At the end of August 1943, ''Sheffield'' operated briefly together with the heavy cruiser ' as a cover force for British anti-submarine forces attacking U-boats in the Bay of Biscay. At the conclusion of this operation she rushed to the Mediterranean, to give fire support on 14 September to the troops facing a German counter-attack after the Operation Avalanche the landings at Salerno.

In November 1943, the Arctic convoys resumed. The first pair of convoysConvoy JW 54A and Convoy JW 54Bsailed unopposed. But on 19 December, Karl Dönitz asserted to Hitler that the Kriegsmarine would attack and destroy the next convoy. Anticipating an attack by ''Scharnhorst,'' the commander of the Home Fleet Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, Bruce Fraser organized a trap: for the next convoysConvoy JW 55A and Convoy JW 55Bthe cruiser escort consisting of the 10th Cruiser Squadron with ''Sheffield, Belfast'' and ''Norfolk'' would keep ''Scharnhorst'' at bay and shadow her so that he could stay undetected at distance with the battleship and race to the scene when needed. On 26 December at 09:21 ''Sheffield'' was the first to sight ''Scharnhorst,'' and in a brief gun duel with the cruisers, the German battleship withdrew and escaped at high speed.

The cruisers were not able to follow but positioned themselves correctly on the other side of the convoy where ''Scharnhorst'' tried a second attack three hours later. At 12:10 ''Sheffield's'' radar detected ''Scharnhorst'' at a distance of 12 miles and a second engagement developed. ''Sheffield'' was straddled by several salvoes but then ''Scharnhorst'' changed target and hit ''Norfolk'' two times. Fearing torpedo attacks, ''Scharnhorst'' broke off the action and turned for port in Norway. The cruisers kept shadowing but first ''Norfolk'' and then ''Sheffield'' dropped behind with engine trouble. ''Belfast'' remained in touch with ''Scharnhorst'' and guided ''Duke Of York'' to the scene. At 19:45 the German battleship was sunk by gunfire from ''Duke Of York'' and torpedoes from the escorting destroyers. ''Sheffield'' could not catch up in time to participate in the sinking. During the return voyage to the UK, she suffered damage to one of her propellers and went for a small refit to Liverpool.

On 30 March 1944, ''Sheffield'' left Scapa Flow as part of the Home Fleet, which was a covering force for Convoy JW 58. After the passage of the convoy to North Russia, the Home Fleet executed Operation Tungsten, a raid by carrier aircraft on ''Tirpitz'' at her moorings in the Kåfjord, Alta, Kaafjord. ''Tirpitz'' was damaged and put out of action by this attack, but she was repaired within weeks and hence follow-up attacks were needed. ''Sheffield'' assisted in one more carrier operation in May, when she was part of the escort for the escort carriers and . This force made two sorties towards Rørvik and Stadlandet on 14 and 15 May.

''Sheffield'' did not participate in the Normandy landings but instead left England on 18 July for a lengthy refit in Boston. She had her 'X' turret removed in exchange for improved anti-aircraft guns. On 29 May 1945 she sailed back to England for further refit in Portsmouth, installing modern radar and electronics in preparation for service with the British Pacific Fleet.

During her service in World War II, ''Sheffield'' was awarded a total of twelve Battle honour, battle honours, which placed her together with the destroyer at a shared fourth place, after the battleship , the light cruiser and the destroyer , who had all been awarded thirteen.

Post-war

After the refit in May 1946, ''Sheffield'' sailed to Malta for a month of drills and exercises before she arrived at her new base–the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, Royal Naval Dockyard in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda–on the 30 August 1946, for duties as flagship on the America and West Indies Station. Her commanding officer, Captain K. G. Harkness, was also the Chief Staff Officer to the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir Irvine Glennie. During her commission in Bermuda, ''Sheffield'' made five cruises, visiting fifty ports and steaming . She departed Bermuda on 26 October 1948 for England and was replaced as flagship on the America and West Indies Station by ''Glasgow''.

On 12 October 1951, ''Sheffield'' returned to Bermuda again as flagship of the America and West Indies Station and replaced . From June 1952 to May 1953, her commanding officer was Captain John Gilchrist Inglis, John Inglis, who was to become director of Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom), Naval Intelligence in July 1954. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. On 18 October 1954, she was replaced as flagship of the America and West Indies Station by ''Superb'', leaving Bermuda the same day to decommission at Portsmouth. In 1955, she played the part of the cruiser in the war film ''The Battle of the River Plate (film), The Battle of the River Plate''.

There were further refits in 1949/1950, 1954 and 1956–1957 when her bridge was enclosed, a lattice foremast added, light anti-aircraft defense was modified and a comprehensive anti-nuclear and biological washdown installed in 1959–1960. She became flagship of the Reserve Fleet and served again at sea in 1960 and then as an accommodation ship until September 1964, when she was placed on the disposal list. Her equipment was removed at Rosyth in 1967 and she was then broken up at Faslane in the same year. The stainless-steel ship's bell, which was made by Hadfields of Sheffield, was preserved and hangs in Sheffield Cathedral along with her battle ensign.

Citations

References

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Further reading

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External links

HMS Sheffield Association
Official Website at the Wayback Machine

Sources for the study of HMS Sheffield
Produced by Sheffield City Council's Libraries and Archives

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield (C24)
Town-class cruisers (1936)
1936 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Tyne
Ships built by Vickers Armstrong