HMS ''Sirius'' was a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

of the

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 ...

. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard (

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), with the keel being laid down on 6 April 1938. She was launched on 18 September 1940, and commissioned 6 May 1942.

History

''Sirius''s completion was delayed due to German bombing at Portsmouth Dockyard so she was completed at

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott f ...

(

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

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 ...

). On completion she initially 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 was then assigned to operate in the Mediterranean in August for

Operation Pedestal Operation Pedestal (, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. British ships, submarines and aircraft from Malta attacked Axis p ...

, the supply of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. She was then ordered to the South Atlantic to patrol against Axis blockade runners on the Far East route, returning to

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 ...

in November for

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the North African landings. As part of Force Q at

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

in December she harried Axis convoys to and from

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

until the Axis surrender in North Africa. Force Q, including ''Sirius'', took part in the last naval battle held in the

Mediterranean Sea 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 Eur ...

during 1942. It consisted of cruisers ''Sirius'', , and destroyers and , which intercepted a small Axis convoy in the

Sicilian Channel The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; or the ; or , ' or ') is the strait between Sicily and Tunisia. The strait is about wide and divides the Tyr ...

destined for Tunisia, starting the

Battle of Skerki Bank The Battle of Skerki Bank was an engagement during the Second World War which took place near Skerki Bank in the Mediterranean Sea in the early hours of 2 December 1942. Force Q, a flotilla of Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers, attacked Convoy ...

. The Axis convoy consisted of the German troopship ''KT-1'' () and Italian troopships ''Aventino'' (), ''Puccini'' () and ''Aspromonte'' (a militarized ferry-boat, ) and an escort force composed of three destroyers and two torpedo boats. Force Q intercepted the convoy on the night of 1–2 December. The British ships attacked and sank all four troopships alongside one of the escorting destroyers, heavily damaging another and both torpedo boats. The destroyer ''Camicia Nera'' launched all of her six torpedoes from a range of only 2 kilometers, but missed the British ships. At dawn, the savage short-range engagement revealed a clear British victory: Axis losses amounted to 5 ships and over 2000 men, for the loss of

HMS Quentin (G78) HMS ''Quentin'' was a Q and R-class destroyer, Q-class destroyer laid down by J. Samuel White and Company, Limited, at Cowes on the Isle of Wight on 25 September 1940, launched on 5 November 1941 and commissioned on 15 April 1942. She saw serv ...

at dawn to

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

dive bombers. ''Sirius'' then joined the 12th Cruiser Squadron and participated in the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

, (Operation Husky), in July. For the next few months she supported the army ashore, and in September took part in the occupation of

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

before transferring to the Adriatic, where, on 7 October 1943 ''Sirius'', and the destroyers and , engaged the enemy north of Astipalea (Stampalia) in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

, where they attacked a German convoy consisting of the auxiliary submarine chaser ''Uj 2111'' (former Italian gunboat ''Tramaglio''), the cargo ship ''Olympus'' and seven Marinefährprahm, sinking all but one MFP. After bombarding

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

Harbour with

HMS Aurora (12) HMS ''Aurora'' was an light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, with the keel being laid down on 27 July 1935. She was launched on 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937. In 1948 it was gifted to the N ...

on 17 October, ''Sirius'' came under sustained air attack off the island of

Karpathos Karpathos (, ), also Carpathos, is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality of Karpathos, which is part of the regional unit ...

. She was hit on the quarterdeck by a 250 kg bomb, starting fires aft and killing 14 sailors, forcing her to withdraw to

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

for repairs. These were carried out between November 1943 and February 1944, when the ship returned to Britain for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

, the Normandy landings, where she was part of the reserve of the Eastern Task Force. In August, she returned to Mediterranean waters for the landings in the south of France,

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

. She then served again in the Aegean, where, in October 1944, she was present during the reoccupation of Athens. ''Sirius'' remained with the Mediterranean Fleet, 15th Cruiser Squadron, postwar until 1946. After a refit at Portsmouth in 1946, ''Sirius'' joined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron with the Home Fleet in March 1947. She was paid off in 1949 and was put up for disposal in 1956. On 15 October 1956 ''Sirius'' arrived at the Blyth yard of

Hughes Bolckow Hughes Bolckow formerly ''Messrs, Hughes, Bolckow, and Co., Limited'' was a well-known shipbreaking company based in Blyth, Northumberland. Background Intending to create an industrial park for dismantling obsolete warships in 1911, the compa ...

for breaking up.

References

Bibliography

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External links

WWII cruisers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirius (82) Dido-class cruisers Ships built on the River Clyde 1940 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom