HMS Suffolk (55)
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HMS ''Suffolk'',
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 ...
55, 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
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 ...
, and part of the ''Kent'' subclass. She was built by
Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...
,
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 ...
, UK, with the
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
being laid down on 30 September 1924. She was launched on 16 February 1926, and commissioned on 31 May 1928. During
World War II 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 ...
, ''Suffolk'' took part in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 and then the
Battle of the Denmark Strait The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941 between ships of the Royal Navy and the ''Kriegsmarine''. The British battleship and the battlecruiser fought the German battlesh ...
in 1941, before serving in the Arctic throughout the following year. After a refit that concluded in April 1943, the cruiser served in the Far East until the end of the war. In the immediate post-war period, ''Suffolk'' undertook transport duties between the Far East, Australia and the United Kingdom before being placed in reserve in mid-1946. The vessel was sold off and then scrapped in 1948.


History


Pre-World War II

''Suffolk'', like her sisters, served on 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 ...
, save for reconstruction, until the outbreak of
World War II 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 ...
. In early 1934 she became the flagship of the China Station when Admiral Sir Frederick Dreyer dispatched ''Kent'' for a refit in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. She returned home to Portsmouth in July 1935 laden with 100 cases of "priceless" Chinese artefacts for an exhibition at the
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
. During the 45 day journey a total of 1022 pieces were transported, of which 780 belonged to the
Beijing Palace Museum The Palace Museum (), also known as the Beijing Palace Museum, is a large national museum complex housed in the Forbidden City at the core of Beijing, China. With , the museum inherited the imperial royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynastie ...
. The transfer and exhibition were overseen by Dr C W Cheng from the
Chinese Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC has the largest number of active diplomatic posts in the world, including 274 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 176 countries as well as 8 ...
in London, Palace Museum curator Chuang Yen and other Chinese officials.


Norwegian Campaign

''Suffolk'' came home in 1939 to be equipped with a Type 79Z
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
system and after the outbreak of the Second World War patrolled the
Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait is the strait that separates Greenland from Iceland. Geography The strait connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is long. The narrowest part o ...
in October 1939. In April 1940 she participated in the Norwegian Campaign. On 13 April 1940 the ship arrived at
Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...
to commence the
British occupation The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts establishe ...
of the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
. On 14 April 1940 ''Suffolk'' sank the German tanker north-west of Bodø, Norway. On 17 April 1940, ''Suffolk'' and four destroyers, , , and , were sent to bombard the airfield at
Sola Sola may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Saints of Los Angeles'', a 2008 album by Mötley Crüe * ''Sola'', an album by Olga Tañón * ''Sola'', an album by Zayda y los Culpables Songs * Sola (Becky G song), "Sola" (Becky G song ...
, Norway. The operation had little effect and the retaliation from German bombers severely damaged the aft of the ship, forcing her to return to
Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...
. ''Suffolk'' was out of action from April 1940 until February 1941 while she was repaired at the Clyde. The ship was part of the
4th Cruiser Squadron The 4th Cruiser Squadron and (also known as Cruiser Force H) was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1907 to 1914 and then again from 1919 to 1946. The squadron was first established in 1907, replacing the North America and ...
.


Battle of the Denmark Strait

During May 1941 ''Suffolk'' was involved in the
Battle of the Denmark Strait The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941 between ships of the Royal Navy and the ''Kriegsmarine''. The British battleship and the battlecruiser fought the German battlesh ...
and the sinking of the . ''Suffolk'' had engaged the battleship twice during the battle, firing several salvoes on her. Using her radar, ''Suffolk'' was able to track the ''Bismarck'' through the
Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait is the strait that separates Greenland from Iceland. Geography The strait connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is long. The narrowest part o ...
and maintained contact long enough for other units to vector into ''Bismarck''s path. During the battle the battlecruiser ''Hood'' was sunk with heavy loss of life and the battleship ''Prince of Wales'' was damaged and forced to retreat. Afterwards, ''Bismarck'' was shadowed from a distance by ''Suffolk'', ''Norfolk'' and the damaged ''Prince of Wales'' by using the cruisers radar equipment, but ''Bismarck'' managed to elude the ships which had been shadowing her by making a 270° turn behind their wakes. As ''Bismarck'' was losing oil, her captain
Ernst Lindemann Otto Ernst Lindemann (28 March 1894 – 27 May 1941) was a German ''Kapitän zur See'' (Captain (naval), naval captain). He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II. Lindemann joined the Germa ...
decided to attempt to reach
Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port, port city in the Finistère department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an impor ...
for repairs but was sighted by an RAF Catalina, damaged by
torpedo bombers A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...
sent from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and eventually sunk after a punishing near 100-minute long bombardment from the battleships HMS King George V and
HMS Rodney Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Rodney'', of which at least the last five were named after the Georgian Admiral George, Lord Rodney. A seventh was planned but never completed: * was a 4-gun cutter in use in 1759. * was a 16- ...
which were supported by the heavy cruisers
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
and
Dorsetshire Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to th ...
.


Later career

After her repairs ''Suffolk'' served with 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 ...
in
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
waters until the end of 1942, then underwent a refit between December 1942 and April 1943 when "X"
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...
was removed and replaced with additional AA guns. On completion of this the ship was ordered to the
Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
, operating in the Indian Ocean until the end of the war. From 26 August 1945 ''Suffolk'' was used to transport military and civilian personnel from Australia, and the Far East, back to the UK. On her return ''Suffolk'' underwent repairs at
Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...
between November 1945 and January 1946. On completion she sailed to Australia again, returning in April 1946. Her final voyage was to Singapore arriving there in May, and returning in July 1946. In the summer of 1946 she was placed in unmaintained reserve until 1948. With the post-war economic difficulties of Britain hitting hard in 1947–1948 the reserve fleet was quickly sold off, and ''Suffolk'' was decommissioned and allocated to BISCO on 25 March 1948. She was towed to J Cashmore's (
Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...
) where she arrived on 24 June 1948 and scrapping began immediately.


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


HMS Suffolk at U-boat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suffolk Kent-class cruisers County-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Portsmouth 1926 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom