HMS Superb (25)

HMS ''Superb'' was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy. The ship entered service in 1945 and had a brief, quiet career before being decommissioned in 1957 after her modernisation was cancelled. She was broken up in 1960.

Design and description

''Superb'' was the last of the ''Minotaur''s to be built, and was completed to a slightly different design to that of the previous members of the class, with a foot more beam than her immediate predecessor , which had introduced Type 274 lock and follow radar directors for surface action. With ''Superb'' the first Type 275 sets, modified versions of the lock and follow radar, were introduced to also control anti-aircraft fire of the twin 4-inch mounts. Unfortunately the versions of 275 fitted were the British glasshouse director version, which had higher tolerances and less reliability than the American versions of the set, which were reserved for the latter s and aircraft carriers and under construction and in particular the last battleship, , for its secondary armament. Construction on her unfinished sister ships was halted after the end of the war and they were later scrapped, or converted into the new automatic gun cruiser. ''Superb'' herself was planned to be converted to full automatic 6-inch and 3-inch/70 gun ''Tiger'' specifications and would have been much more suitable for such modernisation than the narrower beam ''Swifsure''. The plans to modernise ''Superb'' at the time of the 1957 Defence Review were much more cost constricted and would have been similar to the limited modernisation of , with new MRS8 multi channel directors for four twin 4-inch and six twin proximity fused L70 Bofors and new radar, fire control and AIO and a data link to the modernised carriers and . ''Superb''s update was cancelled in April 1957.

Construction and career

''Superb''s keel was laid by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear on 23 June 1942. The ship was launched on 31 August 1943 and commissioned on 16 November 1945.

''Superb'' was involved in the Corfu Channel Incident in 1946, but otherwise had an unremarkable career. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The cruiser spent some time as the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Herbert Packer, was refitted in 1955–1956, and decommissioned 18 months later in December 1957. She was approved for disposal 2 years later and arrived at the Dalmuir yards of Arnott Young on 8 August 1960 to be scrapped.

Although ''Superb'' was the latest of the line of 6-inch gun cruisers to be completed, (the 1943 ''Minotaur'' class followed directly from the 1938 Colony and 1936 Town classes), she was also one of the first of this type to be broken up. Plans for her modernisation were abandoned after the 1957 defence review. No more cruiser modernisations were approved, with new guided missile ships to take precedence. Pre-war ships lasted longer, showing the difference between peacetime and wartime building standards.A. Dobson. 'Twilight of the British Cruiser', in Ships Monthly 23–6, pp. 20–25

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WWII cruisers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Superb (25)
Minotaur-class cruisers (1943)
Ships built on the River Tyne
1943 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
Cold War cruisers of the United Kingdom
Ships built by Swan Hunter
Maritime incidents in 1946
Corfu Channel incident