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Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62)

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Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62) 0Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62) 1Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62) 2Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62) 3Light cruiser HMS Gloucester (62) 4

Classification

Ship class:
Town-class cruiser (1936)
Type:
Light cruiser

Basic information

Namesake:
Gloucester is a city and district in Gloucestershire, in the South West of England, of which it is the county town.
Operator:
Royal NavyRoyal Navy
Country of build:
Builder:
Devonport Dockyard (HMNB Devonport)
Laid down:
Launched:
Commissioned (service):
Sunk:
Status:
Sunk
Fate:
Sunk by German aircraft, 22 May 1941

Ship measurements

Displacement:
11,840 t
Length:
179.2 m
Beam (waterline):
19 m
Draft:
6.27 m

Machine

Propulsion:
  • 4 * Parsons steam turbines
  • 4 * Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 4 * shafts
  • 82,500 shp (61.5 MW)
Speed:
32 knots
Range:
6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)

Personnel

Complement:
800

Combat assets

Armor:
  • Waterline belt: 4.5 n (114 mm)
  • Deck: 2 in (51 mm)
  • Gun turrets: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
Armament:
  • 12 * BL 6 in (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (4 * 3)
  • 8 * QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark XVI guns (4 * 2)
  • 8 * QF 2-pounder (40.5 mm) Mark VIII pom-pom guns (2 * 4)
  • 8 * .5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns (2 * 4)
  • 6 * 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 * 3)
Aircraft:
  • 2 * Supermarine Walrus aircraft
  • 1 * catapult
  • 2 * hangars

HMS Gloucester was one of the last batch of three Town-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the late 1930s. Commissioned shortly before the start of World War II in August 1939, the ship was initially assigned to the China Station and was transferred to the Indian Ocean and later to South Africa to search for German commerce raiders. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid-1940 and spent much of her time escorting Malta Convoys. Gloucester played minor roles in the Battle of Calabria in 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941. She was sunk by German dive bombers on 22 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807. Gloucester acquired the nickname «The Fighting G» after earning five battle honours in less than a year.

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