HMS Newfoundland (C59)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 9 November 1939 |
| Launched: | 19 December 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 January 1943 |
| Fate: | Broken up 1979 |
| Struck: | 30 December 1959 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,840t full load |
| Length: | 555.5 ft (169 m) |
| Beam: | 62 ft (18.9 m) |
| Draught: | 16.5 ft (5.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 Parsons geared turbines, 4 boilers, 4 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW) |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | 10,100 nautical miles (18,700 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 730 |
| Armament: |
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| Badge: | A caribou |
| Motto: | |
HMS Newfoundland was a Crown Colony-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. Named after Newfoundland, she fought in World War II and was later sold to the Peruvian Navy.
Newfoundland was built by Swan Hunter and launched 19 December 1941 by Mrs Ernest Bevin (wife of the British Minister of Labour). The ship was completed and commissioned in December 1942.
After commissioning Newfoundland joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet. Early in 1943 the ship became flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean. On 23 July 1943, during the Sicily Campaign, she was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Ascianghi. At Malta temporary repairs were carried out then, steering by her propellers only, she steamed to the Boston Navy Yard for major repairs.
In 1944 the ship was re-commissioned for service in the Far East. While at Alexandria an explosion occurred in the port torpedo tubes which caused severe damage and numerous casualties. The repairs delayed her arrival in the Far East for service with the British Pacific Fleet. Newfoundland supported the landings by the 6th Australian Division at Wewak in New Guinea. On 14 June 1945, as part of a Royal Naval Task Group, strikes were carried out on the Japanese Naval Base of Truk in the Caroline Islands.
On 6 July Newfoundland left the forward base of Manus in the Admiralty Islands with other ships of the British Pacific Fleet to take part in the Anglo American attack on the mainland of Japan. These operations had been planned as a precursor to the invasion of the Japanese mainland. Upon the Japanese surrender the Newfoundland landed a party of Royal Marines and sailors to take over the Naval Base at Yokosuka. The ship was present in Tokyo Bay when the Instrument of Surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. Newfoundland was then assigned the task of repatriating British and Commonwealth prisoners of war, eventually arriving in the United Kingdom in December 1946.
The cabinet of Sri Lanka sought refuge aboard her during the Hartal of 1953.
On 31 October 1956, the Egyptian frigate Domiat was cruising South of the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, when Newfoundland encountered her and ordered her to heave to. Aware that Britain and Egypt had just gone to war in the Suez Crisis, the Domiat refused and opened fire on the cruisier, causing some damage and casualties. The cruiser, with the destroyer HMS Diana, then opened fire on the smaller ship and sank her, rescuing 69 survivors from the wreckage.
She was sold to the Peruvian Navy on 2 November 1959, and subsequently renamed Almirante Grau and then to Capitán Quiñones in 1973. The cruiser was a hulk in 1979.
Britain's Small Wars Article on the Domiat incident
| Crown Colony-class cruiser |
| Royal Navy |
| Fiji group |
| Bermuda | Fiji | Gambia | Jamaica | Kenya | Mauritius | Nigeria | Trinidad |
| Ceylon group |
| Ceylon | Newfoundland | Uganda |
| Royal Canadian Navy |
| Quebec (ex-Uganda) |
| Indian Navy |
| Mysore (ex-Nigeria) |
| Peruvian Navy |
| Almirante Grau (ex-Newfoundland) | Coronel Bolognesi (ex-Ceylon) |
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |
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