HMS Norfolk (78)
Encyclopedia : H : HM : HMS : HMS Norfolk (78)
.jpg "HMS Norfolk")
| |
| Career |
|
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | July 1927 |
| Launched: | 12 December 1928 |
| Commissioned: | 30 April 1930 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,035 tons |
| Length: | 610 ft (186 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft (20.1 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons geared or Brown Curtis steam turbines, 4 shafts, 8 boilers, 80,000 shp (60 MN) |
| Speed: | 31.5 knots (58 km/h) |
| Range: | 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 653 |
| Armament: | |
| Aircraft: | 2 Walrus aircraft |
At the outbreak of war in 1939, Norfolk deployed with the Home Fleet, and was involved in the chase for the German battlecruisers (or light battleships) Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, along with the Admiral Scheer. She was soon receiving numerous repairs for damage that she had received, not to mention vital modifications to the ship. Her first repairs were carried out in Belfast, after a near-miss by a torpedo from the German submarine U-47, the submarine responsible for sinking the Royal Navy battleship Royal Oak.
Shortly afterwards, bomb damage that she had received from a heavy air raid, forced her into yet another repair, this time on the Clyde. After these repairs had been completed, Norfolk proceeded to the Tyne Shipyard for a new addition to her equipment - a radar set.
In May 1941, Norfolk was the first ship to sight the Bismarck. She continued to dog the German battleship and was part of the force with Rodney and King George V that sank her. From September onwards, she was employed as an escort for the arduous Arctic Convoys. Norfolk was present with the Home Fleet, when it engaged Scharnhorst, on 26 December 1943.
She sustained damage in that confrontation, which was subsequently repaired on the Tyne, which prevented her from being involved in the historic D-day landings. When the war came to a close, Norfolk left Plymouth for a much needed refit at Malta, after transporting the Norwegian Royal family back to Oslo after their 5-year exile in London. This was followed by service in the East Indies as the flagship of the Commander-In-Chief East Indies Station.
In 1949, Norfolk returned to the UK and was placed in Reserve. On 14 February 1950, she proceeded to Newport to be broken up after a long and proud service of 22 years, in which she gained the Norfolk lineage the majority of its battle honours, including its last.
See HMS Norfolk for other ships of this name.
General characteristics
- Displacement: 10,035 tons standard/13,420 tons full load
- Length: 610 ft (186 m)
- Beam: 66 ft (20.1 m)
- Draught: 16 ft (4.9 m)
- Complement: 653
- Armament:
- * 8 x 8 inch (203 mm)guns
- * 8 x 4 inch (102 mm) guns
- * 24 x 2-pounder AA (37 mm) guns
- * 8 x 24 inch (610 mm) torpedo tubes
- * Smaller anti-aircraft guns.
- Aircraft: 2 Supermarine Walrus (operated by No. 700 NAS)
- Speed: 31.5 knots (58 km/h)
- Range: 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
- Propulsion: Steam turbines, 4 shafts, 8 boilers, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Battle honours
Atlantic 1941, Bismarck 1941, Arctic 1941–1943, North Africa 1942, North Cape 1943, Norway 1945
| County-class cruiser |
| Royal Navy |
| Kent sub-class: Berwick | Cumberland | Cornwall | Kent | Suffolk |
| London sub-class: Devonshire | London | Shropshire | Sussex |
| Dorsetshire sub-class: Dorsetshire | Norfolk |
| York sub-class: Exeter | York |
| Royal Australian Navy |
| Kent sub-class: Australia | Canberra |
| London sub-class: Shropshire (transferred) |
List of cruiser classes of the Royal Navy List of major warship classes of the Royal Australian Navy |
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