HMS Trinidad (46)

HMS "Trinidad" was a Royal Navy Crown Colony-class cruiser (also known as the "Fiji"-class). She was lost while serving in the Arctic on convoy duty after being damaged escorting PQ-13 in 1942.

Early career

"Trinidad" was built by HM Dockyard Devonport. She was laid down on 21 April 1938, launched 21 March 1941 and commissioned on 14 October 1941. The ship served with the British Home Fleet during her brief career.

Loss

While escorting Convoy PQ-13 in March 1942, she and other escorts were in combat with German Narvik-class destroyers. She hit and sank the German destroyer "Z 26", and then launched a torpedo attack. One of her torpedoes had a faulty gyro mechanism possibly affected by the icy waters. The path of the torpedo formed a circular arc, striking the "Trinidad" and killing 32 men.

"Trinidad" was towed clear of the action, and was then able to proceed under her own power towards Murmansk. The German submarine U-585 attempted to engage and sink the damaged cruiser, but was spotted and sunk by HMS "Fury". [ [http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsRussianConvoys.htm history.net] ] On arrival in Murmansk she underwent partial repairs. She set out to return home on 13 May 1942, escorted by the destroyers HMS "Foresight", HMS "Forester", HMS "Somali" and HMS "Matchless". Other ships of the Home Fleet were providing a covering force nearby. Her speed was reduced to 20 knots owing to the damage she had sustained. En route, she was attacked by more than twenty Ju-88 bombers on 15 May 1942. All attacks missed, except for one bomb that struck near the previous damage starting a serious fire. Sixty-three men were lost, [ [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Trinidad.htm Naval history.net] ] including twenty survivors from HMS "Edinburgh" which had been sunk two weeks earlier. The decision was taken to scuttle her and she was torpedoed by HMS "Matchless" and sank in the Arctic Ocean, north of North Cape. [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4030.html uboat.net - Allied Warships - Light cruiser HMS Trinidad of the Fiji class ] ]

One of the survivors was George Lloyd, later to become a composer and writer of a march entitled "HMS Trinidad", in memory of his ship and those lost with her.

References

*Colledge
* [http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4030.html HMS Trinidad at Uboat.net]

Further reading

* Frank Pearce - "The Ship That Torpedoed Herself: HMS "Trinidad" (1975) ISBN 0-904593-02-9
* M.J. Whitley - Cruisers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia. (1995)