HMS Ceylon (30)

HMS "Ceylon" (C30) was a "Ceylon" (modified Crown Colony) class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy, named for the island of Ceylon — now Sri Lanka — which was a British possession when she was built.

Wartime career

Built by Stephens at Govan and launched on 30 July 1942, she was completed on 13 July 1943. After two months in the Home Fleet she was transferred to the 4th Cruiser Squadron, with the Eastern Fleet and took part in many carrier raids, bombardments and patrols against Japanese-held territory, including Operations Cockpit, Meridian and Diplomat. In November 1944 she joined the British Pacific Fleet and sailed from Trincomalee on 16 January, taking part in a raid on Pankalan Bradan en route. By May 1945, however, she was back in the Indian Ocean, shelling the Nicobar Islands, and remained in that theatre until the end of the war. In October 1945 she returned to the UK for refit and lay-up.

Postwar

Postwar, she served in the Portsmouth Command during 1946/50, followed by the 5th and 4th Cruiser Squadrons on the Far East and East Indies stations. She was actively engaged in the Korean War, carrying out a number of bombardments. She was paid off at Portsmouth in October 1954 for re-construction. Between 1956 and 1959 she served in the Mediterranean, Home Fleet and East of Suez.

On 18 December 1959, she returned to Portsmouth and was sold to Peru the same month. On 9 February 1960, she was transferred to the Peruvian Navy and re-named "Coronel Bolognesi". She spent over twenty years with the Peruvians until she was finally deleted from the Navy List in May 1982, and towed to Taiwan in August 1985 to be scrapped.

References

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* [http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4031.html HMS Ceylon at Uboat.net]