HMS Exeter (68)

HMS "Exeter" (68) was a "York" class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that served in World War II. She was laid down on 1 August 1928 at the Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. She was launched on 18 July 1929 and completed on 27 July 1931. She saw action against the German pocket battleship "Graf Spee" at the 1939 Battle of the River Plate, suffering extensive damage that caused a long refit. Having been rebuilt, she was sent to the East Indies where she was sunk by the Japanese in 1942.

Design

"Exeter" was ordered two years after her sister "York" and therefore her design incorporated improvements in the light of experience with the latter. Her beam was increased by convert|1|ft|cm|0|sing=on to counter for increases in topweight, and the boiler uptakes were trunked backwards from the boiler rooms, allowing for straight funnels removed from the bridge rather than the raked funnels necessary in "York" to ensure adequate dispersal of the flue gasses. As a result, the masts were stepped straight, and the after funnel was thickened, to aid appearance. As the roof of the convert|8|in|mm|0|sing=on gun turret had proved to be inadequately strong to accommodate the catapult intended for "York", "Exeter" had a pair of catapults (although only one aircraft could be carried at a time) angled out from amidships, with the associated crane stepped to starboard. Consequently, the bridge could be lowered (that of "York" being tall to give command over the intended aircraft arrangements), and was of a modern, enclosed design that would be incorporated in later cruiser designs.

Modifications

In 1932, "Exeter" had side plating added amidships to the upper deck to enclose her open main deck as far as the after funnel (unlike the County class, the "Yorks" were not flush-deckers). This provided additional enclosed spaces for accommodation and working. In 1935, the intended multiple Vickers machine guns were finally added, single QF 2-pounder guns having been fitted in lieu. Early war modifications saw the replacement of the single convert|4|in|mm|0|sing=on guns with modern twin Mark XVI models on the ubiquitous mounting Mark XIX and a single 20 mm Oerlikon gun added to the roof of both 'B' and 'X' turrets. Radar Type 286 air warning was added requiring the pole masts to be replaced by tripods, this primitive metric set had separate transmitting ("Tx") and receiving ("Rx") aerials, one at each masthead. Radar Type 284 was fitted to the director control tower atop the bridge to provide ranging information and spot fall of shot.

ervice

On completion, "Exeter" joined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron with the Atlantic Fleet, where she served between 1931 and 1935. In 1934 she was assigned to the America and West Indies Station and remained there, with a temporary deployment to the Mediterranean during the Abyssinian crisis of 1935 and 1936, until 1939.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, she formed part of the South American Division with "Cumberland". Together with the "Leander" class light cruisers "Ajax" and "Achilles" she engaged the German pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" in the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939, which action resulted in the scuttling of the "Admiral Graf Spee" several days later. "Exeter" operated as a division on her own, "Achilles" and "Ajax" as the other, in order to split the fire of "Graf Spee". "Exeter" was hit by seven 11-inch shells and several near misses caused significant splinter damage. Sixty-one of her crew were killed and another twenty-three wounded. All three 8 inch turrets were put out of action and her speed was reduced to convert|18|kn|km/h|0, forcing her to withdraw from battle. "Exeter" made for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands for emergency repairs which took until January 1940, then returned to Devonport without assistance for full repairs between February 1940 and March 1941. On 10 March, 1941, during the repair and refit period, her commanding officer, Captain W.N.T. Beckett MVO DSC died at Saltash Hospital, from complications resulting from surgery related to injuries received earlier in his career. He died the day "Exeter" was due to be re-commissioned. His replacement was Captain Oliver Loudon Gordon.

On returning to the fleet in 1941, she was engaged on escort duty for Atlantic convoys, including the escort of convoy WS-8B to the Middle East during the "Bismarck" episode. After this, she went on to the Far East.

On the entry of the Empire of Japan into the war in December 1941, "Exeter" formed part of the ABDACOM naval force intended to defend the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) from Japanese invasion.

Fate

On February 27, 1942, "Exeter" was damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea when she received an 8-inch shell hit to a boiler room and was subsequently ordered to Surabaya for repairs. The destroyer HMS "Electra" was sunk covering her withdrawal. Two days later, when she attempted to reach the Sunda Strait, she was intercepted by the Japanese heavy cruisers "Nachi", "Haguro", "Myoko" and "Ashigara" and the destroyers "Akebono", "Ikazuchi", "Inazuma", "Yamakaze" and "Kawakaze" on the morning of 1 March 1942. The Second Battle of the Java Sea ensued, now more appropriately called The Battle off Bawean Island, and "Exeter" was soon badly damaged by gunfire and another crucial 8-inch shell hit caused the loss of all power to the ship. Scuttling charges were set and she soon began sinking, initially listing to port only to be hit to starboard by a torpedo from the destroyer "Inazuma" [http://www.combinedfleet.com/inazum_t.htm at Imperial Japanese Navy Page] which sat her back upright and rolled her to starboard before she finally sunk about noon. Her escorting destroyers, HMS "Encounter" and USS "Pope" were also lost; "Pope" temporarily escaped the initial melee, only to be sunk with the aid of aerial attack a few hours later. About 800 Allied seamen, including the commander of "Exeter", Captain Oliver Gordon, became prisoners of war.

The wreck was located and positively identified in February 2007. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/indonesia/1975561/Wartime-naval-legend-HMS-Exeter-found-off-Java.html UK Daily Telegraph Newspaper] "Exeter" lies in Indonesian waters, at a depth of about 200 ft (60 m), 90 miles north of Bawean Island.

External links

* [http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/ships_exeter.htm HMS Exeter Final Days]
* [http://www.thewarillustrated.info/225/now-it-can-be-told-how-hms-exeter-fought-her-last-battle.asp How H.M.S. Exeter Fought Her Last Battle] , The War Illustrated, February 1, 1946.
* [http://www.robin-brooks.com/special-ships/marine-paintings-hms-exeter-1931-1942.shtml Photos of Exeter]

References

* "British and Empire Warships of the Second World War", H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
*"L'Encyclopédie des Armes, Les Forces Armées du Monde: Les Croiseurs de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, vol 41", Edition Atlas
*Colledge
* [http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1186.html HMS Exeter at Uboat.net]
* [http://www.royal-naval-association.co.uk/news.html The discovery of Exeter]