HMS Colombo (D89)

HMS "Colombo" was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, named after the capital city of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was part of the "Carlisle" group of the C-class of cruisers.

Construction and war service

She was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on December 8 1917, and launched on December 18 1918. "Colombo" was commissioned too late to see action in the First World War, but went on to serve in the Second World War. In the interwar period she served in the Far East with the Eastern Fleet between June 1919 to 1926, before being reassigned to the American and West Indies Station. She returned to the Eastern Fleet from July 1932 to 1935, before returning to the UK to be put into reserve.

She spent the early part of the war in service with the Home Fleet, during which time she captured the German merchant "Henning Oldendorff" south-east of Iceland. She was also involved in the pursuit of the German battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" after the sinking of HMS "Rawalpindi". She then returned to the Eastern Fleet between August 1940 and June 1942 before again returning to the UK to undergo a refit and conversion.

Like most of her sisters, she was converted into an Anti-Aircraft cruiser, between June 1942 and March 1943, and continued to serve in the war in this capacity. "Colombo" survived the war and was sold on January 22 1948, arriving at the yards of Cashmore, Newport on 13 May 1948 to be broken up.

References

*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1193.html HMS "Colombo" at Uboat.net]