HMS Caradoc (D60)

HMS "Caradoc" was a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was part of the "Caledon" group of the C-class of cruisers.

She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock. She was laid down on February 21 1916, launched on December 23 1916 and completed and commissioned into the Navy on June 15 1917. She formed part of the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in common with the other ships of the "Caledon" subgroup.With her sister HMS "Cassandra" she ran aground on Fair Isle on 15 August 1917. Both ships were successfully salvaged.

She was deployed into the Atlantic Ocean on the outbreak of war and assigned to operate off the North American coast. On 23 October, 1939 the light cruiser HMS "Orion" and the Canadian destroyer HMCS "Saguenay" intercepted the German tanker "Emmy Friedrich". When the "Caradoc" arrived on the scene, the Germans scuttled their ship to prevent her capture. On 11 December, 1940 the German blockade breaker "Rhein" was intercepted by the Dutch sloop HrMs "Van Kinsbergen" west of the Florida Strait. The "Rhein" was set on fire by her own crew to prevent her capture, and the wreck was sunk later that day by HMS "Caradoc".

"Caradoc" became a base ship in April 1944, and after the end of the war was considered obsolete. She was sold to be broken up for scrap on 5 April 1946 and subsequently scrapped at Briton Ferry, Wales in May 1946.

References

*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1190.html HMS "Caradoc" at Uboat.net]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Caledon.html Ships of the "Caledon" class]