- HMS Hawkins (D86)
HMS "Hawkins" was a "Hawkins"-class
heavy cruiser of theRoyal Navy . She was built atChatham Dockyard and launched on1 October ,1917 . With the conversion of her sister, HMS "Cavendish", to become the aircraft carrier HMS "Vindictive", HMS "Hawkins" became the name ship of her class.Interwar career
HMS "Hawkins" was commissioned on
25 July 1919 and became theflagship of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron on theChina Station . She spent less than a decade in active service before being paid off at Chatham to undergo a refit. During this refit, her coal fired boilers were removed and the remaining oil fired boilers modified. She recommissioned in December 1929, and became the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron as part of the Atlantic Fleet."Hawkins" was decommissioned again in May 1930 and reduced to the
Reserve Fleet . She was recommissioned again in 1932 to become the Flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron in the East Indies, before again being reduced to the reserve in April 1935. The terms of theLondon Naval Treaty meant that in 1937, "Hawkins" was demilitarised and had all her 7.5 inch guns and the deck mounted torpedo tubes removed before she was again returned to reserve status. In September 1938 plans were drawn up to utilise "Hawkins" as aCadets 'Training Ship .Wartime service
When the
Second World War broke out in 1939, "Hawkins" was rearmed and recommissioned to become the flagship toRear Admiral Henry Harwood , after theBattle of the River Plate . She patrolled off theSouth America n coast, operating as far south as theFalklands . She leftMontevideo on5 September 1940 to sail toSimonstown ,South Africa for a refit. Before she could make use of the dry dock, it was occupied by the aircraft carrier HMS "Hermes", which was undergoing repairs after having been damaged in a collision with a merchant ship. "Hawkins" was diverted toDurban where she spent seven weeks waiting before she was able to dock in the Selborne dry dock at Simonstown. "Hawkins" also rescued nine of the crew from the tanker SS "British Premier", which had been torpedoed offFreetown by U 65.During February 1941 "Hawkins" was active off the East coast of Africa, supporting the British reconquest of
British Somaliland and subsequent pushes intoItalian Somalia fromKenya as part of Force T of the East Indies Fleet. She also captured a number of Italian and German merchants attempting to escape the fall of the former Italian territory. She later provided escorts for convoys and intercepted Vichy French and neutral shipping. Whilst offMauritius her starboard outboard shaft fractured and she lost her screw and shafting. She spent the period between10 October to the28 October in the Selborne dry dock, before departing on2 November to refit and repair in the U.K.The repairs were completed by May 1942 and "Hawkins" left to join the
Eastern Fleet , and again escorted ships around the African coast, with periods in drydock for repairs and refits. One of the ships she escorted was the SS "Khedive Ismail", later torpedoed by a Japanese submarine with heavy loss of life. In June 1944 she returned to British waters, where she was involved inOperation Neptune , as part of the Western Task Force Gunfire Support Bombardment Force A, forUtah Beach . Before this, she had been involved inExercise Tiger , a disastrous attempt to rehearse the landings. In August she was again designated as a Training Ship.Decommissioning and scrapping
In 1945 "Hawkins" was reduced to reserve for the last time. In January 1947 she was allocated for ship target trials, and was bombed by
Royal Air Force Avro Lincoln bombers offSpithead . She was sold for scrap on21 August 1947 and broken up in December that year at the yards of Arnott Young atDalmuir .References
* "British and Empire Warships of the Second World War", H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
* "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946", Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1211.html HMS Hawkins at U-boat.net]
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