HMS Liverpool, named after the port city of Liverpool in north-west England, was a of the Royal Navy in service from 1938 to 1952.
During the Second World War, Liverpool gained four battle honours and was seriously damaged in two attacks by Italian torpedo bombers. The cruiser operated variously with the naval stations in the East Indies and China and with the Mediterranean and Home fleets. While assigned as flagship to the China Station in January 1940, the cruiser instigated a diplomatic incident with Japan when she intercepted the liner Asama Maru off the coast of Japan. Liverpool took part in the battles of the Espero Convoy and Calabria, the Arctic Convoys, and Operation Harpoon during the Malta Convoys. On 14 June 1942, during Operation Harpoon, Liverpool suffered an air attack and had to undergo repairs and refitting at Rosyth, Scotland for the remainder of the war.
Liverpool returned to service in 1945 and was assigned as flagship to the Mediterranean Fleet. In the early 1950s, the cruiser harboured in Port Said to support the British Administration of the Suez Canal Zone, when Egyptian guerrillas campaigned against it. The cruiser was decommissioned in 1952 at a time when the Royal Navy was rapidly contracting in strength. Liverpool was broken up in 1958, at Rosyth.
Design and description
The Town-class light cruisers were designed as counters to the Japanese s built during the early 1930s and the second batch of three ships was enlarged, with the most powerful engines and widest beam of any post 1927 Royal Navy cruisers, to maintain speed and stability with the weight of, a second low angle main director (2) T284 LADCT, to give two channel fire control of the six inch turrets enabling, simultaneous engagement with surface targets fore and aft of the cruisers and to give a second level of deck armour over the top of the armour box around the four main magazines Raven & Roberts (1980), p. 175 (In HMS Gloucester and the third 'Belfast' group, the extra deck armour belt also extended further over the engines).Whitley (2000), pp. 104–105 Liverpool displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of Raven & Roberts (1980), pp. 175, 418 and a draught of .Campbell (1980), pp. 31–32 She was powered by four Parsons geared steam turbine sets, each driving one shaft, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Liverpool also mounted a catapult with three Supermarine Walrus. Steam for the turbines was provided by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The ship carried a maximum of of fuel oil which gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 800–850 officers and ratings.
The Town-class ships mounted twelve BL six-inch (152 mm) Mk XXIII guns in four triple-gun turrets.DiGiulian, Tony (2008), British 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XXIII, navweaps.com. Retrieved 10 April 2008. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from front to rear. Their secondary armament consisted of eight QF Mk XVI dual-purpose guns in twin mounts.DiGiulian, Tony (2008), British 4"/45 (10.2 cm) QF HA Marks XVI, XVII, XVIII and XXI, navweaps.com. Retrieved 10 April 2008. Their light anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of quadruple mounts for the two-pounder (40 mm) AA gunDiGiulian, Tony (2008), Britain 2-pdr 4 cm/39 (1.575") Mark VIII , navweaps.com. Retrieved 10 April 2008. ("pom-pom") and two quadruple mounts for Vickers AA machine guns. The ships carried two above-water, triple mounts for torpedoes.
The ship lacked a full-length waterline armour belt. The sides of Liverpools boiler and engine rooms and the sides of the magazines were protected by of armour. The top of the magazines and the machinery spaces were protected by of armour. The armour protecting the main gun turrets had a thickness of 2–4 inches.
History
Commission (1935–1939)
Procured in response to the American and Japanese classes of light cruiser, the Town class consisted of three variants for a total of 10 ships.Bishop (2002), pp. 493–4 These ships were intended for fleet duties rather than trade protection, which their predecessors had been designed for. The class represented a significant improvement in armament and armour, which provided reasonable protection against shells. Their primary armament of twelve guns in triple turrets, compared to the eight and six guns possessed by the preceding and classes, still adhered to the constraints of the London Naval Treaty.Brown (2009), p. 142 Liverpool became one of the three Town-class cruisers—with and —ordered to a slightly revised design referred to as the Liverpool, Liverpool, or Type II sub-class. The second group retained an almost identical configuration, differentiated only by a beam enlarged to (compared to Southamptons beam of ), a redesigned bridge, and improved fire control equipment.Fitzsimons (1969), pp. 2367–8
Ordered under the 1935 estimates, the keel of Liverpool was laid down at Govan on 17 February 1936 and launched on 24 March 1937 by Priscilla Norman, wife of the Governor of the Bank of England Montagu Norman."Latest Cruiser Launched", The Glasgow Herald: p. 12. 25 March 1937. Liverpool became the first cruiser launched at the Fairfield shipyard since the . After being commissioned into the navy on 2 November 1938, Liverpool was assigned to the East Indies Station under the command of Captain A.D. Read."A City’s Gift to Warship. H.M.S. Liverpool in the Mersey". The Times (48198): Col F, p. 15. 9 January 1939. Before the deployment, the cruiser visited her namesake port in January 1939. The Liverpool Woman's Service Bureau presented the cruiser with a Union Flag and White Ensign, while the city's Corporation gave the crew "three pairs of candlesticks, a silver cup, and two bugles". Liverpools crew had already received a silver bell and plate originally in the possession of her predecessor.
East Indies and China stations (1939–1940) Before arriving in the East Indies, Liverpool prepared for the deployment in the Mediterranean for two months and had engine defects corrected."H.M.S. Liverpool". The Times (48256): Col E, p. 10. 17 March 1939. At the beginning of the Second World War, Liverpool formed part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, which she left in November to transfer to the 5th Cruiser Squadron, China Station.Smith; Dominy (1981), p. 70 While part of the station, the cruiser became involved in a diplomatic incident when she intercepted the Japanese passenger liner Asama Maru on 21 January 1940.Haggie (1981), p. 169 Alerted to reports that German sailors in the United States had arranged transport to Germany, the British Government authorised the station's commander-in-chief to direct a warship to board Asama Maru and detain suspected passengers, provided the procedure did not occur within sight of the coast of Japan.Best (1995), p. 98 Just east of Niijima, off Honshū, Liverpool located the liner and removed 21 of the ship's passengers, believed by the British to be survivors of the scuttled German liner .Marder (1981). p. 106 Asama Maru had been late and had deviated from her expected course, necessitating an operation much closer to Japan's coast.
Liverpool discharged a warning shot across Asama Marus bows to compel the liner to halt, afterwards deploying 12 men to conduct the search."Homeseekers". Time. 29 January 1940. Retrieved 25 August 2010. Four days after the incident, the NYK Line dismissed Captain Watanabe, under the pretense of retirement, accusing him of "misconduct".AAP (1940), "Asama Maru Incident: Captain Dismissed – "misconduct" Charge": p. 6. Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 1940. The Government of Japan condemned the operation as an abuse of belligerent rights and formally protested the action, which further escalated tensions between the two countries. The Japanese and British governments sought to defuse the dispute through negotiation, and on 5 February, the two countries accepted a proposal which entailed the release of nine Germans in exchange for Japan pledging to deny military-age German citizens access to their vessels. In Australia's official history of the war, it was said that the most senior of the nine Germans, Captain Groth, remarked during his passage to Japan aboard the armed merchant cruiser that the operation had been "an excellent piece of work, and an action which would deter the remainder of the German crews still in the United States, approximately 1000 men, from making the passage".Gill (1957), p. 140
In April, Liverpool became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Arthur Murray's Red Sea Force, which was formed with the Australian cruiser .Waters (1956), p. 85 The Red Sea Force was intended to help execute naval strategy in the area by performing a variety of duties, such as patrols and blockade enforcement in the event of war with Italy.Gill (1957), pp. 133–4 While in the area, Liverpool escorted a convoy transporting contingents from the Australian military to Suez.Rohwer; Hümmelchen (1992), p. 17 When ordered to the Mediterranean in June, Liverpool relinquished her status as flagship with the transfer of Admiral Murray to the New Zealand cruiser at Port Sudan. To accommodate the admiral and his staff, Leander transferred three officers and seven ratings to Liverpool.
First torpedoing (1940–1941)
Liverpool formed part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron, becoming one of nine cruisers that could be fielded by the Mediterranean Fleet shortly after Fascist Italy entered the war.Gill (1957), p. 149 She first encountered Italian vessels off the coast of Libya on 12 June 1940 while shelling positions near Tobruk with Gloucester and four destroyers. The cruisers attacked five vessels, including the obsolete armoured cruiser , and sank the minesweeper .Rohwer; Hümmelchen (1992), p. 24 On 28 June, a British Short Sunderland patrol aircraft detected three Italian destroyers west of Zante.Titterton (2002), pp. 22–4 The 7th Cruiser Squadron was at sea in support of convoy Operation MA.3 when it altered course to engage the destroyers. Liverpool sighted them south-west of Cape Matapan at 18:30 and opened fire three minutes later. The ensuing action, carried out at a minimum range of about , resulted in the destruction of the Italian Espero The two surviving destroyers reached Benghazi with their supplies.Rohwer; Hümmelchen (1992), p. 26 Liverpool took light damage in the engagement. Ammunition had been rapidly depleted by the cruiser squadron. By the close of the action, Liverpools crew had almost expended the contents of her shellrooms, reporting that each gun had 40 shells remaining.Stevens (2005), p. 68 The Admiralty criticised the squadron's expenditure of some 5,000 rounds, which Admiral Andrew Cunningham, commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, attributed to its inexperience and his insistence on confronting the Italian warships before nightfall. Nevertheless, the use of such a large volume of shells caused the cancellation of MA.3, which had encompassed two convoys from the besieged island of Malta.