HMS Ajax was a Leander-class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta and as a supply escort in the siege of Tobruk. This ship was the eighth in the Royal Navy to bear the name. In February 1942, she was adopted by the civil community of Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Pre-war and first actions Ajax was built at Vickers' shipyard, in Barrow-in-Furness, England. She was laid down on 7 February 1933, launched on 1 March 1934 and completed on 12 April 1935.
She was commissioned for service with the 8th Cruiser Squadron on the America and West Indies Station,Whitley, p. 99 but after working up in May 1935, she was deployed instead to the Mediterranean on detached service after the Abyssinian crisis. This lasted until November, when she finally joined her squadron at its base at the Royal Naval Dockyard in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. Until 1937 she undertook exercises and visits to ports in the Americas as part of the station's South America Division. South American waters, as well as the geographic extent of the former Pacific Station, had been added to the expanse controlled from Bermuda after the First World War (by the same manner in which the Newfoundland Station and Jamaica Station had been absorbed into the North America Station in 1825 and 1830, respectively), requiring the augmentation of the 8th Cruiser Squadron (beginning with the transfer to the station of HMS Dauntless from the Mediterranean in May, 1928). Although Ajax and HMS Exeter operated from Bermuda, in the North Atlantic, they spent much of the year cruising South American waters before returning to Bermuda for maintenance and to exercise with the squadron. Ajax took part in the December 1936 reburials at Punta Arenas of the dead of HMS Doterel, killed in the explosion of a magazine in 1881. At the end of her America and West Indies deployment, Ajax returned to Britain for refit. At this time, her 4" battery was upgraded by exchanging single for double mountings.
On 2 and 3 June 1937, Ajax and other ships of the squadron took part in combined exercises with the Bermuda Garrison to practice raiding a hostile shore. "Blue Land Force" (Headquarters, "B" Company, 1st Sherwood Foresters, a company of Royal Marines, a Royal Navy howitzer battery and a naval demolition party), commanded by Major John R. Chidlaw-Roberts, Sherwood Foresters (with its boats guided by members of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club), was landed from Ajax before sunrise at Spanish Point, Bermuda, with the objective of moving overland to attack an imaginary fuel dump at Admiralty House, supported by fire from Ajax, Exeter and other vessels, as well as by naval aircraft. The defending force included patrol boats manned by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and "Red Land Force" (three battalions, represented by a platoon of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps).
Sir Arthur George Murchison Fletcher, the Governor of Trinidad signalled the Commander-in-Chief in Bermuda on 20 June 1937 for a cruiser to be sent to that colony due to riots that had broken out among strikers in the oil fields of Apex and Fyzabad, which had included the killings of two police officers. Workers in other industries had also staged sympathy strikes. Ajax, which was at Nassau at the time, was ordered to Trinidad. Exeter, which was about to depart Bermuda for the Panama Canal, was also ordered to Trinidad on 21 June. Ajax landed platoons of seamen and marines from her crew to support the civil police in re-establishing order. On 2 July, the marines of Ajax joined with those of Exeter and 200 police constables to assault the village of Fyzabad. By 5 July, the situation in Trinidad had returned largely to normal. Ajax departed Trinidad, and the America and West Indies Station on 14 July 1937 for Her Majesty's Dockyard, Portsmouth, to pay off and refit.
She rejoined her squadron in America and the West Indies in February 1938 and remained in the Atlantic until 1939, when she was redeployed to the Pacific, off South America. On 27 January, Ajax went to assist the rescue of earthquake victims at Talcahuano, Chile. She then returned to Bermuda and was redeployed to the South Atlantic Division in March.
When war was declared in September 1939, Ajax took up her appropriate station and patrolled off the River Plate. There she sank the German merchant ship Olinda on 3 September. She intercepted the German merchantman Carl Fritzen and the passenger ship (with the cruiser ) on 4 and 5 September, respectively. Both ships were scuttled by their crews to avoid being taken as prizes.uboat.net
After a brief deployment in and around the Falkland Islands, Ajax returned to her station off the Plate on 21 September.
The hunt for Admiral Graf Spee
When the German raider, , became a threat, Force G was formed from Ajax (flagship, Commodore Henry Harwood), and , all cruisers.(Cumberland, also part of this force, was undergoing a refit at Port Stanley). Force G located and engaged Graf Spee on 13 December, despite the German warship's greater firepower. Ajax was hit seven times by the Germans: X and Y turrets were disabled, structural damage was sustained and there were 12 casualties including 7 killed. Exeter, more severely damaged, retired, leaving the two light cruisers to maintain contact with Graf Spee when she withdrew to Montevideo. The reasons for the German ship's withdrawal and her failure to exploit her advantage are unclear, but there was damage to her bow, that affected her sea-worthiness, and to her fuel systems. Ajax and Achilles, joined by Cumberland, awaited events and successfully bluffed the Germans into believing that a superior force was on hand. Graf Spee was scuttled by her own crew. Ajax refuelled at Port Stanley and resumed her patrol.
In January 1940, she returned to Britain for refit, via Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Freetown, Sierra Leone. She was joined en route by the aircraft carrier , the battlecruiser and the destroyers , , and . Ajax arrived at Plymouth at the end of January; the following month, she was handed over to Chatham Dockyard for refit.
Mediterranean, Crete and North Africa Once refitted and worked up, Ajax became ready for service in August 1940. Her refit had included the addition of a Type 279 radar,Howse, Radar at sea: The Royal Navy in World War 2, p. 64. a tripod mast and zarebasZarebas" are breakwater-like structures on ships, intended to deflect sea-water off the deck and away from exposed installations. for the 4" batteries.
In August 1940, Ajax was allocated to the 7th Cruiser Squadron for Mediterranean service (France had fallen and Italy was now a belligerent with a significant navy). She sailed from Britain on 21 August as part of the escort (with ), of a convoy for Egypt routed via the Mediterranean (Operation Hats), but she remained with a portion that was diverted via Durban. In late September, she escorted a troop convoy (, and ) from Aden to Suez. Ajax joined at Alexandria on 30 September.
From 2 to 16 October, Ajax was engaged in major fleet manoeuvres to interdict Italian convoys to Libya and to protect British convoys to Malta. Firstly, she sailed with the fleetWhich included the battleships and , the aircraft carrier , the cruiser and eight destroyers. to search for Italian convoys, possibly with their own fleet escorts. On 8 October, Ajax again deployed with a major naval force The second deployment included battleships HMS , , Malaya and Ramillies, aircraft carriers and Eagle, cruisers York, Gloucester, , and HMAS Sydney with a screen of 16 fleet destroyers. to cover the passage to Malta of convoy MF3 (Operation MB6).Convoy MF3 consisted of four ships; Clan Ferguson, Clan Macauley, Lanarkshire and Mermon. Ajax and Orion patrolled south-east of Malta before covering the return of Convoy MF4 to Alexandria on 12 October. (The main fleet was deployed to the west of the convoy).
During the night of 11–12 October, Ajax intercepted a small Italian force. In a close-range night action (sometimes called the Battle of Cape Passero), two s, and , were sunk and the destroyer was disabled (later sunk by HMS York).Sources differ on this action's details. Mason states that several British cruisers and destroyers, including Ajax, were engaged; Thomas states that, although Ajax was one of a cruiser cordon, she "sank two destroyers and damaged a third", without mentioning the involvement of the other British warships. Two more warships escaped into a smoke screen. Ajax herself was hit by seven shells that destroyed one of her whalers, caused severe damage to the bridge and radar installation and 35 casualties, including 13 killed. She returned to Alexandria on 16 October.
At the end of October, Ajax set out on the first of two operations to carry troop reinforcements to Suda Bay, on Crete in Operation Barbarity; she suffered near misses from air attacks. On her return to the fleet on 6 November, she helped to provide cover for a Malta convoy, MW3. This was a large operation, involving most of the Mediterranean Fleet and part of a wider set of ship movements, Operation Coat. She was part of Force XCruisers HMS Orion, Ajax and HMAS Sydney, and destroyers and . which was detached from the main fleet on 11 November to sortie into the Straits of Otranto, between Italy and Albania, to provide a diversion and give cover for the successful naval air attack on Taranto.
On 12 November, after turning to return to the main fleet, they intercepted a small convoy of four Italian merchant ships escorted by naval auxiliary and the obsolete torpedo-boat . Ramb III fired 19 salvos in its own defense and succeeded in breaking away without suffering any damage. Nicola Fabrizi stayed with the merchant ships and attacked the British forces. As a result, Nicola Fabrizi was hit immediately and suffered serious damage. The Italian torpedo boat continued to fight until it was unable to fight any more and retired badly damaged. After Nicola Fabrizi was neutralized, the British force divided up the targets and sank all four of the Italian merchant ships. This action took place near the Strait of Otranto (see Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1940)).
Force X also bombarded the port of Durazzo (now Durres) and set the oil refinery on fire. before it rejoined the fleet. Ajax and other vessels were detached from the fleet and refuelled at Suda Bay before they returned to Alexandria.
From 15 to 20 November, Ajax and four other cruisers HMS Gloucester, York, Orion and HMAS Sydney transported troops from Alexandria to Piraeus, the port of Athens, and returned to Alexandria. On 23 November, she was deployed with Force B Battleships HMS Malaya and Ramillies, aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, cruisers HMS Berwick, Orion, HMAS Sydney and destroyers to cover a convoy to Crete and to support air attacks on Tripoli from Eagle.
Ajax participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was hit by bombs from Ju 87s on 21 May 1941. She evacuated many troops from Crete up until 29 May.BBC Peoples War She then covered Syrian operations in June and joined Force K at Malta in November, being withdrawn in February 1942 for refit.
Two years out of action (1942 and 1943)