HMS Fiji (58)
Fiji-class cruiser / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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HMS Fiji was the lead ship of her class of 11 light cruisers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the Second World War. Completed in mid-1940, she was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and was detached to escort a force tasked to force French West Africa to join the Free French. The ship was torpedoed en route and required six months to be repaired. Fiji was then assigned to Force H where she helped to escort convoys to Malta. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in early May 1941. After the Germans invaded Crete a few weeks later, she was sunk by German aircraft on 22 May after having fired off all of her anti-aircraft ammunition.
Fiji in 1940 | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Fiji |
Namesake | Colonial Fiji |
Builder | John Brown & Company, Clydebank |
Laid down | 30 March 1938 |
Launched | 31 May 1939 |
Commissioned | 5 May 1940 |
Identification | Pennant number: 58 |
Fate | Sunk by German bombers, 22 May 1941 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Fiji-class light cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | 555 ft 6 in (169.3 m) |
Beam | 62 ft (18.9 m) |
Draught | 19 ft 10 in (6 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbine sets |
Speed | 32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph) |
Range | 6,250 nmi (11,580 km; 7,190 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement | 733 (peacetime), 900 (wartime) |
Armament |
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Armour |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × seaplanes |
Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult, 2 × hangars |