HMS Bermuda (52)
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Bermuda |
| Namesake: | Bermuda |
| Builder: | John Brown & Company, Clydebank |
| Yard number: | 568 |
| Laid down: | 30 November 1939 |
| Launched: | 11 September 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 1962 |
| Identification: | Pennant number 52 |
| Fate: | Scrapped by Thos W Ward, Briton Ferry, Wales starting on 26 August 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Crown Colony-class light cruiser |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 169.3 m (555 ft) |
| Beam: | 18.9 m (62 ft) |
| Draught: | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 33 knots (61 km/h) |
| Range: | 6,520 nmi (12,080 km; 7,500 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement: | 730 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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| Aircraft carried: | Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft, removed November 1943. |
HMS Bermuda (pennant number 52, later C52) was a Crown Colony-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was completed during World War II and served in that conflict. She was named for the British territory of Bermuda, and was the eighth vessel of that name.
Bermuda was built by John Brown & Company of Clydebank and launched on 11 September 1941. In the same year, the lead ship of the class, Fiji, was sunk while participating in the evacuation of Crete.
Through 1942, Bermuda participated in the North Africa campaign, including Operation Torch, as part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron. With the cruiser Sheffield, she was detached from Force H to attack a small coastal fort, where both came under attack from Italian torpedo bombers. She covered the landing at Bougie and managed to escape heavy air attacks unscathed. Bermuda then returned to service in the Atlantic to escort ships in the Bay of Biscay, and in June 1943, she transported men and supplies to Spitsbergen. She then participated in anti-submarine operations against German U-boats operating in the Bay of Biscay, and the North Atlantic. After more service in the Arctic, she returned to Glasgow in June 1944 for a refit.
The refit removed her 'X' turret, and she was then dispatched to the Pacific as the war in Europe was ending, in May 1945. She arrived in Fremantle on 1 July to take on fuel and stores, before continuing on to Sydney, where she arrived on 7 July. There she undertook exercises with other Royal Navy ships serving in the Far East, including the battleship Anson. Whilst in Sydney, news reached them of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent surrender of Japan. Bermuda then sailed for the Philippines, arriving on 23 August. She then became part of an operation to recover allied prisoners of war from the previously occupied Japanese territories.
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Wikipedia