HMS Dido (37)

HMS Dido
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Dido
Builder:	Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, UK)
Laid down:	26 October 1937
Launched:	18 July 1939
Commissioned:	30 September 1940
Out of service:	October 1947
Reclassified:	In reserve at Gareloch (between 1947 and 1951) and at Portsmouth between 1951 to 1958
Identification:	Pennant number 37
Fate:	Scrapped, arrived at Thos W Ward, Barrow-in-Furness on 18 July 1957.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Dido-class anti-aircraft cruiser
Displacement:	5,600 long tons (5,700 t) (standard) 6,850 long tons (6,960 t) (full load)
Length:	485 ft (148 m) p.p. 512 ft (156 m) o/a
Beam:	50 ft 6 in (15.39 m)
Draught:	14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power:	62,000 shp (46,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons geared steam turbines 4 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	32.25 kn (37.11 mph; 59.73 km/h)
Range:	1,500 nmi (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) at 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h) 4,240 nmi (4,880 mi; 7,850 km) at 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Capacity:	1,100 short tons (1,000 t) fuel oil
Complement:	480
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 281 RADAR from September 1940
Armament:	Original configuration: 8 × 5.25 in (133 mm) dual purpose guns (4x2) 1 × 4 in (100 mm) anti-aircraft gun 12 × 2-pounder pom-pom guns (3x4) 8 × .50 cal machine guns (2x4) 6 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3) 1941–1943 configuration: 10 × 5.25 in (133 mm) dual purpose guns (5x2) 12 × 2-pounder pom-pom guns (3x4) 5 × 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons 6 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3) 1943–1945 configuration: 10 × 5.25 in (133 mm) dual purpose guns (5x2) 12 × 2-pounder pom-pom guns (3x4) 10 × 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons (2x1, 4x2) 6 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3)
Armour:	Belt: 3 in (7.6 cm) Deck: 1 in (2.5 cm) Magazines: 2 in (5.1 cm) Bulkheads: 1 in (2.5 cm)

HMS Dido was the name ship of her class of light cruisers for the Royal Navy. Constructed by Cammell Laird Shipyard of Birkenhead, United Kingdom, she entered service in 1940 during World War II. The cruiser took part in several battles in the Mediterranean and Arctic theatres of war. Following the war, the ship performed ceremonial functions before being sold for scrapping in 1957.

Dido's keel was laid down on 26 October 1937 by Cammell Laird Shipyard of Birkenhead. She was launched on 18 July 1939 and commissioned on 30 September 1940 at Birkenhead. Following her commissioning, Dido was sent to Scapa Flow for working up in September 1940. Part of this included high-speed sweeps off Fair Isle and Greenland. Immediately after this, Dido's first mission, in November 1940, was to escort the aircraft carrier Furious to West Africa, ferrying aircraft.

Dido then spent four months on convoy duty in the Atlantic before running supplies to Malta where she joined the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in April 1941. In May of that year Dido was sent to Crete and assisted in the evacuation of the British forces. On 29 May 1941 Dido was badly damaged by bombs whilst taking troops from Crete to Alexandria.

On 8 June 1941, Marines from Dido accepted the surrender of Assab in Eritrea.

From July to November 1941, Dido was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City for a refit, rejoining the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in December 1941.

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