HMS Kenya (C14)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Kenya
Namesake:	Kenya
Builder:	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland
Laid down:	18 June 1938
Launched:	18 August 1939
Commissioned:	27 September 1940
Out of service:	In reserve September 1958
Identification:	Pennant number: 14
Fate:	Sold for scrapping on 29 October 1962 and was broken up at the Faslane yards of Ship-breaking Industries.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Crown Colony-class light cruiser
Displacement:	8,530 tonnes standard 10,450 tons full load
Length:	169.3 m (555 ft)
Beam:	18.9 m (62 ft)
Draught:	5 m (16 ft)
Propulsion:	Four oil fired three-drum Admiralty-type boilers Four shaft geared turbines Four screws 54.1 megawatts (72,500 shp)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:	6,520 nmi (12,080 km) at 13 kn (24 km/h)
Complement:	730
Armament:	12 × BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval guns in four triple turrets 4 × twin QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark XVI guns 4 × twin 40 mm Bofors AA guns 3 × quadruple QF 2 pounder ("pom-pom") AA mounts 6 × twin 20 mm AA guns 2 × triple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tube mountings
Armour:	Belt: 83 mm (3.3 in) Deck: 51 mm (2.0 in) Turrets: 51 mm (2.0 in) Director control tower: 102 mm (4.0 in)
Aircraft carried:	Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft (later removed)

HMS Kenya was a Crown Colony-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. The ship was named after Kenya, a British possession at the time of the ship's construction.

Kenya was launched on 18 August 1939 from the yards of Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland, and after a work up period, was commissioned on 27 September 1940. She took part in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 whilst part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet, based at Scapa Flow. On 3 June Kenya and the cruiser Aurora surprised and sank the German supply tanker Belchen which was supplying the German submarine U-93 in the Davis Straits.

During September and October 1941, the Royal Navy devised a plan, titled Operation Stonewall, to intercept U-boats which were escorting outbound blockade runners through the Bay of Biscay, and into the Atlantic. After providing escort to the Malta convoy Halberd on 24 September on 1 October, Kenya and the cruiser Sheffield made to intercept the blockade runner Rio Grande, destined for Japan and escorted by U-204. Rio Grande escaped, but another blockade runner, Kota Pinang, was sunk on 3 October west of Cape Finisterre.

New research into declassified State Department records on the Soviet Union has revealed that on 19 March 1942, Kenya transported 10 tons of gold from the Soviet Union to the United States as payment for loans and war materials.

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