HMS Trinidad (46)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Trinidad.

Trinidad in 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Trinidad
Namesake	Trinidad
Builder	HM Dockyard Devonport
Laid down	21 April 1938
Launched	21 March 1941
Commissioned	14 October 1941
Fate	Damaged in air attack and scuttled 15 May 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass2- light cruiser
Displacement	8,000 tons
Length	169.3 m (555 ft)
Beam	18.9 m (62 ft)
Draught	5 m (16 ft)
Propulsion	Four oil fired 3-drum Admiralty-type boilers, 4-shaft geared turbines, 4 screws, 54.1 megawatts (72,500 shp)
Speed	33 kn (61 km/h)
Complement	907
Armament	Twelve BL 6 in (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (4 × 3), eight QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark XVI guns (4 × 2), eight 40 mm Bofors AA (4 × 2) guns, 3 quadruple 2 pounder ("pom-pom") AA mounts 12 20 mm AA (6 × 2) guns Six 21 inch (533 mm) (2 × 3) torpedo tubes
Armour	Main belt: 83 mm, Deck: 51 mm, Turrets: 51 mm, Director control tower: 102 mm.
Aircraft carried	Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft

HMS Trinidad was a Royal Navy Template:Sclass2- cruiser (also known as the Fiji class). She was lost while serving in the Arctic on convoy duty after being damaged escorting PQ-13 in 1942.

Early career

Trinidad as seen from HMS Fury in the North Atlantic during an Arctic convoy escort patrol. Trinidad is dazzle-painted.

Trinidad was built by HM Dockyard Devonport. She was laid down on 21 April 1938, launched 21 March 1941 and commissioned on 14 October 1941. The ship served with the British Home Fleet during her brief career.

Loss

While escorting Convoy PQ 13 in March 1942, she and other escorts were in combat with German Template:Sclass2- destroyers. She hit and damaged the German destroyer Z26 and then launched a torpedo attack. One of her torpedoes had a faulty gyro mechanism possibly affected by the icy waters. The path of the torpedo formed a circular arc, striking Trinidad and killing 32 men. One of the survivors was composer George Lloyd, a Royal Marines bandsman who had earlier written the ship's official march. This was performed at the Last Night of the Proms on 7 September 2013, in the presence of the last surviving crewman from Trinidad.

Trinidad was towed clear of the action, and was then able to proceed under her own power towards Murmansk. The German submarine U-378 attempted to engage and sink the damaged cruiser, but was spotted and attacked by the destroyer Fury. On arrival in Murmansk she underwent partial repairs.

Trinidad under repair in the Kola Inlet at Murmansk.

She set out to return home on 13 May 1942, escorted by the destroyers Foresight, Forester, Somali and Matchless. Other ships of the Home Fleet were providing a covering force nearby. Her speed was reduced to 20 knots (37 km/h) owing to the damage she had sustained. En route, she was attacked by more than twenty Ju 88 bombers on 15 May 1942. All attacks missed, except for one bomb that struck near the previous damage, starting a serious fire. Sixty-three men were lost, including twenty survivors from the cruiser Edinburgh, which had been sunk two weeks earlier. The decision was taken to scuttle her and she was torpedoed by Matchless and sank in the Arctic Ocean, north of North Cape. Among the victims there were four Czechoslovak airmen en route to Great Britain – Sergeant Vratislav Laštovička, Corporals Jan Ferák, Josef Návesník and Bohuslav Zikmund (three other airmen were rescued).

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-922-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell. ISBN 1-86019-874-0.

Further reading

• Pearce, Frank (1975). The Ship That Torpedoed Herself: HMS "Trinidad". ISBN 0-904593-02-9

External links

• WWII cruisers
• HMS Trinidad at Uboat.net
• IWM Interview with survivor Wallace Hughes