 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSAchilles |
| Namesake | Achilles |
| Builder | Cammell Laird,Birkenhead |
| Laid down | 11 June 1931 |
| Launched | 1 September 1932 |
| Commissioned | 10 October 1933 |
| Out of service | Loaned toRoyal New Zealand Navy 1 October 1936 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 70 |
| Honours and awards | River Plate 1939[1] |
| Fate | Sold toIndian Navy 5 July 1948 |
| New Zealand | |
| Name | HMNZSAchilles |
| Commissioned | 1 October 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 17 September 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 70 |
| Honours and awards | Guadalcanal 1942-43, Okinawa 1945[1] |
| Fate | Returned to Royal Navy 17 September 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Leander-classlight cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 555.5 ft (169.3 m) |
| Beam | 56 ft (17 m) |
| Draught | 19.1 ft (5.8 m) |
| Installed power | 73,280 shaft horsepower (54,640 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32.5 knots (60 km/h) |
| Range | 5,730 nmi (10,610 km; 6,590 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armour | 3 inmagazine box 1 inchdeck 1 inchturrets |
| Aircraft carried |
|
HMNZSAchilles was aLeander-classlight cruiser, the second of five in the class. She served in theRoyal New Zealand Navy in theSecond World War. She was launched in 1931 for theRoyal Navy, loaned to New Zealand in 1936 and transferred to the new Royal New Zealand Navy in 1941. She became famous for her part in theBattle of the River Plate, alongsideHMS Ajax andHMS Exeter and notable for being the first Royal Navy cruiser to have fire control radar, with the installation of the New Zealand-made SS1 fire-control radar in June 1940.[2]
After Second World War service in the Atlantic and Pacific, she was returned to the Royal Navy. She was sold to theIndian Navy in 1948 and recommissioned asINSDelhi. She was scrapped in 1978.
She was the second of five ships of theLeander-class light cruisers, designed as effective follow-ons to theYork class. Upgraded toImproved Leander-class, she could carry an aircraft and was the first ship to carry aSupermarine Walrus, although both Walruses were lost before the Second World War began. At one time she carried the unusualDH.82 Queen Bee which was a radio-controlled unmanned aircraft, normally used as a drone.
Achilles was originally built for the Royal Navy, and was commissioned asHMSAchilles on 10 October 1933. She would serve with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from 31 March 1936 up to the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, into which she was transferred in September 1941 and recommissioned HMNZSAchilles. About 60 per cent of her crew was from New Zealand.
At the outbreak of the Second World War,Achilles began patrolling the west coast of South America looking for German merchant ships. On 2 October 1939,Achilles, then operating with the linerOrduna north ofCallao off the west coast of South America, was instructed that after fuelling from the fleet tankerRFA Orangeleaf, she was to proceed south about to the South Atlantic. "TheAchilles was to show herself at Chilean ports as considered desirable and refuel at the Falkland Islands. The passage was to be made with moderate despatch and on arrival the cruiser was to come under the orders of theCommander-in-Chief, Africa."[3] ThusAchilles arrived in the South Atlantic and joined the South American Division under CommodoreHenry Harwood, later to take part in theBattle of the River Plate against theGraf Spee.[4]
By 22 October 1939 she had arrived at theFalkland Islands, where she was reassigned to Harwood, and allocated to Force G withExeter andCumberland.
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In the early morning of 13 December 1939, a force consisting ofAchilles,Ajax andExeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed at 06:16 to be apocket battleship, thought to be theGerman battleship Admiral Scheer but which turned out to beAdmiral Graf Spee. A fierce battle ensued, at a range of about 11 nautical miles (20 km).Achilles suffered some damage. In the exchange of fire, four crew were killed, her captain,W. E. Parry, was wounded; 36 ofGraf Spee's crew were killed.
The range reduced to about 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) at around 07:15 andGraf Spee broke off the engagement around 07:45 to head for the neutral harbour ofMontevideo which she entered at 22:00 that night, having been pursued byAchilles andAjax all day.Graf Spee was forced by international law to leave within 72 hours. Faced with what he believed to be overwhelming odds, the captain ofGraf Spee,Hans Langsdorff, scuttled his ship rather than risk the lives of his crew. An ensign flag flown by HMNZSAchilles in the Battle of the River Plate was donated toChrist Church Cathedral in theFalkland Islands and is still on display hanging on the south wall of the Cathedral atPort Stanley.[5]
Following the Atlantic battle,Achilles returned toAuckland, New Zealand, on 23 February 1940, where she underwent a refit until June. AfterGerman raider activity in the South Pacific in 1940Achilles escorted the first Trans-Tasman commercial convoy, VK.1, composed ofEmpire Star,Port Chalmers,Empress of Russia, andMaunganui leavingSydney 30 December 1940 forAuckland.[6] After Japan entered the war, she escorted troop convoys, then joined theANZAC Squadron in the south-west Pacific.
Achilles metHMAS Canberra, flagship ofRear-Admiral John G. Crace, andHMAS Perth in December 1941 to form an escort for thePensacola Convoy.[7]
While operating offGuadalcanal Island with US NavyTask Force 67 on 5 January 1943, she was attacked by four Japanese aircraft. A bomb blew the top off X turret, killing 13 sailors. Between April 1943 and May 1944Achilles was docked inPortsmouth, England for repairs and modernisation. Her single 4-inch AA guns were replaced by the dual-purposeQF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun in four twin mountings, modern radar was fitted, and the damaged X turret was replaced by fourQF 2 pom poms in a quadruple-mount. The work was delayed by a dockyard explosion that killed 14 men. Stoker William Dale was awarded theAlbert Medal for Lifesaving for his actions in saving the lives of several dockyard workers.[8]
Sent back to the New Zealand Fleet,Achilles next joined theBritish Pacific Fleet in May 1945 for final operations in thePacific War.
After the war,Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy atSheerness in Kent, England on 17 September 1946. She was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on 5 July 1948 asINS Delhi. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap inBombay on 30 June 1978. In 1968 she was present at the granting of independence toMauritius representing the Indian Government together with the Royal Navy frigateTartar under Captain Cameron Rusby.[9] As part of the scrapping her Y turret was removed and presented as a gift to the New Zealand government. It is now on display at the entrance ofDevonport Naval Base inAuckland.[10] On 22 January 1979, AdmiralJal Cursetji, the Indian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff, presentedAchilles's builder's plaque, steering wheel and engine room telegraph to AdmiralTerence Lewin, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff of the Royal Navy.[11]
Achilles played herself in the filmThe Battle of the River Plate in 1956.
| Leander class |
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| Amphion class (ModifiedLeander class) |
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