 Aurora, July 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSAurora |
| Builder | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Laid down | 27 July 1935 |
| Launched | 20 August 1936 |
| Commissioned | 12 November 1937 |
| Decommissioned | April 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 12 |
| Fate | Sold on 19 May 1948 to theNationalist Chinese Navy |
 Republic of China | |
| Name | Chung King |
| Namesake | Chongqing |
| Acquired | 19 May 1948 |
| Fate | Defected toCommunist China, 25 February 1949 |
 People's Republic of China | |
| Name | Tchoung King |
| Acquired | February 1949 |
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | Sunk by ROC aircraft, March 1949. Later refloated and converted for other purposes. Scrapped duringCultural Revolution |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Arethusa-classlight cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 506 ft (154 m) |
| Beam | 51 ft (16 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range | Unknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil |
| Complement | 500 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | |
| Aircraft carried | One aircraft (later removed) |
HMSAurora was anArethusa-classlight cruiser of theRoyal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, with the keel being laid down on 27 July 1935. She was launched on 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937.
In 1948 it was given to theNationalist government inChina and served as the flagship of theRepublic of China Navy, being renamedChongqing. In February 1949 its crew mutinied and defected to the Communists.
Aurora served with theHome Fleet from completion asRear Admiral (D). In September 1939 she was with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, escorting convoys toScandinavia and engaged in the hunt for the GermanbattleshipsScharnhorst andGneisenau. From October 1940 she was commanded by CaptainWilliam Gladstone Agnew. After theNorwegian Campaign she participated in the operations hunting the German battleshipBismarck and, with the cruiserKenya, intercepted one of the German supply ships,Belchen, on 3 June 1941.
_underway_in_the_North_Atlantic%2c_in_November_1940_(80-G-70075).jpg)
Between July and August 1941, as part ofForce K with the Home Fleet, she was involved in operations toSpitzbergen andBear Island (Operation Gauntlet). After one of these sorties, in company with the cruiserNigeria, she intercepted a German troop convoy offNorthern Norway, and the GermanBremse was sunk. In the autumn she was transferred to theMediterranean and arrived inMalta on 21 October 1941 to join a new Force K.[3]
On 9 November 1941 leading Force K, consisting ofHMS Penelope,HMS Lance andHMS Lively, she was involved inBattle of the Duisburg Convoy. The Italian destroyerFulmine was sunk, as well as the German transportsDuisburg andSan Marco, the Italian transportsMaria,Sagitta andRina Corrado, and the ItalianConte di Misurata andMinatitlan. The Italian destroyersGrecale andEuro were damaged.[4]
On 24 November Force K, made up of the British light cruisersAurora andPenelope and the destroyersLance andLively, intercepted an Axis convoy about 100 nautical miles west ofCrete. The Axis convoy was bound from theAegean toBenghazi. The two German transports in the convoy,Maritza andProcida were sunk byPenelope andLively despite the presence of the Italian torpedo boatsLupo andCassiopea. On 1 December 1941 Force K withPenelope andLively attacked the Mantovani Convoy. The Italian destroyerAlvise Da Mosto and the sole cargo shipMantovani were sunk.[5]
HMSAurora also participated in theFirst Battle of Sirte on 17 December 1941. On 19 December while steaming offTripoli she was severely damaged in a minefield and was forced to retire to Malta.[6]
After her return to the Mediterranean she joinedForce H, and in November was part of the Centre Task Force for the Landings in North Africa,Operation Torch. OffOran, she engaged theVichy French destroyersTramontane andTornade on 8 November 1942, sinking the latter and damaging the former so badly that she had to be beached. The following day she badly damaged thedestroyerÉpervier and drove her ashore. By December she was operating as part ofForce Q atBône against theAxis evacuation and supply convoys betweenTrapani andTunis.
Then, as a unit of the 15th Cruiser Squadron, she participated in theAllied invasion of Sicily and theSalerno landings (Operation Avalanche) before moving into the Aegean in October 1943. While escorting British destroyers reinforcing troops on the island ofLeros on 30 October, she was attacked by German Junkers Ju 87 and Ju 88 aircraft offCastellorizo, suffering a 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb hit abaft the after funnel. The explosion and subsequent fire killed 47 crew.Aurora was forced to withdraw toTaranto for repairs which lasted until April 1944.[7] In August 1944 she was at theOperation Dragoon landings in the south of France, then returned to the Aegean, where she assisted in the liberation ofAthens. One notable member of crew was the actorKenneth More, who used his theatre skills in his role as 'action broadcaster' to describe to the crew below decks via the public address system what was happening when the ship was in action.[8]
After the warAurora was sold on 19 May 1948 to theChinese Navy as compensation for six Chinesecustompatrol ships and onecargo ship that the British seized inHong Kong and lost during the war. She was renamedChung King, after the Chinese war time capital of Chung King (Chongqing), and became the flagship of the Republic of China Navy under the command of CaptainDeng Zhaoxiang.Chiang Kai-shek spent time on the ship observing the worsening military situation at some points.
The crew was not content after not having been paid since December 1948, when the ship was assigned to guard $500,000 in silver dollars, and planned a mutiny for weeks. On 24 February 1949 the mutineers found out that their plan had been discovered, opened the small arms locker, and took over the ship. They forced the captain to the bridge, and threatened to blow up the ship if he didn't get the ship underway. At 03:00 on 25 February, Captain Deng relented, and set sail with darkened lights. After announcing to the full crew that they intended to defect to theCommunists with the ship, an anti-revolution group formed and threatened to retake the ship. The ship arrived atYantai and the silver was distributed amongst the crew, staving off the counter-rebellion. Once in Yantai, local Communist authorities were needed to put down the counter-rebellion.[9] The ship moved to Huludao Harbor after being spotted by Nationalist reconnaissance aircraft, and on 21 March 1949 she was sunk in Huludao harbour by Nationalist aircraft. She was later salvaged with Soviet assistance but then stripped bare as "repayment". The original engines were sent to the Shanghai Department of Electricity, and were replaced with engines from the scuttled coastal defence shipHai Yung.[10]
The PLAN considered refitting the ship along the lines of theAnshan-classdestroyers they had received, with an armament of fourB-2LM turrets and eight twin 57 mm, but these plans were still too expensive, so the empty hulk spent the rest of her life as an accommodation and warehouse ship, being subsequently renamedHuang He (Yellow River) in 1959, when it was transferred to Shanghai on 27 October of that year to be converted to a salvage ship at a planned budget of 3 million¥. After spending 276,000 ¥, the conversion project was cancelled, and the ship was once again transferred, this time toTianjin in June 1965, used as a barracks ship and renamedPei Ching. She was scrapped at some point during theCultural Revolution.[10] Her name tablet and ship's bell were preserved in theMilitary Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.[11]
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