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Euryalus at abuoy on completion, June 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name	Euryalus
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	21 October 1937
Launched	6 June 1939
Commissioned	30 June 1941
Decommissioned	19 September 1954
Fate	Scrapped, 18 July 1959
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	Dido-classlight cruiser
Displacement	5,600 tonsstandard 6,850 tonsfull load
Length	485 ft (148 m) pp 512 ft (156 m) oa
Beam	50.5 ft (15.4 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion	Parsons geared turbines Four shafts Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers 62,000 shp (46,000 kW)
Speed	32.25 knots (60 km/h)
Range	1,303 nmi (2,414 km) at 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) 3,685 nmi (6,824 km) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	480
Armament	5 × twin5.25-inch (133 mm) guns[1] 1 ×4-inch (102 mm) gun 2 × quad0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns, 3 × quad2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom guns, 2 × triple21-inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes.
Armor	Belt: 3 in (76 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Magazines: 2 in (51 mm) Bulkheads: 1 in (25 mm)
Notes	Pennant number 42

HMSEuryalus was aDido-classcruiser of theRoyal Navy. She was laid down atChatham Dockyard on 21 October 1937, launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941.Euryalus was the last cruiser built at the dockyard.

On 17 September 1941Euryalus joined the escort for convoy WS 11X fromGlasgow toGibraltar. From 24 to 30 September 1941 she was part ofOperation Halberd, one of theMalta Convoys. Nine fast freighters, escorted by the battleshipsHMS Prince of Wales,HMS Nelson andHMS Rodney, the aircraft carrierHMS Ark Royal, cruisersHMS Kenya,HMS Edinburgh,HMS Sheffield, HMSEuryalus andHMS Hermione, and eighteen destroyers sailed from Gibraltar. Two days later the force was spotted by Italian scout planes. Italian air attacks launched fromSardinia began on 27 September. The battleshipNelson was hit by a torpedo north of theGalite Islands. That evening the freighterImperial Star was sunk north ofCap Bon. On 1 OctoberEuryalus became part ofForce W at Gibraltar.

Euryalus joined the 15th Cruiser Squadron atAlexandria on 11 November 1941 for service with theMediterranean Fleet. On 24 November she deployed withForce B, including the cruisersHMS Ajax,HMS Galatea,HMS Naiad andHMS Neptune, to search for convoys on passage toBenghazi. On 15 December 1941Euryalus,Naiad and eight destroyers deployed from Alexandria under Rear-AdmiralPhilip Vian as an escort for the freighterMV Breconshire, bound forMalta. On 17 December Vian's force rendezvoused withForce K from Malta, anda brief engagement took place with units of the Italian fleet.Euryalus and the rest of the squadron sailed for Alexandria the following day.

On 12 February 1942Euryalus was part of Vian's Force B deployed to cover Convoy MW 9, with HMSNaiad,HMS Dido and eight destroyers. The convoy came under heavy German air attack on 14 February, and the merchant shipClan Chattan was scuttled. Vian's ships returned to Alexandria on the morning of 15 February. On 22 March 1942 she was involved in theSecond Battle of Sirte. From 12 to 16 June 1942Euryalus was part ofOperation Vigorous, another Malta supply convoy, starting at Alexandria,Port Said andHaifa. The escorting force included the old battleshipHMS Centurion, the cruisersHMS Cleopatra (flagship of Rear-Admiral Vian), HMSDido, HMSHermione, HMSEuryalus,HMS Arethusa,HMS Newcastle (flagship of Rear-AdmiralW. G. Tennant),HMS Birmingham, the anti-air cruiserHMS Coventry, 19 destroyers, 9 escort destroyers, 4 corvettes, 2 minesweepers, 2 tugs and 4motor torpedo boats. On 16 June HMSHermione was sunk by theU-boatU-205.

On 23 January 1943Euryalus, in company with HMSCleopatra and the destroyersHMS Jervis,HMS Nubian andHMS Kelvin bombarded German-Italian forces atZuara.

On 10 July 1943Euryalus was part ofOperation Husky, the allied amphibious landings on Sicily. In this time join the 12th cruiser squadron withHMS Aurora,HMS Penelope, HMSCleopatra,HMS Sirius and HMSDido. For the operationEuryalus was assigned was to cover the attacking forces, together with other elements ofForce H, under Vice-AdmiralAlgernon Willis. Willis's force consisted of four battleships, the aircraft carriersHMS Formidable andHMS Indomitable and three destroyer flotillas with 18 destroyers. The reserve force comprised the battleshipsHMS Howe,HMS King George V and six destroyers. The invasion was further supported by three monitors, four cruisers, four AA ships, 47 destroyers, 20 submarines, 327 landing ships and 715 landing boats of all kinds, 296 minor vessels and 155 transport vessels. TheUnited States Navy deployed five cruisers, 48 destroyers, 190 landing ships, 510 landing boats, 510 other vessels and 66 transport vessels, with a further 31 warships from the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Norway and Greece.

HMSEuryalus was involved inOperation Avalanche, the amphibious landings atSalerno on 9 September 1943 as part of Rear-Admiral Vian's Task Force 88. The Task Force covered the landing area with the aircraft carrierHMS Unicorn, the escort carriersHMS Attacker,HMS Battler,HMS Hunter andHMS Stalker, the cruisersHMS Scylla, HMSEuryalus,HMS Charybdis, eight British destroyers, and the Polish escort destroyerORP Krakowiak.

Euryalus joined the 4th Cruiser Squadron atTrincomalee, Ceylon in January 1945, becoming part of the BritishEastern Fleet. On 24 January she took part inOperation Meridian I, covering carrier-launched attacks on refineries at Pladjoe, Sumatra. On 2 FebruaryEuryalus arrived atFremantle, Australia, to transfer to theBritish Pacific Fleet (BPF).

Euryalus arrived at Sydney on 11 February 1945. She sailed from there on 28 February to the British Forward Base atManus, where she joined the British Pacific Fleet on arrival on 7 March. There the fleet awaited the approval of theUS Chiefs of Staff for Royal Navy ships to join US Navy operations in the south-west Pacific. On 17 MarchEuryalus sailed for the US Navy Assembly area atUlithi to join in USN operations. She arrived there on 20 March arrived and joined theUnited States Fifth Fleet for operations against Japan and theImperial Japanese Navy (IJN). On 23 March she sailed from Ulithi as part of CTU 6 with the 25th, 27th and 4th RAN destroyer flotillas to join US operations off theSakishima Gunto islands group, as part ofOperation Iceberg 1. On 1 April she transferred with the Task Force 57 carriers to cover air attacks onFormosa. On 12 April, as part of Operation Iceberg Oolong, she provided covered during attacks onShinchiku andMatsugama. The next dayEuryalus rejoined US ships off Sakishima Gunto. She deployed with Task Force 57 during the final strike of Phase 1 of the Sakishima Gunto attacks. On 1 May she rejoined US Task Force 45 with Task Force 57 carriers to continue the attacks on Sakishima Gunto. Three days later Operation Iceberg 2 began, resuming the attacks on Sakishima Gunto.

On 27 MayEuryalus, with the other ships of the Royal Navy, transferred to US Task Force 37, as changes were made in the organisation of the US Fleet. She was atBrisbane on 4 June for repair and maintenance, then sailed to Manus. From Manus she sailed on 6 July for operations in preparation forOperation Olympic, the invasion of Japan. On 17 July she deployed with Task Force 37, joining ships of US Task Force 38 to provide cover during air attacks on targets in the Tokyo –Yokohama area, including airfields and the seaplane base atKitaura. On 24 July she covered Task Force 37 carriers during air attacks onOsaka andKatori as well as attacks on shipping. On 9 August she covered the same Task Force during attacks on airfields and shipping in northHonshu andHokkaido. On 12 August she took passage to Manus due to a shortage of fuel oil from British support tankers.

Euryalus transferred back to Royal Navy control on 15 August, after thesurrender of Japan. She arrived back at Manus on 18 August and on 27 August sailed as TU.111.2 with the carriers HMSIndomitable andHMS Venerable, the cruisersHMS Swiftsure,HMS Black Prince, and the destroyersHMS Kempenfelt,HMS Ursa andHMS Whirlwind for the reoccupation of Hong Kong. On 29 August 1945 she entered Hong Kong with HMSSwiftsure and the landing shipHMCS Prince Robert.

Euryalus was the last originalDido operational in Royal Navy, until 1954, mainly on theSouth Atlantic station. The ship was the most modernised of the originalDidos, having been extensively updated from October 1943 to June 1944 atJohn Brown on theClyde with new light anti-aircraft armament of 20 mm, 40 mm and 2-pounder mountings and a generally new radar suite with Type 293 radar the standard post-war Royal Navy target indicator and close-range air and surface search, Type 272 heightfinders and surface warning and new navigation radar. After the end of World War IIEuryalus spent 18 further months in the Pacific Fleet operating from Sydney, Japan and Hong Kong before returning to the UK for a year-long modernisation atRosyth in 1947–48. By this time the long range airwarning radar onEuryalus was the late war Type 279b/281, the precursor of the post-1945, Type 960. Photos reveal thatEuryalus's 5.25-inch (133 mm) turrets were also modified externally in the same way asVanguard's andRoyalist's with the insertion in the turret for operators of a large Perspex sighting windows. In the early 1950s a major modernisation was planned forDido-class cruisersPhoebe,Diadem andCleopatra,^[2] refitting them in a similar pattern to HMSRoyalist with the further improvement of new boilers, similar to those of theDaring class. The $4.5 million cost ofRoyalist's update to a 1950sfleet picket standard ruled this out.^{[citation needed]}

• Campbell, N.J.M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85.ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.OCLC 67375475.
• Friedman, Norman (2010).British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
• Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980).British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: 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.

• HMS Euryalus (42) - entry at uboat.net

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