34°35′N23°10′E / 34.58°N 23.17°E /34.58; 23.17

Fiji in 1940
History
United Kingdom
Name	Fiji
Namesake	Colonial Fiji (nowFiji)
Builder	John Brown & Company,Clydebank
Laid down	30 March 1938
Launched	31 May 1939
Commissioned	5 May 1940
Identification	Pennant number: 58
Fate	Sunk by German bombers, 22 May 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	Fiji-classlight cruiser
Displacement	8,530long tons (8,670 t) (standard) 10,724 long tons (10,896 t) (deep load)
Length	555 ft 6 in (169.3 m)
Beam	62 ft (18.9 m)
Draught	19 ft 10 in (6 m)
Installed power	4Admiralty 3-drum boilers 80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 gearedsteam turbine sets
Speed	32.25knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph)
Range	6,250 nmi (11,580 km; 7,190 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	733 (peacetime), 900 (wartime)
Armament	4 × triple6 in (152 mm) guns 4 × twin4 in (102 mm)DP guns 2 × quadruple2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in))AA guns 2 × triple21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes
Armour	Engine and boiler rooms: 3.25 in (83 mm) Decks: 2–3.5 in (51–89 mm) Magazines: 2–3.5 in (51–89 mm) Gun turrets: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
Aircraft carried	2 ×seaplanes
Aviation facilities	1 ×catapult, 2 ×hangars

HMSFiji was thelead ship ofher class of 11light cruisers built for theRoyal Navy shortly before theSecond World War. Completed in mid-1940, she was initially assigned to theHome Fleet and was detached to escort a force tasked to forceFrench West Africa to join theFree French. The ship was torpedoed en route and required six months to be repaired.Fiji was then assigned toForce H where she helped to escortconvoys to Malta. The ship was transferred to theMediterranean Fleet in early May 1941. After theGermans invaded Crete a few weeks later, she was sunk by German aircraft on 22 May after having fired off all of her anti-aircraft ammunition.

Fiji displaced 8,530long tons (8,670 t) atstandard load^[1] and 10,724 long tons (10,896 t) atdeep load. They had anoverall length of 555 feet 6 inches (169.3 m), abeam of 62 feet (18.9 m)^[2] and adraught of 19 feet 10 inches (6 m). The ships were powered by fourParsons gearedsteam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by fourAdmiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 80,000shaft horsepower (60,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 32.25knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph).^[1]Fiji had ametacentric height of 3.4 feet (1.0 m) at deep load.^[2] TheFiji class carried enoughfuel oil to give them a range of 6,520nautical miles (12,080 km; 7,500 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).^[1] The ships' complement was 733 officers andratings in peacetime and 900 during war.^[2]

The armament of theFiji-class ships consisted of a dozenBL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XXIII guns in four three-gun turrets, onesuperfiring pair fore and aft of thesuperstructure. Their secondary armament consisted of eight4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVIdual-purpose guns in four twin turrets. Anti-aircraft defence forFiji was provided by two quadruple2-pounder (1.6 in (40 mm)) ("pom-poms")AA guns and two quadruple mounts forVickers 0.5-inch (12.7 mm)AA machineguns. The cruisers also carried two above-water tripletorpedo tube mounts for21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes, one mount on eachbroadside.^[2]

TheFiji class lacked a fullwaterlinearmour belt. The sides of theirboiler and engine rooms and themagazines were protected by 3.25–3.5 inches (83–89 mm) of armour. Thedeck over the propulsion machinery spaces and magazines was reinforced to a thickness of 2–3.5 inches (51–89 mm)^[2] and the main-gun turrets had only splinter protection 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) thick.^[1] They carried anaircraft catapult and twoSupermarine Sea Otter orWalrusseaplanes.^[3]

Fiji, the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after theCrown colony ofFiji, waslaid down byJohn Brown & Company at theirClydebank shipyard on 30 March 1938. The ship waslaunched on 31 May 1939 and completed on 5 May 1940.^[2] She was the first of theFiji class to enter service (Royal Navy classes were generally named after the lead ship of a class). She was initially assigned to theHome Fleet.^[4] On 31 August 1940 she sailed for the African Atlantic coast to take part inOperation Menace, the attack onDakar, but before she could join the taskforce,Fiji was damaged by a torpedo from theGerman submarine U-32 on 1 September and had to return to Britain for repairs, which lasted for the next six months.^[5] The torpedo hit abreast the forwardboiler room and most of the force of the detonation escaped up the forwardfunnel, but the boiler room and an adjacent compartment flooded, reducing her speed to 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). The flooding gave her alist to port; to counter it the ammunition from the forward turrets was thrown overboard and the portside torpedoes were ejected over the side.^[6] While under repair she was fitted with aType 284 gunneryradar and another pair of quadruple Vickers 0.50-inch AA machineguns were added.^[7]

She returned to service in March 1941 and was assigned to patrol theDenmark Strait for German commerce raiders. She missed the homeward-boundheavy cruiserAdmiral Scheer on 26–27 March, and in early April she was reassigned to Force H atGibraltar to blockade the German heavy ships then stationed atBrest. With Force H, she sailed into theMediterranean to support operations to relieve the island ofMalta in late April.^[8] On 5 May Force H departed Gibraltar to escort a heavily-laden convoy bound forEgypt (Operation Tiger); Force H only escorted the convoy halfway through the Mediterranean before the Mediterranean Fleet took over.Fiji joined the fleet at that time.^[9]

British intelligence anticipated that the Germans would attack the island of Crete on 17 May 1941 andAdmiralAndrew Cunningham, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, ordered his ships to sea on the 15th. Force B,Fiji and the light cruiserGloucester were tasked to patrol west of the island. The Germans began landing paratroopers on 20 May when Force B was en route to rendezvous with the battleshipsWarspite andValiant and their escorts west of Crete. The ships rendezvoused the following morning and German air attacks began a few hours later, although with little effect other than to help exhaust the ships' anti-aircraft ammunition. That afternoon, Cunningham ordered the cruisers to disperse into their original groups and search for any troop convoys in the Aegean. The Germans spotted Force B shortly after dawn on 22 May as the cruisers were steaming south to rendezvous with the battleships again.Fiji was not hit during these attacks, but was damaged by near misses that knocked out her aft anti-aircraftdirector.^[10]

Force B made the rendezvous with Force A1 (Rear AdmiralH B Rawlings) and Force D (Rear AdmiralIrvine Glennie) at about 08:30 and the combined force was ordered to report on their levels of high-angle anti-aircraft ammunition. Of the cruisers,Ajax had 40%,Orion 38%,Fiji 30%,Dido 25% andGloucester only 18%.Ajax,Orion andDido were ordered to return to Alexandria with Glennie's Force D to rearm butGloucester andFiji remained with Rawlings' Force A1.^[11][12]

At 12:25 Force A1, stationed 20 to 30 miles west ofAntikythera, received a request from Rear AdmiralEdward Leigh Stuart King to support the damagedHMS Naiad and the rest of his Force C. Force A1 headed east into theKythera Channel, rendezvousing with Force C between 13:30 and 14:00. As the more senior admiral, King took command, with air attacks now inflicting damage on both forces. At 14:02 and 14:07 respectively,Fiji andGloucester were detached to provide anti-aircraft support for thedestroyersKandahar andKingston. The two destroyers having already been ordered to rescue the survivors of the destroyerGreyhound, which had been sunk at 13:50. Writing in despatches after the battle, Cunningham stated that King was unaware of the shortage of anti-aircraft ammunition inFiji andGloucester. At 14:13 King and Rawlings exchanged messages about the shortage of ammunition within both Force C and Force A1, with Rawlings expressing concern about the orders given toGloucester andFiji. Following this communication, King issued an order to recall bothGloucester andFiji at 14:57.^[11][13]

TheLuftwaffe focused its attention on the four ships dispatched toGreyhound and they were under near-constant attack for several hours. By 15:30, while attempting to rejoin Force A1,Fiji had exhausted her supply of 4-inch (102 mm) anti-aircraft ammunition and was reduced to firing practicerounds. She closed onGloucester at 15:50, right when that ship was struck by four bombs and was near-missed by three others.Fiji dropped life rafts, but was forced to depart the area with the two destroyers. These ships fought on and shot down one attacker and severely damaged two others.^[14] The aerial attacks continued despite the heavy cloud cover; at 19:00 aMesserschmitt Bf 109fighter bomber struck the cruiser amidships with a bomb. The forward boiler andengine rooms flooded and gave her a severe list. Despite this damageFiji was able to maintain a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) until another Bf 109 hit her with another bomb that increased her list to 30 degrees. Abandon ship was ordered in the face of the uncontrollable flooding and shecapsized around 19:30. Her accompanying destroyers were unable to rescue any of the crew until after dark when almost all of them were recovered.^[15]Kit Tanner, the ship's chaplain, was posthumously awarded theAlbert Medal (since replaced by theGeorge Cross) for repeatedly entering the sea to rescue men from the water.^[16]

On 30 May 1941, in a letter to theFirst Sea Lord,Sir Dudley Pound, Cunningham wrote, "The sending back ofGloucester andFiji toGreyhound was another grave error and cost us those two ships. They were practically out of ammunition, but even had they been full up I think they would have gone. The Commanding Officer ofFiji told me that the air overGloucester was black with planes."^[17]

Following the loss of bothFiji andGloucester to air attacks after their anti-aircraft ammunition was exhausted, all British cruisers were instructed to not allow their anti-aircraft ammunition reserves to fall below 40%.^[18]

• 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.; Wardlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020).Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
• "Cunningham, A. B., The Battle of Crete, Despatch to the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty, 4 August 1941".The London Gazette (Supplement). No. 38296. 21 May 1948. pp. 3103–3119.
• Friedman, Norman (2010).British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
• Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (2011) [2002].The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940–1943. Barnsley, UK: Frontline Books.ISBN 978-1-59114-561-5.
• Otter, Ken (2001) [1999].HMS Gloucester: The Untold Story (2nd ed.). Durham, UK: G.A.M. Books.ISBN 0-9522194-2-5.OCLC 59524624.
• Preston, Antony (1982).Cruisers. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books Inc.ISBN 0-86124-064-2.
• Raven, Alan (2019).British Cruiser Warfare: The Lessons of the Early War, 1939–1941. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-5267-4763-1.
• 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.
• Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian & Malizia, Nicola (1987).Air War For Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete 1940–41. London: Grub Street.ISBN 0-948817-07-0.
• Whitley, M. J. (1995).Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell.ISBN 1-86019-874-0.

• 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.
• Smith, Peter C. (2004).Destroyer Leader: The Story of HMS Faulknor 1935–46. Barnsley, Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime.ISBN 1-84415-121-2.

• WWII cruisers
• HMS Fiji at Uboat.net
• The True Experiences of Mr Leonard Charles Eades 'The battle of crete 1941', a crewman aboard the HMS Fiji when sunk 22 May 1941; later gunnery officer HMS Rodney D-Day 1944

• Crown Colony-class cruisers of the Royal Navy
• Ships built on the River Clyde
• 1939 ships
• World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
• World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
• Maritime incidents in May 1941
• Ships sunk by aircraft during the Battle of Crete
• Ships sunk by German aircraft
• Cruisers sunk by aircraft
• Shipwrecks of Greece

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