HMS Jamaica (44)

HMS Jamaica (44)

HMS "Jamaica" (C44), a Crown Colony-class cruiser of the Royal Navy, was named after the island of Jamaica, which was a British possession when she was built (in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England). She spent almost her entire wartime career on Arctic convoy duties, except for a deployment south for the landings in North Africa in November 1942, where she was a member of the Centre Task Force. She was captained for most of the Second World War by Captain John Hughes-Hallett.

The Arctic Convoys

Battle of the Barents Sea

In September 1942 "Jamaica" was employed as a close support for convoys in the Arctic. In November, she was part of the central task force covering the Allied landings in French North Africa in the area of Oran. In December she was again in the Arctic supplying close support for convoys. On 30 December 1942 the German heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper" attacked convoy JW.51B in an engagement that would become known as the Battle of the Barents Sea. The "Admiral Hipper" was first held at bay by the British destroyers HMS "Onslow", HMS "Obedient", HMS "Obdurate" and HMS "Orwell". Initially driven off, "Admiral Hipper" returned, only to be engaged by HMS "Jamaica" and HMS "Sheffield" and suffer damage from them. The British taskforce eventually drove off the German attackers.

Battle of North Cape

"Jamaica" spent 1943 escorting Arctic convoys. In December she was part of the Covering Forces for an Arctic convoy, with the battleship HMS "Duke of York" and four destroyers. On 22 December German air reconnaissance spotted the convoy, and the German battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" and five destroyers made to intercept it. The resultant engagement became known as the Battle of North Cape. The Germans were engaged by the covering force, consisting of the cruisers HMS "Belfast", HMS "Sheffield", HMS "Norfolk" and four destroyers. Meanwhile HMS "Jamaica" and HMS "Duke Of York" approached from the south west, barring the "Scharnhorst"’s way. The British ships were able to obtain some hits with their radar controlled fire, but the Germans were able to use their superior speed to escape the British capital ships. The British destroyers were able to keep pace, and obtained four torpedo hits using a pincer attack. "Scharnhorst" was brought to a halt, and was subsequently battered by gunfire from "Jamaica" and "Duke Of York", and from "Belfast" and "Norfolk" who arrived later. "Scharnhorst" was hit by another ten torpedoes, and sank in the evening of 26 December. Only 36 survivors were rescued.

Further convoys and the raids on the "Tirpitz"

Throughout March – April 1944, "Jamaica" continued to serve as part of covering forces for the Murmansk convoys. In July she formed part of the covering force for the carriers HMS "Formidable" and HMS "Indefatigable" for an unsuccessful attack on the German battleship "Tirpitz" at that time lying in Kaafjord (Operation Tungsten). In September she was once again involved with Arctic convoy operations and in October "Jamaica" and two destroyers carried out the provisioning of Spitsbergen.

In the Far East

"Jamaica" was refitted in 1945, and had her X turret removed and increased anti-aircraft armament fitted. In September she joined the 5th Cruiser Squadron of the East Indies Fleet.

In February 1946 she became a member of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, based at the same station. On 19 August she was dry docked at Simonstown, South Africa for the removal of a rudder and a general refit. On 4 October she was undocked and on 25 October she entered the wet dock for one day to carry out an inclination experiment. In November 1947 "Jamaica" returned to the UK, and in August 1948 she joined the America and West Indies Station as a member of the 8th Cruiser Squadron.

The Korean War

Early moves

In July 1949 "Jamaica" returned to the Far East Station on loan to the 5th Cruiser Squadron for participation in the Korean War. Fighting between North and South Korea had broken out on 25 June 1950, whilst "Jamaica" was on passage to Hong Kong. She rendezvoused with HMS "Belfast" and a frigate on 29 June, and after receiving orders from Command Naval Forces Far East was dispatched with two frigates to the coast of Korea where she joined a United Nations support force under Rear Admiral Higgins.

Patrols and shore bombardment

On 2 July, "Jamaica" and the American cruiser USS "Juneau" were patrolling together near Chumunjin when four North Korean MTBs were detected escorting a number of fishing trawlers. The MTBs were destroyed by the cruisers, and three trawlers were sunk. Light artillery opened up from the shore, and the warships were forced to withdraw. After this action "Jamaica" left for Sasebo, where she was refuelled, and then she relieved USS "Juneau" in the Chumunjin area. Bombardments of various coastal targets were carried out in an attempt to slow down the Communist invasion. On the 7th, together with the "Black Swan"-class sloop HMS "Hart" and the U.S. destroyer USS "Lyman K. Swenson", she bombarded Yangyang in North Korea itself. On the 8th, "Jamaica" and "Swenson" moved south where there were suitable cliff roads for bombardment. Moving at only 6 knots to gain accuracy, "Jamaica" was attacked by a hidden 76.2 mm gun battery which scored a hit on the starboard tripod of the mainmast, killing two and wounding others. The Communist guns were soon silenced, and the two ships returned to their original targets.

The Inchon offensive

In September planning was in progress for the landings at Inchon, which was to turn the tide of the war against the North Koreans. "Jamaica", and her sister ship HMS "Kenya" were used to provide gunfire support to the American Task Force. On the 13th, the bombardment began, using Fairey Firefly aircraft from the carrier HMS "Triumph" as spotters, and on the 14th, enemy guns on the peninsula of Walmindo, the first objective of the landing forces, had been silenced. On the 15th, "Jamaica" and "Kenya" operated with the two US heavy cruisers USS "Rochester" and USS "Toledo", in firing on Walmi-do. Each British cruiser had one spotting Firefly allocated to her. The bombardment went on at intervals all day, "Triumph" providing three pairs of Fireflies in constant rotation. The attempt was made to limit fire to known military targets, and "Jamaica" succeeded in hitting an ammunition dump.

On the 17th, just before 0600, two aircraft appeared overhead and were initially mistaken for “friendlies”. However the first approached the USS "Rochester" and released two bombs, which fell astern. The second also dropped a bomb that landed on the American cruiser's crane, but failed to explode. The two North Korean aircraft, a Yak-9 and an Il-2, then attacked "Jamaica" which had already opened fire. The Il-2 flew over "Jamaica" and raked her port side with gunfire, killing one sailor and injuring two others. The aircraft was then hit and shot down, while the more nimble Yak escaped.

At the end of the Korean bombardment, "Jamaica"`s guns crews had fired 1,290 rounds of 6 inch ammunition and 393 rounds of 4 inch. In February 1951 "Jamaica" returned to the UK, and was placed into reserve. "Jamaica" had become known as "The Galloping Ghost of the Korean Coast", due to the North Koreans claiming that she had been sunk three times. [ [http://www.britains-smallwars.com/korea/Jamaica.html Account of Jamaica in the Korean War] ]

ervice in home waters

"Jamaica" underwent a refit in early 1953. In October she was returned to active service to replace the cruiser HMS "Swiftsure", after "Swiftsure" had been damaged in a collision with the destroyer HMS "Diamond". In 1954 "Jamaica" was transferred to the Home Fleet and shortly after that, was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1956, she appeared in the film The Battle of the River Plate, standing in for HMS "Exeter". During the Suez Crisis in 1956, "Jamaica" was flagship of F02 Mediterranean and led the amphibious warfare squadron onto the beaches of Port Said, (Operation Musketeer), having acted as radar picket ship for the Fleet Air Arm and the RAF. She completed her tour of duty in November 1957 and returned to the UK. She was decommissioned on 20 November 1957. On 20 December 1960 "Jamaica" arrived at Dalmuir to be broken up by Arnott Young Ltd. Her hull was the last part to be scrapped, being finally finished at Troon in 1962.

References

*
* [http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4033.html HMS Jamaica at Uboat.net]


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