HMS Despatch (D30)

HMS "Despatch" was a "Danae"-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was launched from the yards of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 24 September, 1919 and commissioned on 2 June, 1922.

"Despatch" had a relatively quiet wartime career, compared to her sisters. She was operating in the South Atlantic for the early part of the war, where she captured the German merchant "Düsseldorf" and intercepted the German merchant "Troja". However the crew of the "Troja" scuttled her before she could be captured. She was in the Mediterranean, escorting convoys in late 1940, and became involved in the Battle of Cape Spartivento. "Despatch" was reduced to the reserve in January 1945, and sold on 5 April 1946 for scrapping. She arrived at the yards of Arnott Young, of Troon, Scotland on 5 May 1946 to be broken up.

References

*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1204.html HMS Despatch at U-boat.net]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Danae.html Ships of the Danae class]