HMS Black Prince (81)

HMS "Black Prince" was a "Dido"-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, of the "Bellona" subgroup. She was a modified "Dido" design, sometimes called "Dido" Group 2, with only 4 5.25 inch mounts instead of 5, and improved anti-aircraft armament. She was built by Harland & Wolff of Belfast, Northern Ireland, with her keel being laid down on 1 December 1939"Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II", London: The Random House Group Ltd. ISBN 1-851-70494-9] [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4022.html HMS Black Prince at Uboat.net] ] . She was launched on 27 August 1942, and commissioned on 30 November 1943.

"Black Prince" was named after Prince Edward (1330-1376), the eldest son of King Edward III.

After commissioning, "Black Prince" served on Arctic convoys and then came south in preparation for the invasion of Europe, being employed on offensive sweeps against German coastal convoy traffic. On the night of 25 April to 26 April 1944, accompanied by destroyers, she was involved in the action which sank the torpedo boat "T29" and damaged "T24" and "T27" off the north Brittany coast.

During the Normandy landings she was part of Force "A" of Task Force 125 in support of Utah Beach. Task Force 125 at this time consisted of the battleship USS "Nevada", the cruisers USS "Quincy", USS "Tuscaloosa", and "Black Prince", the monitor HMS "Erebus", and several destroyers and destroyer escorts [nl icon [http://www.go2war2.nl/artikel/1091/Overlord-Assault-Force-U-Utah.htm Go2War2.nl - Overlord, Assault Force U (Utah)] ] . Her target was the battery of Morsalines [Buffetaut Y. (1994). "D-Day Ships", London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-639-6] [ [http://www.jeroenkoppes.com/ww2/ships/hms_blackprince.asp HMS Black Prince] ] . In August 1944 she moved to the Mediterranean for the invasion of Southern France [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-BlackPrince.htm Naval-History.net - HMS Black Prince] ] . She was then sent to the Aegean waters in September 1944. On 8 September 1944 "Black Prince" arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, where she was ordered sweep the area around Scarpanto and the Gulf of Salonica. On one occasion she bombarded the airfield at Maleme on the island of Crete to prevent German aircraft from taking off.

On 21 November 1944 "Black Prince" left Alexandria, passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, and then on into the Indian Ocean. She arrived at Colombo in Ceylon on 30 November to join the East Indies Fleet, where she covered the aircraft carrier raids against Japanese oil installations and airfields in Sumatra and Malaya (Operation Meridian).

On 16 January 1945 she sailed as part of the British Pacific Fleet, seeing action off Okinawa and in the final bombardments of the Japanese mainland before withdrawing to reoccupy Hong Kong in September 1945.

After the Japanese surrender she remained in the Far East and was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy on 25 May 1946. She reverted to Royal Navy control, still in an un-modernised condition, on 1 April 1961.

She was sold for scrapping in March 1962; she was towed from Auckland on 5 April 1962 to the Mitsui & Company, Osaka breakage yards, Japan, by the Japanese tug "Benten Maru", arriving there on 2 May 1962 for breaking up.

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References

*Colledge
* [http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4022.html HMS Black Prince at Uboat.net]