CA - HMS Suffolk (55)

     
Name / Name : HMS Suffolk
Type / Type : heavy cruiser
Class / Class : County/Kent
Code name / Pennant number : 55
the Founding of the keel / Laid down : 30.09.1924
Run to the water / Launched : 16.02.1926
entry into service / commissioned by : 31.05.1928
withdrawn from service / End of service : July 1946 (sold to the scrap 25.03.1948, scrapped in January 1949)
Shipyard / Built by : H.M. Dockyard Portsmouth in Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Duration / Length : (m) 192,02
Width / Beam : (m) of 20.80
Draught / Draft : (m) 4,95
6,60 (max.)
Displacement standard /
Displacement, standard :
(t)
9750
a Displacement of the maximum /
Displacement, maximal :
(t)
13450
Armament / Armament : 8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
4x 102 mm/45 Mk V (4xI)
4x 40mm/39 Mk II (AA/4xI)
8 torpedo launchers 533 (2xIV)


from 1936:
8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
6 102 mm/45 Mk XVI (2xII) and Mk V (2xI)
8 40 mm/39 Mk VIII (AA/2xIV)
8 machine gun 12.7 mm/62 Vickers Mk III (AA/2xIV)
8 torpedo launchers 533 (2xIV)


from September 1939:
8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
6 102 mm/45 Mk XVI (2xII) and Mk V (2xI)
8 40 mm/39 Mk VIII (AA/2xIV)
8 machine gun 12.7 mm/62 Vickers Mk III (AA/2xIV)


from march 1941:
8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
8 102 mm/45 Mk XVI (2xII)
8 40 mm/39 Mk VIII (AA/2xIV)
4x 20 mm/65 Oerlikon (AA/4xI)
8 machine gun 12.7 mm/62 Vickers Mk III (AA/2xIV)


from July 1942:
8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
8 102 mm/45 Mk XVI (2xII)
8 40 mm/39 Mk VIII (AA/2xIV)
8 20 mm/65 Oerlikon (AA/8xI)


from march 1943:
8 203-mm/50 Mk VIII (4xII)
8 102 mm/45 Mk XVI (2xII)
8 40 mm/39 Mk VIII (AA/2xIV)
13x 20 mm/65 Oerlikon (AA/5xII,3xI)
Gear and equipment / Equipment : from 1933:
1x catapult


from September 1939:
1x catapult
1x radar Type 79Z - search for airborne targets


from march 1941:
1x catapult
1x radar Type 279 - search for airborne targets
1x radar Type 284 - artillery
1x radar Type 285 - artillery


from July 1942:
1x catapult
1x radar Type 273 - the search for air targets
1x radar Type 281 - to search for airborne targets
1x radar Type 284 - artillery
1x radar Type 285 - artillery


from march 1943:
1x catapult
1x radar Type 273 - the search for air targets
1x radar Type 281 - to search for airborne targets
1x radar Type 282 - artillery
1x radar Type 284 - artillery
1x radar Type 285 - artillery
Armour / Armour : (mm) side belt: 25, 25 - 114 mm (from 1935)
bulkhead: 25 - 64
ammunition depots: 25 - 102
main deck: 36 - 76
lower deck: 32 - 38
gun turrets: 25
Propulsion / Engines : 4x steam turbine Parsons
8x 3-drum boiler Admiralty
Power / Power : (SHP) 80 000
Screws / Propellers : (pcs) 4
Speed / Speed : (kts) 31,5
fuel Quantity / Fuel : (t) 3450
Range/Range : (miles/kts) 13300/12
3100/31
Aircraft / Aircraft : 3x seaplane Supermarine Walrus (removed 1943)
Crew / Crew : 685 (peaceful state)
784 (state of war)
Note / Note : commanders:
Captain John Walter Durnford (24.07.1939 - 01.07.1940)
Commander Denys Charles Gerald Schoppee (01.07.1940 - 15.11.1940)
Captain Edward Chicheley Thornton (15.11.1940 - 22.02.1941)
Captain Robert Example Of Traditional Architecture In Ellis (22.02.1941 - 23.06.1942)
Captain Richard Shelly (23.06.1942 - 15.12.1943)
Captain Alfred Spalding Russell (15.12.1943 - 01.05.1944)
Captain David Gilmour (01.05.1944 - ?)


the origin of the name: a county in eastern England





Sources:
PEJČOCH, Ivo, NOVÁK, Zdeněk, HÁJEK, Tomáš: warships[4]. 1.edition. Prague: Our troops p. p. 1993. 374s. ISBN 80-206-0357-3
HRBEK, Ivan HRBEK, Jaroslav: the Fleet of the states participating in the second world war. 1.edition. Prague: Our army, 1994. 232s. ISBN 80-206-0245-3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Suffolk_(55)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_class_cruiser
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-11578/hms_norfolk.htm
navalhistory.flixco.info
www.uboat.net
www.bismarck-class.dk
www.merchantnavyofficers.com
www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3
www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/kent_class.htm
www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CA-Suffolk.htm.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/CA-HMS-Suffolk-55-t69466#298631 Version : 0
HMS Suffolk.
CA - HMS Suffolk (55) - zakotvená HMS Suffolk (55), pravděpodobně ve Scapa Flow

zakotvená HMS Suffolk (55), pravděpodobně ve Scapa Flow
URL : https://www.valka.cz/CA-HMS-Suffolk-55-t69466#297463 Version : 0
a BRIEF HISTORY of the SHIPS:


- the end 30. years: service in the Far east in the framework of the so-called "China station"
- September 1939: the beginning of the war caught HMS Suffolk in the shipyard in Portsmouth, where he underwent modernisation (amongst other things installed a radar early warning Type 79Z). Work in the yard completed 23.09., the cruiser then shifted to base at Scapa Flow)
- October 1939: 01.10. is HMS Suffolk assigned to the 1. cruiser squadron with the operating area in the Mediterranean sea. On 14.10. připlová to Alexandria, from whence hangs out with the other ships of the squadron on a short patrol cruises and tests new radar
- November 1939: the part of the ships of the cruiser squadron called back to Britain, HMS Suffolk sailed together with HMS Devonshire. From 19.11. service in the North patrol /Northern Patrol/ in the Danish strait. On 23.11. looking together with other ships of the Royal Navy after the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (German corsairs finally found an auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi, but for the success paid for her sinking)
- December 1939: re-listing to 1. cruiser squadron, the service in the framework of the northern patrols
- January 1940: move to the base in the Clyde, the patrol cruises in the area of Northwestern approaches /Northwestern Approaches/
- 02.02.1940: a collision with a steamer Misram, Suffolk is sent for repair to the yards in the Clyde (the repair lasted until the end of march), after the odeslan to Scapa Flow for trials
- April 1940: participation in the Norwegian campaign. First are 11.04. on its board the board members of the marine corps designation for the occupation of the Faroe islands, a successful airdrop carried out two days later (operation Valentine). During subsequent cruises to the Lofotům stumbled Suffolk 14.04. the German tanker Skagerrak, which soon sank. On 17.04. comes into the vicinity of Stavanger, where been firing on the German airfield and kotvistě seaplanes (operation Duck). Fire works was destroyed four aircraft and damaged numerous facilities airports. However, the German response was not long in coming and Suffolk became the target of intense air raids; during the few hours she counted the crew of a total of 33 attacking aircraft. Thanks to the strong anti-aircraft fire and clever manoeuvring fell most of the bombs outside, but in the end, the German pilots lived to see the success. One of the bombers Ju-88 of II./KG 30 struck the ship aft, způsobujíce by heavy damage (flooded with the ammunition chamber of the tower X, disabled steering gear, speed reduced to 18 knots). Suffolk retreats to Scapa Flow, where, after a makeshift repair, shifting to Greenock.
- April 1940-march 1941: repair and modernization at the shipyard in Greenock - installed artillery radars Type 284 and 285, the existing warning radar replaced by a newer Type 279, strengthened anti-aircraft armament
- march 1941: konvojová service on the north-western approaches
- may 1941: patrol service in the Danish strait, together with the , HMS Norfolk. On 23.05. gaining Suffolk first contact with the union of German ships (battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen), attempting to stealthily penetrate to the Atlantic. A few hours later, gaining contact and Norfolk. Cruisers covers the fog watching the German ship, using radar and report their location. Thanks to this, the following morning could with German ships clash HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales (battle in the Denmark strait). After the loss of Hood and the numerous lesions of the Prince of Wales to the british detachment, the German association but is still monitored by the british heavy cruisers. Unfortunately, it begins to quickly change the weather and other monitoring is possible only by using the radar on the Suffolk. Eventually is lost and the radar contact (early in the morning 25.05.) and Bismarck is doing this time to escape. Thanks to the reports of the Suffolk, but the Admiralty knows, that is the German battleship damaged and is losing fuel. Because on the Suffolk running out of fuel, in action against the Bismarck already made and is sent to the Island to replenish.
- June 1941: patrol service in the north Atlantic
- 23.07. when 07.08.: participation in the operation EF (the raid on the ports of Tromso and Kirkeness) as part of the cover of the union of carriers HMS Furious and HMS Victorious
- August 1941: a visit to the king of Jíří VI. the Home Fleet
- 24.08.: remote cover of the first Russian convoy as part of the union of warships centered around the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (operation Dervish)
- September 1941: remote coverage of other Russian convoys, participating in several actions of the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious against the Norwegian ports
- October 1941 to February 1942: patrol cruises in the vicinity of Iceland, several sorties against German ships in Norway
- march-June 1942: modernization in the yard in the Tyne; radar 279 replaced by the newer Type 281, installed a new-centimeter radar Type 273 to search for surface targets and once again strengthened the anti-aircraft defense
- July-November 1942: distant cover for arctic convoys
- December 1942-march 1943: further modernisation, installed radar Type 282 for the management of anti-aircraft fire and changed the anti-aircraft armament
- April 1943: inclusion in the 4. cruiser squadron intended for operations in the Indian ocean
- may-June 1943: voyage to a new operational area as escort for several convoys, gradually visiting Gibraltar, Freetown, Cape town and durban; the squadron is attached at the beginning of July in the Kilindini
- July 1943: training operations with other ships of the squadron, followed by konvojová service in the Indian ocean
- January 1944: the unsuccessful search for the German lamačích blockade (operations to Thwart)
- march 1944: the search for a supply boat submarines Brake (operation Covered)
- April-may 1944: cover the supply of the group of Eastern fleet operating against ports and refineries in the vicinity of Surubaji, later included in the Force 68 as a close protection of the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious and USS Saratoga (operation Transom)
- June - August 1944: repairs and modernization in Durban
- September 1944: inclusion in the 5. cruiser squadron
- October 1944: as part of the TG 63.2 participation in the events directed against Nikobarským islands (operation Millet)
- November - December 1944: konvojová service in Iindickém ocean
- January 1945: cover carriers HMS Indomitable, Victorious and Indefatigable during the letackých strikes against refineries in Sumatra (part of Force 65, operation Lentil); after that again, the protection of convoys
- march to may 1945: numerous operations in Malackém strait and the coast of Burma - support the ground forces, supplies, coverage of aircraft carriers (part of Force 63, operation to Transport, Bishop and Dracula)
- June 1945: part of a cover group of escort aircraft carriers HMS Stalker, Khedive and Ameer during the photographic survey of the southern of Malaysia and air strikes against airports, and ships in the vicinity Malackého channel (part of Force 63, operation Balsam)
- July 1945: HMS Suffolk sent back to Britain, here adapted for the transport of troops
- August-November 1945: first sailing with the returning soldiers to Australia, after minor repairs in the shipyards in Chatham
- January-April 1946: the second voyage to Australia
- April-June 1946: a third transport cruise, this time to Singapore. After returning to Britain stopped in to the reserve
- may 1948: sold to the dismantling of the company BISCO
- June 1946 to January 1949: the dismantling of ships in the shipyards in Newport


Source:
Hrbek, Jaroslav: Volleys over the waves
Hrbek, Jaroslav: Bloody oceans
Hrbek, Jaroslav: the Naval war culminates
Hrbek, Jaroslav: the Victory comes from the sea
www.naval-history.net
.
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