HMS ''Cheshire'' (F18), was a ship of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, named after the English county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Previously a passenger ship, she served as an

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

and

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was torpedoed twice by

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s but survived each and returned to service after extensive repairs. ''Cheshire'' was used as a repatriation ship at war's end in 1945, and was returned to her owner in 1948. She was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

at Newport in July 1957.

History

HMS ''Cheshire'' was launched in 1927 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, 10,552 tons grt. She was completed in July that year for Bibby Brothers & Co, Liverpool as the motor passenger ship ''Cheshire''. On 29 August 1939, she was requisitioned by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and converted to the

HMS ''Cheshire'' (F 18). She was struck by one torpedo from on 14 October 1940, northwest of Ireland (). A total of 220 crew members were taken off by the Canadian

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

. ''Cheshire'' was towed to

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...

and beached. Later she was taken to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

for repairs lasting six months. She was torpedoed again on 18 August 1942 at by , which fired four torpedoes at the convoy SL 118 at 18:52. Detonations were heard 2 minutes 27 seconds, 3 minutes 10 seconds, 4 minutes 31 seconds and 4 minutes 37 seconds later, along with the sounds of three ships breaking up. ''U-214'' claimed the sinking of four ships totaling 20,000 grt. In reality one torpedo had damaged ''Cheshire'', another sank ''Hatarana'' and two torpedoes sank ''Balingkar''. On 9 June 1943, she was returned to her owner and used by the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

as troop transport. She also survived a U-boat attack on a small convoy of troopships transiting the English Channel from Southampton, England to

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, France, containing just herself and . While protected by an escort of four destroyers steaming in a diamond-shaped screen surrounding the transports, ''Léopoldville'' was torpedoed and sunk by on 24 December 1944. Over 800 men were killed including 763 U.S. soldiers headed for deployment in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. During ''Cheshire''s very next run, delivering the U.S. 289th Engineer Combat Battalion to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

from Southampton between 28 and 31 December 1944, a troop transport in convoy on the same route, was lost to a possible mine on 28 December.,Schoichet's account of the sinking of ''Empire Javelin''

Noon of December 28 found us approaching the half way mark in the channel...Suddenly, without warning, the whole world erupted."

Units transported

Units transported during World War II included: * 66th Infantry, 263rd regiment * 83rd Infantry, 329th regiment * 289th Engineer Combat Battalion, departed Southampton, 28 December 1944, on HMS ''Cheshire''s next passage following SS ''Léopoldville'' sinking, arrived Le Havre, France, 31 December 1944,Passage dates per :File:Travels of the 289th.jpg, "Travels of the 289th" the same run which saw the sinking of SS ''Empire Javelin'' on 28 December.

Post-war

''Cheshire'' was used as a repatriation ship in 1945 and returned to the owner on 5 October 1948. She was broken up at

Newport, Wales Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2 ...

in July 1957.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheshire, Hms Royal Navy ship names World War II Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy 1927 ships