HMS ''Dunedin'' was a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

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 ...

, pennant number D93. She was launched from the yards of

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

Newcastle-on-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

on 19 November 1918 and commissioned on 13 September 1919. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name ''Dunedin'' (named after the capital of Scotland, generally Anglicised as

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Service history

In October 1920 she, with the other three British vessels, was sent to assure protection of the unloading of munitions intended for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, at Danzig. In 1931 she provided assistance to the town of Napier, New Zealand, after the strong Hawkes Bay earthquake, in a task force with the sloop and the cruiser .

Second World War

Early in the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, ''Dunedin'' was involved in the hunt for the German battleships and after the sinking of the armed merchant cruiser . In early 1940 ''Dunedin'' was operating in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, and there she intercepted the German merchant ship ''Heidelberg'' west of the

Windward Passage The Windward Passage (french: Passage au Vent; es, Paso de los Vientos) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti. ...

. ''Heidelberg''s crew scuttled the ship before ''Dunedin'' could take her. A few days later, ''Dunedin'', in company with the Canadian destroyer , intercepted and captured the German merchant ship ''Hannover'' near

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. ''Hannover'' later became the first British escort carrier, . Between July and November, ''Dunedin'', together with the cruiser , maintained a blockade off

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

, in part to bottle up three French warships, including the aircraft carrier . On 15 June 1941, ''Dunedin'' captured the German tanker ''Lothringen'' and gathered some highly classified

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

cipher machines that she carried. The

reused ''Lothringen'' as the fleet oiler ''Empire Salvage''. ''Dunedin'' went on to capture three

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

vessels, ''Ville de Rouen'' off

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, the merchant ship ''Ville de Tamatave'' east of the Saint Paul's Rocks, and finally, ''D'Entrecasteaux''. ''Dunedin'' was still steaming in the Central Atlantic Ocean, just east of the St. Paul's Rocks, north east of

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

, Brazil, when on 24 November 1941, at 1526 hours, two torpedoes from the sank her. Only four officers and 63 men survived out of ''Dunedin''s crew of 486 officers and men.

References

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External links

Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunedin Danae-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1918 ships World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in November 1941 World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth