HMS ''Sussex'' was one of the ''London'' sub-class of the

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

s in 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 ...

. She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at

Hebburn-on-Tyne Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district council, urban district from 1894 until ...

on 1 February 1927, launched on 22 February 1928 and completed on 19 March 1929.

Career

Mediterranean, Australia and Spanish Civil War

''Sussex'' served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

until 1934, when she was sent to serve with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

while operated with the Mediterranean Fleet.Cassells, ''The Capital Ships'', p. 22 ''Sussex''s exchange tour concluded in 1936, and then she resumed her presence in the Mediterranean until 1939. During this tour of duty, she defended neutral shipping along the eastern Spanish coast in the last days of the

Spanish civil war The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, supported by the destroyers and . She obtained the release of at least four British cargo ships arrested by

Spanish nationalist The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take fo ...

forces in open seas, but the cruiser was unable to prevent the capture of the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-registered freighter ''Stangate'' by the nationalist

merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

Mar Negro ''Mar Negro'' was an armed merchantman of the Nationalist Spanish Navy during the Spanish Civil War. The cargo ship was launched in 1930 along with her sister ship , and after five years with the ''Compañía Marítima Del Nervión'' company, ...

'' off

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

on 16 March 1939.

Second World War service

Atlantic theatre

In September 1939 she operated with

Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the ...

in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

during the search for the enemy

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

raider . On 2 December she and the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

intercepted the German passenger ship ''Watussi''. Before the German ship could be captured she was scuttled by her own crew. Following the scuttling of ''Admiral Graf Spee'' in December 1939, ''Sussex'' returned to the UK, and served with the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

during the Norwegian Campaign. She entered refit at

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 ...

in March 1940 and in May after sea trials joined 1st Cruiser Squadron in

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

where she was deployed in search patrols and convoy duties.Naval-history.net
/ref> In August her crew detected a defect with her propulsion machinery so she was sent to

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 ...

for repairs to her turbine blades, but while undergoing work, was struck by bombs on 18 September 1940. These caused serious fires, gutting the after end, and she settled on the bottom with a heavy list. She needed extensive repairs and did not return to service until August 1942. During these repairs at Stephen's shipyards,

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

she was fitted with new radar equipment, fire control equipment, ten

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

and two eight-barreled Pom Pom Guns. Having returned to her squadron in Scapa flow for more interception duties and exercises she was then sent for another refit in November, this time at the Tyne shipyard.

Indian Ocean

Having spent January 1943 back with the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Sussex then took passage to

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

and was redeployed with the 4th Cruiser Squadron of the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

in the

. On her way she intercepted and sank the German tanker '' Hohenfriedburg'' just south west of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

on 26 Februaryhohenfriedberg
/ref> but was then attacked by

German submarine U-264 German submarine ''U-264'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 21 June 1941 at the ''Bremer-Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft'' (yard) in Bremen as yard number 29. She was launche ...

. ''Sussex'' avoided the four torpedoes fired at her.

Pacific theatre

''Sussex'' spent 1944 in the Pacific, and covered operations in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

following the cessation of hostilities. On 26 July 1945 her Task Force was attacked by two attack bombers acting as ''kamikaze'' suicide weapons. One made an imprint on the side of ''Sussex'', from which it could be identified as a Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia". On Wednesday, 5 September 1945 at 11:30 am, HMS ''Sussex'' entered

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Harbour carrying the Flag of the Rear-Admiral

Cedric Holland Cedric Swinton Holland CB (13 October 1889 – 11 May 1950) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the First and Second World Wars, rising to the rank of vice-admiral. Holland was born the son of an admiral, and he followed his ...

. General

Seishirō Itagaki was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and War Minister from 1938 to 1939. Itagaki was a main conspirator behind the Mukden Incident and held prestigious chief of ...

, the commander of the garrison at Singapore was brought on board, where he signed the formal surrender of the army, thus completing

Operation Tiderace Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake Singapore following the Surrender of Japan, Japanese surrender in 1945. The liberation force was led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Comman ...

, the Allied plan to recapture Singapore.

Decommissioning

HMS ''Sussex'' was paid off in 1949, handed over to the

British Iron & Steel Corporation The British Iron & Steel Corporation (Salvage) Ltd., commonly referred to as BISCO, was an organisation created during World War II to recycle scrap steel. BISCO's duties included making the arrangements for the scrapping of surplus Royal Navy s ...

on 3 January 1950, and arrived at

Dalmuir Dalmuir (; gd, Dail Mhoire) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots derivation of the Gaelic meaning Big Field. The area was ori ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 23 February 1950 where she was broken up by W. H. Arnott, Young and Company, Limited.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * *

External links

HMS Sussex at U-boat.netCruisers of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sussex (96) London-class cruisers County-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1928 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in September 1940