When the Second World War began in 1939, the Royal Navy decided to reconvert her back into a heavy cruiser and her original armament was reinstalled. Hawkins reentered service in early 1940 and was assigned to the South Atlantic Division where she patrolled for Axiscommerce raiders and escorted convoys. The following year, she was transferred to the Indian Ocean where she played a small role in the East African campaign in early 1941. At the end of the year, the ship returned home for a lengthy refit. Upon its completion in mid-1942, Hawkins was assigned to the Eastern Fleet and resumed her former roles of patrolling and escort duty for the next two years.
The ship returned to the UK in early 1944 to participate in Operation Neptune, the naval portion of the invasion of Normandy in June. She bombarded German coastal defences on 6 June, but was paid off in July. The Royal Navy decided to convert her back into a training ship while she was under repair, but that work was cancelled in 1945. Hawkins was placed back in reserve that year and was used for bombing trials in 1947. The vessel was sold for scrap later that year.
The Hawkins-class cruisers were designed to be able to hunt down commerce raiders in the open ocean, for which they needed a heavy armament, high speed and long range. Hawkins had an overall length of 605 feet 1.5 inches (184.4 m), a beam of 65 feet (19.8 m)[3] and a draught of 19 feet 3 inches (5.9 m) at deep load.[4] She displaced 9,800 long tons (10,000 t) at normal load and 12,110 long tons (12,300 t) at deep load. The ship had a metacentric height of 4 ft (1.2 m) fully loaded.[5] Her crew consisted of 712 officers and ratings.[4]
Hawkins was powered by four Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by a dozen Yarrow boilers, four of which were coal fired. The turbines, rated at 60,000 shaft horsepower (45,000 kW), were intended to give a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). During her sea trials at deep displacement, the ship reached 28.7 knots (53.2 km/h; 33.0 mph) from 61,000 shp (45,000 kW), 0.3 knots (0.56 km/h; 0.35 mph) below her designed speed at full load.[6]Hawkins carried enough fuel oil and coal to give her a range of 5,640 nautical miles (10,450 km; 6,490 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[7]
The Hawkins class were protected by a full-length waterlinearmoured belt that covered most of the ships' sides. It was thickest over the boiler and engine rooms, ranging from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm) thick. Their magazines were protected by an additional 0.5 to 1 inch (13 to 25 mm) of armour. There was a 1-inch aft transverse bulkhead and the conning tower was protected by 3-inch armour plates. The ships' deck protection consisted of 1 to 1.5 inches of high-tensile steel.[10]
Construction and career
Hawkins underway, between 1929–1935
Hawkins, named after AdmiralSir John Hawkins, one of the leaders of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588,[11] has been the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.[12] The ship was ordered in December 1915, laid down by HM Dockyard, Chatham on 3 June 1916, launched on 1 October 1917 and completed on 23 July 1919.[13]Hawkins was the flagship of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron on the China Station by September 1920 and continued in that role for the next eight years.[14] She returned to Chatham on 12 November 1928 to undergo a refit that involved the removal of her four coal-fired boilers and the remaining eight oil-fired boilers modified to partially offset the loss of the other boilers. The ship's turbines were now rated at 55,000 shp (41,000 kW) to give her a speed of 29.5 knots (54.6 km/h; 33.9 mph). The coal-fired boiler room was converted into an oil tank which increased her storage capacity to 2,600 long tons (2,642 t) and boosted her range by 20%. Her three-inch AA guns were replaced by an equal number of four-inch (102 mm) Mk V AA guns which were controlled by a Mk I HACS gunnery director. The ship was now equipped with the 15-inch rangefinder in the HACS director and three 12-inch rangefinders.[15]
Hawkins recommissioned on 31 December 1929 and became the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet until she reduced to the reserve on 5 May 1930. The ship was recommissioned again in September 1932 to become the flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the East Indies Station, but was again reduced to reserve in April 1935.[16] The terms of the London Naval Treaty meant that Hawkins had to be demilitarised in 1937–1938 and she had all her 7.5-inch guns and the above-water torpedo tubes removed.[17] In September of the latter year Hawkins became a cadet training ship.[16]
Wartime service
Hawkins moored alongside the quayside
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Hawkins had her guns and torpedo tubes reinstalled and her anti-aircraft armament was reinforced by the addition of four single two-pounder AA guns.[18] The ship recommissioned as a heavy cruiser in January 1940 and was assigned to the South American Division of the North America and West Indies Station. She patrolled off the South American coast, searching for German commerce raiders for most of the next year.[16]
In January 1941 Hawkins began escorting convoys off the West African coast, rescuing nine survivors from the oil tankerBritish Premier on 3 January, which had been torpedoed off Freetown by the U-65.[19][20] The following month, she escorted the aircraft carrierFormidable as she sailed up the East African coast bound for the Suez Canal. En route, the carrier's aircraft bombed the port of Mogadishu in Italian Somaliland on 2 February. Shortly afterwards, Hawkins was transferred to Force T which had been formed to support the British invasion of Italian Somaliland with gunfire from Hawkins and three other cruisers in addition to the aircraft of the carrier Hermes. On 10–12 February, Hawkins captured five Italian merchant ships totalling 28,055 gross register tons (GRT) that had attempted to escape from Kismayo, including SS Adria. Ten days later the cruiser briefly joined the escorts of WS-5BX off Mombasa, British Kenya, but she was detached on the 22nd in an unsuccessful search for the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer after that ship had been spotted by a British aircraft.[21]
Aerial view of Hawkins after her refit, June 1942
Hawkins remained in the Indian Ocean, escorting convoys and searching for Axis commerce raiders, until she returned to the UK to begin a refit at HM Dockyard, Devonport, on 4 December. Her light anti-aircraft armament was greatly augmented by the addition of two quadruple two-pounder mounts and the exchange of a pair of two-pounder single mounts for seven single 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns. In addition, a Type 281early-warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar and a pair of Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were fitted on the roofs of the newly-installed four-inch directors.[22]
The following month she was paid off and was sent to Rosyth, Scotland, for repairs and to be converted into a training ship. The navy took advantage of the dockyard time and upgraded her anti-aircraft armament by exchanging her quadruple two-pounder mounts for octuple mounts and adding a pair of Oerlikon AA guns during 8–23 August. In September, she participated briefly in Highball trials in Loch Striven.[34] The conversion was cancelled in May 1945 and Hawkins was reduced to reserve and laid up in the River Fal.[16][35] In 1947 she was used for target trials to test the effectiveness of 500-pound (230 kg) and 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs, and was bombed by Royal Air ForceAvro Lincoln bombers from an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) off Spithead in May. A total of 616 bombs were dropped over 27 days, but only 29 struck the cruiser, of which 13 failed to detonate.[36]Hawkins was transferred to the British Iron & Steel Corporation on 26 August 1947 and broken up in December that year at the Arnott Young scrapyard at Dalmuir, Scotland.[16]
Notes
^"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Citations
^Dittmar, F J; Colledge, J J (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 49.
^Lenton, H T (1973). British Cruisers. London: Macdonald. p. 151.
Morris, Douglas (1987). Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies Since 1879. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN0-907771-35-1.
Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-922-7.
