HMS Danae (D44)
| Company type | Light cruiser |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naval warfare |
| Founded | December 1, 1916 (keel laid) |
| Founder | Armstrong Whitworth (builder) |
| Defunct | March 27, 1948 (scrapped) |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| Headquarters | Walker-on-Tyne , United Kingdom |
| Products | Warship |
Number of employees | 462 (crew complement) |
HMS Danae Overview
HMS Danae' was the flagship vessel of the Danae-class light cruisers, sometimes referred to as the D class, operating within the Royal Navy during the interwar period. Later in World War II, she served under the Polish Navy as ORP Conrad.
Construction and Commissioning
Built by Armstrong Whitworth, the ship's keel was laid on 1 December 1916. She was subsequently launched on 26 January 1918 and officially entered service on 22 July 1918.
Service History
Initially commissioned into the United Kingdom's naval forces, HMS Danae bore several pennant numbers throughout her career: 32 in July 1918, 89 in November 1919, I.89 in 1936, and D.89 by 1940. On 4 October 1944, she was transferred to Poland and recommissioned as ORP Conrad, named after the writer Józef Konrad Korzeniowski. After nearly two years of service with the Polish Navy, she was returned to British control on 28 September 1946, recommissioned as HMS Danae, and remained active until her decommissioning on 22 January 1948. The vessel was ultimately dismantled at Barrow on 27 March 1948.
Technical Specifications
The cruiser displaced approximately 4,276 tons standard, increasing to a full load of 5,603 tons; after modifications in 1924, displacement was adjusted to around 4,850 tons. Her dimensions included a length of 445 feet, a beam of 46.5 feet, and a draught measuring 14.5 feet.
Propulsion was provided by six Yarrow-type water-tube boilers feeding Parsons geared steam turbines driving two shafts, delivering an output of about 40,000 shaft horsepower. This configuration enabled a maximum speed of roughly 29 knots.
Fuel capacity allowed for carrying around 1,060 tons of oil, granting a range of approximately 1,480 nautical miles at top speed (29 knots) or up to 6,700 nautical miles cruising at a more economical pace (10 knots). The ship's crew complement numbered around 462 personnel.
Armament Evolution
At commissioning in 1918, HMS Danae was equipped with six BL 6-inch L/45 Mark XII guns mounted singly on CP Mark XIV mountings. Anti-aircraft defenses included two QF 3-inch (76.2 mm) Mk II AA guns and two QF 2-pounder "Pom-pom" AA guns of 40 mm caliber. Additionally, twelve torpedoes of 21-inch (533 mm) diameter were carried in four triple launchers.
By the early 1930s, her armament comprised six BL 6-inch L/45 Mark XII guns alongside three QF 4-inch Mk V AA guns and two QF 2-pounder Pom-pom AA weapons; torpedo armament remained at twelve launchers.
During World War II modifications in 1942 enhanced her firepower to six six-inch Mk XII guns, two four-inch Mk V AA guns, six Pom-pom AA guns of forty millimeters, and retained twelve torpedo launchers.
Further upgrades in 1943 reduced main gun count to five six-inch pieces and one four-inch gun while increasing anti-aircraft weaponry to eight forty-millimeter Pom-poms, three quadruple mounts of Mark VII QF two-pounder Mark VIII guns, twelve twenty-millimeter AA guns, and added a depth charge launcher for anti-submarine warfare.
Armor Protection
Armor plating included three inches along the sides amidships; thickness tapered to two inches at the bow and stern areas with intermediate layers measuring one and three-quarter inches and one and a half inches respectively. The upper decks amidships were protected by one inch of armor plating as was the deck over the rudder assembly.
Aircraft Facilities
No aircraft handling capabilities were installed aboard HMS Danae during her service life.
Service
Danae was constructed beginning on 1 December 1916 at the Armstrong Whitworth Shipyard located in Walker-on-Tyne and officially launched on 26 January 1918. As the first vessel of her class, she ranked among the swiftest cruisers of her era. Powered by two Brown-Curtis steam turbines generating 40,000 horsepower (30,000 kW), supported by six boilers and driving two propellers, she achieved speeds up to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). Carrying 1,060 tons of oil fuel, Danae could cover a distance of 1,480 nautical miles (2,740 km; 1,700 mi) at full speed and extend to 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) when cruising at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Her protection included reinforced steel plating measuring 3 inches (76 mm) on the hull sides and command deck, 57 millimetres (2.2 in) shielding the fuel tanks and ammunition magazines, and a main deck armored with 2 inches (51 mm) thickness.
Assigned to the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron based at Harwich, she participated in numerous patrols across the North Sea during the concluding months of World War I. On 11 August 1918, Danae engaged four enemy aircraft and a Zeppelin airship, successfully igniting the Zeppelin in flames.
From October to November of the subsequent year, she operated in the Baltic Sea, providing support to the White forces amid the Russian Civil War, alongside her sister ships Dragon and Dauntless. By February 1920, she was reassigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron within the Atlantic Fleet.
World cruise
In 1923, Danae became part of the Special Service Squadron, a naval formation established primarily for propaganda objectives. This squadron included battlecruisers such as Hood and Repulse, cruisers including Delhi, Dragon, Dauntless, and Dunedin, alongside nine additional vessels predominantly composed of destroyers. The fleet commenced its global voyage departing from Devonport on 27 November, initially heading toward Freetown in Sierra Leone. Subsequent stops included Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, and finally arriving at Durban on New Year's Eve. The squadron then proceeded to Zanzibar, followed by calls at Trincomalee, Singapore, and reached Fremantle by February 1924. Further visits encompassed Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, and Sydney before sailing to Wellington in New Zealand. Departing Wellington in May, she made brief port calls at Suva and Samara in Fiji on 16 May. The journey continued to Honolulu on 6 June, then to Victoria in British Columbia on 25 June, followed by stops at Vancouver and San Francisco until 11 July. At this point, the squadron divided: battlecruisers returned to Great Britain via the Panama Canal with stops in South American ports including British Guyana, the Antilles, and Jamaica; meanwhile, the light cruisers navigated southward around South America visiting Callao, Valparaiso, Talcahuano, transited through the Strait of Magellan with additional stops at the Falkland Islands, Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, crossed the Atlantic Ocean with a final call at Cape Verde Islands before returning to Great Britain.
Between 1927 and 1929, Danae was assigned to the Mediterranean region serving as an escort within the 1st Cruiser Squadron. After this period she returned to Great Britain for a comprehensive overhaul and modernization.
America and West Indies Station
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In 1930, Danae was recommissioned for active duty. She departed from Devonport on 20 August 1930 bound for Bermuda, making a stopover at Halifax, Nova Scotia. During this voyage, she towed the paddle-wheeled tug Sandboy (previously known as Strenuous) for the entire journey except when navigating ports. The pair arrived at Halifax on 2 September. On 6 September, although initially reported as part of the Atlantic Squadron, Danae was actually assigned to the 8th Cruiser Squadron of the America and West Indies Station, headquartered at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda. At Halifax, she left the tug Sandboy to provide assistance to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, which had recently been devastated by a hurricane. Arriving there on 10 September alongside the Royal Fleet Auxiliary oiler Serbol, Danae transferred all surplus medical supplies—beyond those retained for emergencies—and excess provisions to the government under dictator Rafael Trujillo and the American Relief Committee.
Vessels assigned to the America and West Indies Station operated over a vast area stretching from Newfoundland down to Cape Horn, often venturing into Pacific waters on extended cruises. Nonetheless, they routinely returned to Bermuda for coordinated fleet exercises. Commanded by Captain Eric Richard Bent, Danae arrived back at the Royal Naval Dockyard from Santo Domingo on 22 September in preparation for the fleet assembly scheduled for October. Her stay at Bermuda was brief before she sailed once more to Halifax to retrieve Sandboy. Departing Halifax with the tug in tow on 17 October, both vessels reached Bermuda on 20 October.
In February 1933, Danae crossed the Atlantic to disband her crew and then recommissioned with a new complement for continued service on the America and West Indies Station. This new crew included Lieutenant Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Bt., son of a former Commander-in-Chief of the same station, along with Lieutenant Blakeman Vesey. Returning via Gibraltar to her base in Bermuda, she carried additional personnel destined for crews aboard HMS Durban and HMS Dauntless. Tragically, Lieutenant Vesey was lost overboard during severe weather while returning to Bermuda from Washington, DC that November.
With the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1935, Danae undertook escort duties for multiple evacuation convoys moving from Shanghai to Hong Kong, during which she came under fire from forces of the Japanese Navy.
Second World War
Following the completion of her assignments in the Far East, Danae was transferred back to Great Britain and placed into reserve status. In July 1939, she was activated and assigned to the 9th Cruiser Squadron, initially conducting operations in the South Atlantic before shifting to the Indian Ocean in October. On 23 March 1940, she joined the Malaya Force and participated in multiple patrols around the Dutch East Indies and Singapore. Beginning 20 January, she was reassigned to the China Force and undertook convoy escort duties in the Yellow Sea as well as routes between the Dutch Indies and Ceylon, alongside cruisers such as Durban, Dauntless, Cornwall, and the Australian HMAS Canberra. After arriving at Batavia on 24 February, she proceeded to Colombo before being withdrawn to Cape Town for maintenance.
After spending nearly eleven months undergoing repairs, Danae reentered service in July 1943. In March 1944, she returned to Great Britain and was incorporated into the 1st Cruiser Squadron. During the Invasion of Normandy, she provided naval gunfire support along the Sword Beach sector. By July, her squadron had relocated to operate near Port en Bessin and Ouistreham, returning to Great Britain in August. Subsequently, Danae was taken out of frontline service and repurposed as a stationary hulk within the port of Plymouth.
After her sister ship ORP Dragon was lost, on 4 October Danae was leased to the Polish Navy. The vessel was primarily crewed by surviving members from Dragon's complement and commanded by Cmdr. Stanisław Dzienisiewicz. She underwent refitting at both Southampton and Chatham until 23 January 1945. Initially, plans were made to rename her either "ORP Wilno" or "ORP Lwów", after the cities of Wilno (Vilnius) and Lwów (Lviv). However, since these territories were then claimed by the Soviet Union, despite formerly belonging to Poland before the war, British authorities preferred not to provoke Soviet sensitivities. As a result, a politically neutral name was chosen: ORP Conrad, honoring Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, better known by his English pen name, Joseph Conrad. In February, she sailed to Scapa Flow, and on 2 April joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron alongside Birmingham, Bellona, Diadem, and Dido. However, within a week she was withdrawn for turbine repairs. She finally left drydock on 30 May, three weeks after hostilities in Europe had ceased. Assigned to the 29th Destroyer Flotilla—which included Zodiac, Zephyr, and Zest—she briefly operated out of Wilhelmshaven, recently captured by the Polish 1st Armoured Division, which had been a principal base for the Kriegsmarine.
Until late 1945, she served as a transport vessel delivering aid from the Polish Red Cross to both Norway and Denmark. In January of the following year, she returned permanently to Rosyth, where she conducted training exercises with Polish Navy ships including ORP Burza, ORP Błyskawica, ORP Piorun, and ORP Garland. On 8 March 1946, these vessels were officially removed from service with the Home Fleet, and Polish crews began preparations for handing them back to British control. By August, her crew complement had been halved, and on 28 September she was formally returned to the Royal Navy. Restored to her original name Danae, she was taken over by the Care & Maintenance Party and relocated to Falmouth. On 22 January 1948, she was sold to Thos. W. Ward, and starting from 27 March that year, dismantling commenced at the Vickers Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.
References
Bibliography
- Campbell, N.J.M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
- Template:Cite Colledge2006
- Dunn, Steve R. (2022). The Harwich Striking Force: The Royal Navy's Front Line in the North Sea, 1914-1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3990-1596-7.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- 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. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-922-7.
- Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell. ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
External links
- Overview of D class cruisers
- Information on Danae class light cruisers
- Photograph depicting HMS Danae alongside HMS Hood as they "enter Fremantle Harbour," part of a collection by Marjory Ridley, digitized by Bunbury Museum & Heritage Centre in June 2019.
- Gallery of images featuring HMS Danae / ORP Conrad
- Historical background and specifications of the Danae class cruisers (in Polish)
- Silhouettes of ORP Dragon and ORP Conrad
- Illustrations of ORP Conrad
- Image of ORP Conrad following its 1943 refit
