HMS Dunedin
| Company type | Light cruiser |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naval ship |
| Founded | 1918-11-19 |
| Headquarters | Newcastle-on-Tyne , United Kingdom |
| Products | Warship |
HMS Dunedin was a Danae-class light cruiser serving in the Royal Navy with the pennant number D93. Constructed by Armstrong Whitworth at their Newcastle-on-Tyne shipyard, she was launched on 19 November 1918 and entered service on 13 September 1919. This vessel remains unique as the sole Royal Navy ship to carry the name Dunedin, which is derived from the Scottish capital city, commonly known in English as Edinburgh.
Service record
In October 1920, alongside three other British ships, she was deployed to safeguard the unloading of munitions destined for Poland at Danzig.
During 1931, she aided the community of Napier, New Zealand following the devastating Hawkes Bay earthquake, operating within a task group that included the sloop Veronica and the cruiser Diomede.
Second World War
At the outset of the Second World War, Dunedin participated in operations targeting the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau after the loss of the armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi.
In early 1940, while patrolling the Caribbean Sea, Dunedin intercepted the German merchant vessel Heidelberg west of the Windward Passage. The crew of Heidelberg deliberately sank their ship before it could be seized. Shortly thereafter, in coordination with the Canadian destroyer Assiniboine, Dunedin captured another German merchant ship, Hannover, near Jamaica. This vessel was later converted into the Royal Navy’s first British escort carrier, Audacity. From July through November, Dunedin, alongside the cruiser Trinidad, enforced a blockade off Martinique, partly to contain three French warships, including the aircraft carrier Béarn.
On 15 June 1941, Dunedin seized the German tanker Lothringen, recovering several highly sensitive Enigma cipher devices aboard. The Royal Navy repurposed Lothringen as a fleet oiler under the name Empire Salvage. Additionally, Dunedin captured three vessels under Vichy French control: Ville de Rouen off Natal, the merchant ship Ville de Tamatave near the Saint Paul's Rocks, and finally, D'Entrecasteaux.
While escorting Convoy WS 5A, Dunedin faced an attack from the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper on 25 December 1940. The convoy’s defense successfully repelled the assault without any losses.
On 24 November 1941, positioned in the Central Atlantic Ocean just east of St. Paul's Rocks and northeast of Recife, Brazil, Dunedin was struck by two torpedoes launched by German submarine U-124 at 1526 hours and sank. Of her complement of 486 officers and men, only four officers and 63 sailors survived.
External links
Template:Danae class cruiser Template:November 1941 shipwrecks 03°00′S 26°00′W / 3.000°S 26.000°W
- Danae-class cruisers of the Royal Navy
- 1918 ships
- World War II naval vessels of the United Kingdom
- Ships sunk by German U-boats during World War II
- Atlantic Ocean World War II shipwrecks
- Maritime accidents in November 1941
- World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
- Ships constructed by Armstrong Whitworth
- Cruisers lost to submarine attacks
- Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth