HMS Caradoc was a C-class

C class cruiser

The C class was a group of twenty-eight light cruisers of the Royal Navy, and were built in a sequence of seven classes known as the Caroline , Calliope , Cambrian , Centaur , Caledon , Ceres and Carlisle classes...

 light cruiser

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...

 of the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She was part of the Caledon group of the C-class of cruisers.

She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde.- History :...

, Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

. She was laid down on 21 February 1916, launched on 23 December 1916 and completed and commissioned into the Navy on 15 June 1917. She formed part of the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in common with the other ships of the Caledon subgroup.
With her sister HMS Cassandra

HMS Cassandra (1916)

HMS Cassandra was a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was part of the Caledon group of the C-class of cruisers.She was built by Vickers Limited, Barrow in Furness and laid down in March 1916, launched on 25 November 1916 and commissioned into the Navy in June 1917.She had a...

 she ran aground on Fair Isle

Fair Isle

Fair Isle is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.-Geography:...

 on 15 August 1917. Both ships were successfully salvaged.

She was deployed into the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 on the outbreak of war and assigned to operate off the North American coast. On 23 October 1939 the light cruiser HMS Orion

HMS Orion (85)

HMS Orion was a Leander class light cruiser which served with distinction in the Royal Navy during World War II.She received 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others.-History:...

 and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay

HMCS Saguenay (D79)

HMCS Saguenay was a River-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1931-1945.She was similar to the Royal Navy's A-class and initially wore the pennant D79, changed in 1940 to I79....

 intercepted the German tanker Emmy Friedrich. When the Caradoc arrived on the scene, the Germans scuttled their ship to prevent her capture. On 11 December 1940 the German blockade runner

Blockade runner

A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...

 Rhein was intercepted by the Dutch sloop HrMs Van Kinsbergen west of the Florida Strait. The Rhein was set on fire by her own crew to prevent her capture, and the wreck was sunk later that day by HMS Caradoc.

Caradoc became a base ship in April 1944, and after the end of the war was considered obsolete. She was sold to be broken up for scrap on 5 April 1946 and subsequently scrapped at Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The town encompasses the electoral wards of Briton Ferry East and Briton Ferry West....

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

in May 1946.