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HMS Nigeria (60)
Encyclopedia
HMS Nigeria (pennant number
60) was a Crown Colony-class
light cruiser
of the British
Royal Navy
completed early in World War II
and served throughout that conflict. She was named for the (then) British territory of Nigeria
.
, HMS Tartar
and HMS Jupiter
intercepted the German weather ship Lauenburg
in thick fog north-east of Jan Mayen Island. The German ship was detected through the use of HF/DF
. The crew of the Lauenburg abandoned ship after they were fired upon, allowing the British to board her. Valuable codebooks and parts of the Enigma machine
were found aboard and recovered from the German weather ship
. This was one of the earliest captures of Enigma material of the war, and came a few weeks after HMS Bulldog had captured the first complete Enigma machine from the German
submarine
U-110 on 9 May 1941.
In July 1941, Nigeria became the flagship
of Force K, commanded by Rear Admiral
Philip Vian
. During this period, Force K made two expeditions to Spitsbergen
(Norwegian territory), the first to ascertain the situation and the second, in September, to escort a troopship
, Empress of Australia, with Canadian troops and a team of demolition experts (see Operation Gauntlet
). Their task was to evacuate Norwegian and Soviet personnel from the archipelago and destroy coalmines and fuel stocks that might be of use to the enemy. Bear Island was also visited to destroy a German weather station. The two cruisers of the task force, Nigeria and HMS Aurora
diverted to intercept a German convoy. During this action, Nigeria sank the German training ship Bremse
, but suffered serious damage to her bow
, possibly having detonated a mine
. On return to Britain, she was sent to Newcastle
for repairs.
, escorting a convoy bound for Malta
. She was the flagship of the close escort group, commanded by Admiral Harold Burrough
. Nigeria was torpedoed and damaged by the Italian submarine Axum
but managed to make it back to Gibraltar
escorted by three destroyers. Admiral Burrough meanwhile transferred his flag to the destroyer HMS Ashanti
whilst Nigeria returned to Gibraltar.
She was sent from there to the United States for repairs, which took nine months to complete. After these were complete, she operated off the South Africa
n coast, and on 12 March 1943 she picked up 30 survivors from the American merchant James B. Stephens
that was torpedoed and sunk on 8 March 1943 by the German submarine U-160 about 150 nautical miles (277.8 km) north-east of Durban
. Nigeria was then assigned to operate with the Eastern Fleet from February 1944 until December 1945, when she returned to the UK to be refitted. During her time in the far east, she participated in raids on Sumatra
.
, who renamed her Mysore. During her time with the Indian Navy, she collided with the destroyer
HMS Hogue
, severely damaging the Hogue's bow. Mysore was in service with them for a further 28 years until she was decommissioned on 20 August 1985.
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
60) was a Crown Colony-class
Crown Colony class cruiser
The Crown Colony-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy were named after Crown Colonies of the British Empire. The first eight are known as the Fiji class, while the last three to be built are commonly referred to as the Ceylon class and were built to a slightly modified design.-Design:They were...
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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
completed early in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and served throughout that conflict. She was named for the (then) British territory of Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria ran from 1800 till October 1, 1960 when it gained independence. Up until the amalgamation of 1914, the country's constituting parts existed as separate British protectorates.-Abolition of the Slave Trade:...
.
Home waters
Nigeria served in Home waters and off the Scandinavian coast for the early part of the war. On 28 June 1941 Nigeria, in company with HMS BedouinHMS Bedouin (F67)
HMS Bedouin was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She was launched on 21 December 1937 by William Denny and Brothers....
, HMS Tartar
HMS Tartar (F43)
HMS Tartar was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in most of the naval theatres of World War II. She had an eventful career, eventually receiving the nickname 'Lucky Tartar' due to her numerous escapes from dangerous situations...
and HMS Jupiter
HMS Jupiter (F85)
HMS Jupiter was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by Yarrow & Company at Scotstoun in Glasgow on 28 September 1937, launched on 27 October 1938 and commissioned on 25 June 1939.-Operations:...
intercepted the German weather ship Lauenburg
German weather ship Lauenburg
The Lauenburg was a German weather ship used in the early years of the Second World War to provide weather reports for German shipping, particularly German U-boats...
in thick fog north-east of Jan Mayen Island. The German ship was detected through the use of HF/DF
Huff-Duff
High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF is the common name for a type of radio direction finding employed especially during the two World Wars....
. The crew of the Lauenburg abandoned ship after they were fired upon, allowing the British to board her. Valuable codebooks and parts of the Enigma machine
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
were found aboard and recovered from the German weather ship
Weather ship
A weather ship was a ship stationed in the ocean as a platform for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reporting via radio...
. This was one of the earliest captures of Enigma material of the war, and came a few weeks after HMS Bulldog had captured the first complete Enigma machine from the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
U-110 on 9 May 1941.
In July 1941, Nigeria became the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Force K, commanded by Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Philip Vian
Philip Vian
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars was a British naval officer who served in both World Wars....
. During this period, Force K made two expeditions to Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
(Norwegian territory), the first to ascertain the situation and the second, in September, to escort a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
, Empress of Australia, with Canadian troops and a team of demolition experts (see Operation Gauntlet
Operation Gauntlet
During World War II, Operation Gauntlet was a Combined Operations raid by Canadian troops, with British Army logistics support and Free Norwegian Forces servicemen on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, 600 miles south of the North Pole, from 18 August 1941....
). Their task was to evacuate Norwegian and Soviet personnel from the archipelago and destroy coalmines and fuel stocks that might be of use to the enemy. Bear Island was also visited to destroy a German weather station. The two cruisers of the task force, Nigeria and HMS Aurora
HMS Aurora (12)
HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard , with the keel being laid down on the 27 July 1935. She was launched on the 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937....
diverted to intercept a German convoy. During this action, Nigeria sank the German training ship Bremse
German training ship Bremse
The Bremse was built as an artillery training ship of the German Kriegsmarine with a secondary function as a testbed for new marine diesel engines later installed in German panzerschiffs...
, but suffered serious damage to her bow
Bow (ship)
The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
, possibly having detonated a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
. On return to Britain, she was sent to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
for repairs.
The Mediterranean and Far East
Nigeria was then assigned to operate in the Mediterranean. On 12 August 1942 she was participating in Operation PedestalOperation Pedestal
Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies...
, escorting a convoy bound for Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. She was the flagship of the close escort group, commanded by Admiral Harold Burrough
Harold Burrough
Admiral Sir Harold Martin Burrough GCB, KBE, DSO was a senior Royal Navy officer and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff to the Royal Navy during World War II.- Early career :...
. Nigeria was torpedoed and damaged by the Italian submarine Axum
Italian submarine Axum
The Italian submarine Axum was an Italian Adua-class submarine serving in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after the holy city of Axum, in Ethiopia. She was built in the CRDA shipyard, in Monfalcone...
but managed to make it back to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
escorted by three destroyers. Admiral Burrough meanwhile transferred his flag to the destroyer HMS Ashanti
HMS Ashanti (F51)
HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949...
whilst Nigeria returned to Gibraltar.
She was sent from there to the United States for repairs, which took nine months to complete. After these were complete, she operated off the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n coast, and on 12 March 1943 she picked up 30 survivors from the American merchant James B. Stephens
SS James B. Stephens
The SS James B. Stephens was a 7,176 ton American liberty ship in World War II. She was built by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Oregon in 1942 with the hull number 580, and operated by United States Lines, New York and homeported in Portland. For her role of sailing in dangerous...
that was torpedoed and sunk on 8 March 1943 by the German submarine U-160 about 150 nautical miles (277.8 km) north-east of Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
. Nigeria was then assigned to operate with the Eastern Fleet from February 1944 until December 1945, when she returned to the UK to be refitted. During her time in the far east, she participated in raids on Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
.
Post war
Nigeria survived the war and continued in service with the Royal Navy until 29 August 1957 when she was sold to the Indian NavyIndian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
, who renamed her Mysore. During her time with the Indian Navy, she collided with the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
HMS Hogue
HMS Hogue (D74)
HMS Hogue was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that was commissioned during the Second World War. She was named after the Battle of La Hogue, fought between the British and French in 1692....
, severely damaging the Hogue's bow. Mysore was in service with them for a further 28 years until she was decommissioned on 20 August 1985.