HMS Gambia
Fiji-class cruiser light cruiser
Service
- as Gambia21 February 1942 — 22 September 1943578 days of the war
- as Gambia22 September 1943 — 27 March 1946711 days of the war
- as Gambia27 March 1946 — December 1960
- Name
- HMS Gambia
- Namesake
- Gambia Colony and Protectorate
- Builder
- Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
- Laid down
- 24 July 1939
- Launched
- 30 November 1940
- Commissioned
- 21 February 1942
- Decommissioned
- December 1960
- Recommissioned
- 1 July 1946
- Fate
- Scrapped, 5 December 1968 (1968)
- Status
- Scrapped
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 8,631 long tons (8,770 t)
- Length
- 169.16 m (555 ft)
- Beam
- 18.9 m (62 ft)
- Draught
- 5.79 m (19 ft)
- Speed
- 32.3 knots (59.7 km/h, 37.1 mph)
- Range
- 6,250 nmi (11,575 km)
- Complement
- 733
- Main gun
- 152 mm (6 in)
HMS Gambia was a Fiji-class cruiser light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was named for Gambia Colony and Protectorate. Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear laid her keel on 24 July 1939. Launched on 30 November 1940, she entered service on 21 February 1942.
Displacement was 8,631 long tons. She measured 169.2 m (555 ft) long with a beam of 18.9 m (62 ft). Her designed speed was 32.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 733.
Her main battery was twelve 152 mm (6 in) guns in four triple mountings. She carried two aircraft. Her machinery developed 80,000 shp through four shafts.
She served with the Royal Navy as Gambia until 22 September 1943. She then passed to the Royal New Zealand Navy, serving as Gambia from 22 September 1943. She then passed to the Royal Navy, serving as Gambia from 27 March 1946. She was in commission for 1,289 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in December 1960. She recommissioned on 1 July 1946.
She was broken up for scrap on 5 December 1968.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbine sets
- Power
- 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
- 80000 shp
- Armament
- 4 × triple 6 in (152 mm) guns
- 4 × twin 4 in (102 mm) DP guns
- 2 × quadruple, 2 × single 2-pdr (40 mm) AA guns
- 6 × single 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns
- 2 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
- Armour
- Engine and boiler rooms: 3.25 in
- Decks: 2 - 3.5 in
- Magazines: 2 - 3.5 in
- Gun turrets: 1 - 2 in
- Aircraft
- 2 × seaplanes
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Gambia on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Allan C. Green 1878 - 1954 — State Library of Victoria [1] (cropped and improved contrast) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons