HMSKenya

	Kenyaunderway
History
United Kingdom
Name	Kenya
Namesake	Kenya
Builder	Alexander Stephen and Sons,Glasgow,Scotland
Laid down	18 June 1938
Launched	18 August 1939
Commissioned	27 September 1940
Out of service	In reserve September 1958
Identification	Pennant number:14
Fate	Scrapped,29 October 1962
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Fiji-classlight cruiser
Displacement	8,580long tons(8,720t) (standard)
Length	555 ft 6 in (169.3 m)
Beam	62 ft (18.9 m)
Draught	19 ft 10 in (6 m)
Installed power	4Admiralty 3-drum boilers; 80,000shp(60,000kW);
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 gearedsteam turbinesets
Speed	32.25knots(59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph)
Range	6,250nmi(11,580 km; 7,190 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	733 (peacetime), 900 (wartime)
Armament	4 × triple6 in (152 mm) guns; 4 × twin4 in (102 mm)DP guns; 2 × quadruple2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in))AA guns; 2 × quadrupleVickers 0.5 in (12.7 mm)AA machine guns; 2 × triple21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes;
Armour	Engine and boiler rooms:3.25 in (83 mm); Decks:2–3.5 in (51–89 mm); Magazines:2–3.5 in (51–89 mm); Gun turrets:1–2 in (25–51 mm);
Aircraft carried	2 ×seaplanes
Aviation facilities	1 ×catapult,2 ×hangars

HMSKenyawas aFiji-class cruiserof theRoyal Navy.The ship was named afterKenya,a British possession at the time of the ship's construction.

Service history

Convoy escort

Kenyawas launched on 18 August 1939 from the yards ofAlexander Stephen and Sons,Glasgow,Scotlandand after working up was commissioned on 27 September 1940. She took part in the hunt for theGerman battleshipBismarckin May 1941 whilst part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron,Home Fleet,based atScapa Flow.On 3 JuneKenyaand the cruiserAurorasurprised and sank the German tankerBelchenwhich was supplyingGerman submarineU-93in theDavis Straits.

Operation Stonewall

During September and October 1941, the Royal Navy devisedOperation Stonewall,to interceptU-boatswhich were escorting outboundblockade runnersthrough theBay of Biscayinto the Atlantic. After providing escort to the Malta convoy Halberd on 24 September on 1 October,Kenyaand the cruiserSheffieldmade to intercept the blockade runnerRio Grande,destined for Japan and escorted byU-204.Rio Grandeescaped but another blockade runner,Kota Pinang,was sunk on 3 October west ofCape Finisterre.

Arctic operations

New research into declassified State Department records on theSoviet Unionhas revealed that on 19 March 1942,Kenyatransported 10 tons of gold from the Soviet Union to the United States as payment for loans and war materials.^[1]

Kenyaalso avoided damage in air attacks by the Germans on 27–28 March. She had by now received the nickname "The Pink Lady", due to herMountbatten Pinkcamouflage paint, during thecommando raidagainst installations onVågsøy Islandoff theNorwegiancoast. This was attributed to her Mountbatten Pink camouflage blending in with the pink marker dye the Germans were using in their shells, preventing German spotters from distinguishing between shell splashes and the ship. The force returned to Scapa Flow in early January 1942.Kenyareturned to escortingArctic convoysbetween March and May 1942. On 22 March after escorting PQ12 to MurmanskKenyawas loaded with 10 tonnes of Russian bullion and took it back to Britain for safe keeping.

Operation Pedestal

Kenyaplayed a prominent role inOperation Pedestalduring August 1942. Pedestal was a Royal Navy operation to escort a convoy of 14 merchant ships through the western Mediterranean to relieve and resupply the besieged island of Malta. The convoy escort was the largest ever assembled in World War II, comprising 2 battleships, 3 aircraft carriers (Eagle, Victorious and Indomitable), 7 light cruisers (includingKenya) and 26 destroyers. Through 11 and 12 August, it successfully fought off massed air attacks by the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Regia Aeronautica, with the loss of only 1 merchant ship and 1 destroyer. The aircraft carrier HMSEaglewas also lost to a lone submarine attack on 11 August.

The heavily mined waters between Sicily and Tunisia (the Narrows) made it too dangerous for the battleships and surviving aircraft carriers to escort the convoy all the way to Malta, and for the last 300 kilometres (190 mi), the escort comprised a smaller force (Force X) of cruisers and destroyers, includingKenya.During the night of 12 August and during the following day, the convoy was heavily attacked by Axis air forces, submarines and motor torpedo boats. During these actions,Kenya'sbow was blown off by a torpedo fired by the Italian submarineAlagi.This necessitated emergency shoring of the forward bulkhead and a reduced maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph).

In all, a further two cruisers and eight merchant ships were lost in the night action of 12/13 August; OnlyRochester Castle,Port Chalmers,Melbourne Star,Brisbane Starand the oil tankerOhiomade it to Grand Harbour Valletta, andKenyawas left as the most powerful surviving ship in Force X. After leading the surviving ships of the convoy to the safety of Malta’s fighter screen,.Kenyathen led Force X safely back to Gibraltar, despite further air attacks.

End of war

Kenyajoined theAmerica and West Indies Stationwith the 8th Cruiser Squadron, based at theRoyal Naval Dockyardin theImperial fortresscolony ofBermuda,in October 1946, but in December of the following year, she returned to the UK and was placed in thereserve.The cruiser had a comprehensive modernisation in 1945–1946^[2]with new standardised, twin 40 mm light anti aircraft guns and updated surface and long-range early-warning radar and fire control for the anti-aircraft armament. She was reactivated to replace the cruiserLondonon the Far East station, in 1949 after another extensive refit.

Korean War

Kenyatook part in naval operations in theKorean War.In March she bombarded Choda Island in preparation for landing 200Republic of Koreatroops there. Unfortunately the troops never showed up.

After further patrols off Inchon her next action came on 11 April when she was ordered to leave Sasebo to search for a communist aircraft that had been shot down. She was called off the operation early to sail toKure,Japan where Captain Podger took command of the ship on 22 April. In May she took position off Inchon and spent about 10 days there bombarding the land on several occasions. The patrols and bombardments continued throughout the summer – with a trip to Hong Kong that broke the monotony – until 25 August when she left Sasebo, via Hong Kong, for a refit atSingapore.She slipped the refit jetty on 12 November and rearmed before leaving the Far East Station on 17 November. Kenya docked inMaltaon 10 December and atGibraltarthree days later before entering theEnglish Channelon 16 December.

Following the war,Kenyahad an extensive year long refit in 1945–1946 at Chatham with new radars and standardisation of the light anti-aircraft armament on 5 twin Mk5 Bofors and 8 single 40mm.^[3]Kenyasaw service in the Korean War on shore bombardment duties.^[4]In 1953–1955 the vessel refitted and spent a long period in reserve until August 1955^[5]when she reentered service as a replacement for the cruiserSuperbon theWest Indian station.She paid off into reserve in August 1958, the ship was declared for disposal in February 1959 and was scrapped in 1962.

Notes

^State Department Documents on the Soviet Union, Microfilm, Marquette University Archives
^Murfin, pp. 56–57 DescribesKenya's rebuild as the most comprehensive of the Colony class, although most authorities believe HMSNewfoundlandreceived more structural and electrical updating.
^Crabb, p. 161
^Crabb, 1998, pp. 168–176
^Crabb, 1998, p. 181

References

Brown, D. K.& Moore, George (2003).Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945.Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-705-0.
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.
Colledge, J. J.;Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy(Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Crabb, Brian James (1998).In Harm's Way: The Story of HMS Kenya, a Second World War Cruiser.Stamford: Paul Watkins.ISBN 1-90028-902-4.
Crabb, Brian James (2014).Operation Pedestal: The Story of Convoy WS21S in August 1942.Donington, Lincolnshire: Shaun Tyas.ISBN 978-1-907730-19-1.
Friedman, Norman(2010).British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After.Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
Lenton, H. T.(1998).British & Empire Warships of the Second World War.Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
Murfin, David (2010). "AA to AA: The Fijis Turn Full Circle". In Jordan, John (ed.).Warship 2010.Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-84486-110-1.
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.
Smith, Peter C (1970).Pedestal: The convoy that saved Malta William Kimber, London, ISBN 0-947554-77-7
Whitley, M. J.(1995).Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia.London: Cassell.ISBN 1-86019-874-0.

External links

[1] State Department Documents on the Soviet Union, Microfilm, Marquette University Archives

[2] Murfin, pp. 56–57 DescribesKenya's rebuild as the most comprehensive of the Colony class, although most authorities believe HMSNewfoundlandreceived more structural and electrical updating.

[3] Crabb, p. 161

[4] Crabb, 1998, pp. 168–176

[5] Crabb, 1998, p. 181

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