HMNZS Achilles (70)
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HMNZS Achilles was a Commonwealth cruiser, famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate. She was a Leander class cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy through World War II.
Description
Achilles was built in Birkenhead, England and launched on 1 September 1932. She was the second of five ships of the Leander class light cruisers, designed as effective follow-ons to the York class. Displacement was 7,200 tons, and armament was eight 6 in (152 mm) and eight 4 in (102 mm) guns plus eight 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Upgraded to Improved Leander class, she was capable of carrying an aircraft, although this was removed before the war.
History
Achilles was originally built for the Royal Navy, and was commissioned as HMS Achilles on October 10, 1933. She served with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from March 31, 1937 through the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, to which she was transferred in September 1941, renamed the HMNZS Achilles. Her crew was approximately 60% from New Zealand. After the war, Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy at Sheerness, Kent, England on 17 September 1946. The ship was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on 5 July 1948 as INS Delhi. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap at Bombay on 30 June 1978. As part of the scrapping her Y turret was removed and gifted to the New Zealand government, it is now on display at the entrance of Devonport RNZN Base in Auckland.
World War II service
On the outbreak of the Second World War, Achilles started patrolling the west coast of South America looking for German merchant ships, but by 22 October 1939 she had arrived at the Falkland Islands, where she was assigned to the South American Division under Commodore Harwood and allocated to Force G (Exeter and HMS Cumberland). In the early morning of 13 December a force consisting of Achilles, Ajax and Exeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed at 06:16 to be a pocket battleship, thought to be Admiral Scheer but which turned out to be the Admiral Graf Spee. A fierce battle ensued, at a range of approximately 20 km (20,000 yards). Achilles took some damage: four crew were killed, and her captain, W. E. Parry was injured. In the exchange of fire 36 of Graf Spee's crew were killed. The range reduced to about four miles (7 km) at around 07:15 and Admiral Graf Spee broke off the engagement around 07:45 to head for the neutral harbour of Montevideo which she entered at 22:00 that night, having been pursued by Achilles and Ajax all day.
Following the battle, Achilles returned to Auckland, New Zealand on 23 February 1940, where she was refitted until June. After Japan entered the war, she escorted troop convoys, then joined the ANZAC squadron in SW Pacific. While operating off New Georgia with US forces, she was hit by a bomb on X turret on 5 January 1943. Repaired at Portsmouth from April 1943 to May 1944, during which X turret was replaced by four two-pounders. Sent to the Eastern Fleet, Achilles then joined Task Force 57 in May 1945 for final operations in the Pacific.
See also
- HMS Achilles (for other ships of this name)
- INS Delhi (subsequent history of this ship with the Indian Navy)
- List of ships of World War II
| Leander-class cruiser |
| Royal Navy |
| Achilles | Ajax | Amphion | Apollo | Leander | Neptune | Orion | Phaeton |
| Royal Australian Navy |
| Hobart (ex-Apollo) | Perth (ex-Amphion) | Sydney (ex-Phaeton) |
| Royal New Zealand Navy |
| Achilles | Leander |
| Indian Navy |
| Delhi (ex-Achilles)
|