HMS Galatea (71)
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 HMS Galatea in 1941 |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Built By: | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) |
| Laid down: | 2 June 1933 |
| Launched: | 9 August 1934 |
| Commissioned: | 14 August 1935 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 14 December 1941 by a salvo of torpedoes from U-557, off Alexandria (470 lost). She sank in three minutes. U-557 was sunk shortly afterwards. |
| Penant: | 71 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,220 tons standard;
6,665 tons full load. |
| Length: | 506 ft (154.2 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft (15.5 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 64,000 shp. |
| Speed: | 32.25 knots |
| Range: | Unknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil |
| Complement: | 500 |
| Armament: | Original configuration:
October 1940 - December 1941 configuration:
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| Armour: | Original configuration:
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HMS Galatea (72) was an Arethusa class cruiser for the Royal Navy. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland), with the keel being laid down on the 2 June 1933. She was launched on the 9 August 1934, and commissioned 14 August 1935.
[edit] History
Galatea joined the Mediterranean Fleet on commissioning and acted as flagship, Rear Admiral (Destroyers). After the outbreak of war she was ordered home, and between February and March 1940 she took part in the operations to intercept Axis merchantmen attempting to break out of Vigo. In April 1940 she was involved in the Norwegian campaign, and in May joined the Nore Command as Flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.
On 4 April 1940, the Polish destroyers Burza, Grom and Błyskawica reached their new homebase Rosyth. In the afternoon they left the harbor with Galatea, her sister ship Arethusa and three destroyers. They were ordered to conduct a patrol in the North Sea and were later ordered to intercept German invasion groups heading for Norway.
On 1 September 1940 Galatea struck a mine. She remained with the Home Fleet (under refit, between October 1940 to January 1941) until May 1941, and was involved in hunting the Bismarck operations. In July 1941 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet via the Red Sea, and by November was based at Malta with Force "K", operating against the Axis supply convoys to North Africa.
On 14 December 1941 before midnight Galatea (Capt. E.W.B. Sim, R.N.) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-557 off Alexandria, Egypt in position . Captain Sim, 22 officers and 447 ratings were killed. Some 100 survivors were picked up by the destroyers HMS Griffin and HMS Hotspur.
At 1806hrs on 16 December, U-557 sent a short radio signal indicating that she was 18 hours from port. At 1800hrs on the same day, the Italian torpedo boat Orione left the Cretan port of Suda. The commander had no knowledge that a German U-boat was in the area of Crete.
When the Italian commander saw a submarine at 2144hrs, heading in a northerly direction, he decided to ram it, supposing it to be British. U-557 sank immediately with all hands; the damaged Italian torpedo boat headed back to base. The position of the incident was given by the Italian commander as .
See HMS Galatea for other ships of this name.
| Arethusa-class cruiser |
| List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |
