HMS Liverpool (C11)

Liverpool underway, 28 February 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	Liverpool
Namesake	Liverpool
Ordered	1935
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down	17 February 1936
Launched	24 March 1937
Commissioned	2 November 1938
Decommissioned	1952
Identification	Pennant number: C11
Honours and awards	Mediterranean 1940 Calabria 1940 Arctic Convoys 1942 Malta Convoys 1942[1]
Fate	Sold for scrap, July 1958
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement	9,394 long tons (9,545 t) (standard) 11,930 long tons (12,120 t) (full load)
Length	591 ft (180 m) overall
Beam	64 ft 10 in (19.76 m)
Draught	20 ft 7 in (6.27 m)
Installed power	4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 82,500 shp (61,500 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbine sets
Speed	32.3 knots (59.8 km/h; 37.2 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	800–850
Armament	4 × triple 6 in (152 mm) guns 4 × twin 4 in (102 mm) guns 2 × quadruple 2-pdr (40 mm) guns 2 × quadruple 0.5 in (12.7 mm) AA machine guns 2 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Box protection: 4–1 inch (102–25 mm) Waterline belt: 4 inches (102 mm) Bulkheads: 2 inches (51 mm) Gun turrets: 4–2 inches (102–51 mm)
Aircraft carried	Three Supermarine Walrus; one catapult

HMS Liverpool, named after the port city of Liverpool in north-west England, was a Town-class cruiser of the Royal Navy in service from 1938 to 1952.

During the Second World War, Liverpool gained four battle honours and was seriously damaged in two attacks by Italian torpedo bombers. The cruiser operated variously with the naval stations in the East Indies and China and with the Mediterranean and Home fleets. While assigned as flagship to the China Station in January 1940, the cruiser instigated a diplomatic incident with Japan when she intercepted the liner Asama Maru off the coast of Japan. Liverpool took part in the battles of the Espero Convoy and Calabria, the Arctic Convoys, and Operation Harpoon during the Malta Convoys. On 14 June 1942, during Operation Harpoon, Liverpool suffered an air attack and had to undergo repairs and refitting at Rosyth, Scotland for the remainder of the war.

Liverpool returned to service in 1945 and was assigned as flagship to the Mediterranean Fleet. In the early 1950s, the cruiser harboured in Port Said to support the British Administration of the Suez Canal Zone, when Egyptian guerrillas campaigned against it. The cruiser was decommissioned in 1952 at a time when the Royal Navy was rapidly contracting in strength. Liverpool was broken up in 1958, at Rosyth.