Displacement: 7175 tons.
Length: 554 ft.
Beam: 56 ft.
Draught: 19 ft.
Compliment: 764.
Armament: 8 x 6 ins guns, 8 x 4 ins guns, 8 x 4 pounders, 8 x 21 ins torpedo tubes
Displacement: 7175 tons.
Length: 554 ft.
Beam: 56 ft.
Draught: 19 ft.
Compliment: 764.
Armament: 8 x 6 ins guns, 8 x 4 ins guns, 8 x 4 pounders, 8 x 21 ins torpedo tubes
The HMS Neptune was a Leander Class Light Cruiser and was the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name.
She lead Force K, a raiding squadron of cruisers, to intercept and destroy German and Italian convoys en route to Libya. The convoys were supplying the Africa Korps in North Africa with troops and equipment.
She was leading the line when she struck mines during the night of 19/20 December 1941. The other cruisers, the Aurora and Penelope also struck mines. Reversing out of the minefield, Neptune struck a third mine, taking off her propellors and leaving her dead in the water. The Aurora was down to 10 knots and needed to turn back for Malta immediately but the destroyers Kandahar and Lively were sent into the minefield to attempt a tow. The former struck a mine, and Neptune signalled for them to keep clear. The Neptune then hit a fourth mine, capsized and sank - 763 men were lost, 1 survivor was taken prisoner by the Italians after drifting in a raft for five days.
See the Neptune Association website at www.hmsneptune.com for more information on HMS Neptune.