HMS Gloucester (62)

Gloucester at anchor, 1939
History
United Kingdom
Name	Gloucester
Namesake	Gloucester
Builder	Devonport Dockyard
Laid down	22 September 1936
Launched	19 October 1937
Sponsored by	Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Completed	31 January 1939
Identification	Pennant number: 62
Nickname(s)	"The Fighting G"[1]
Fate	Sunk by German aircraft, 22 May 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement	9,400 long tons (9,551 t) (standard) 11,650 long tons (11,837 t) (full load)
Length	588 ft (179.2 m)
Beam	62 ft 4 in (19.0 m)
Draught	20 ft 7 in (6.3 m)
Installed power	4 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 82,500 shp (61,500 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines
Speed	32 knots (59.3 km/h; 36.8 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	800–815
Armament	4 × triple 6-inch (152 mm) guns 4 × twin 4-inch (102 mm) DP guns 2 × quadruple 2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA guns 2 × quadruple 0.5 in (12.7 mm) AA machine guns 2 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 4.5 in (114 mm) Deck: 2 in (51 mm) Gun turrets: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
Aircraft carried	2 × Supermarine Walrus flying boats
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult

HMS Gloucester was one of the second batch of three Town-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the late 1930s. Commissioned shortly before the start of World War II in August 1939, the ship was initially assigned to the China Station and was transferred to the Indian Ocean and later to South Africa to search for German commerce raiders. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid-1940 and spent much of her time escorting Malta Convoys. Gloucester played minor roles in the Battle of Calabria in 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941. She was sunk by German dive bombers on 22 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807. Gloucester acquired the nickname "The Fighting G" after earning five battle honours in less than a year.^[2]