HMAS Hobart (D63)

HMAS Hobart
History
United Kingdom
NameApollo
BuilderHM Dockyard, Devonport
Laid down15 August 1933
Launched9 October 1934
Commissioned13 January 1936
Decommissioned1938
IdentificationPennant number: D63
FateSold to Royal Australian Navy
Australia
NameHobart
NamesakeCity of Hobart
Commissioned28 September 1938
Decommissioned20 December 1947
IdentificationPennant number: D63
Motto
  • Ubertas et Fidelitas
  • (Latin: "Richness and Faithfulness")[1]
Honours and
awards
FateSold for scrap in 1962
General characteristics (as completed)
Class and typeModified Leander-class light cruiser
Displacement7,003 long tons (7,115 t) (standard)
Length
  • 562 ft 4 in (171.4 m) (o/a)
  • 530 ft (161.5 m) (p/p)
Beam56 ft 8 in (17.3 m)
Draught19 ft 5 in (5.9 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines
Speed32.5 kn (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement646 (35 officers, 611 ratings) standard
Armament
Armour
Aircraft carried1 Supermarine Walrus
Aviation facilities1 catapult

HMAS Hobart was a modified Leander-class light cruiser which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. Originally constructed for the Royal Navy as HMS Apollo, the ship entered service in 1936, and was sold to Australia two years later. During the war, Hobart was involved in the evacuation of British Somaliland in 1940, fought at the Battle of the Coral Sea and supported the amphibious landings at Guadalcanal and Tulagi in 1942. She was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943, then returned to service in 1945 and supported the landings at Tarakan, Wewak, Brunei, and Balikpapan. Hobart was placed in reserve in 1947, but plans to modernise her and return her to service as an aircraft carrier escort, training ship, or guided missile ship were not followed through. The cruiser was sold for scrapping in 1962.

  1. ^ Cassells, The Capital Ships, p. 76