HMS Aurora (12)

Aurora, July 1942
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Aurora
BuilderPortsmouth Dockyard
Laid down27 July 1935
Launched20 August 1936
Commissioned12 November 1937
DecommissionedApril 1946
IdentificationPennant number: 12
FateSold on 19 May 1948 to the Nationalist Chinese Navy
Republic of China
NameChung King
NamesakeChongqing
Acquired19 May 1948
FateDefected to Communist China, 25 February 1949
People's Republic of China
NameTchoung King
AcquiredFebruary 1949
Renamed
  • Huang He (1959)
  • Pei Ching (1965)
  • Kuang Chou
FateSunk by ROC aircraft, March 1949. Later refloated and converted for other purposes. Scrapped during Cultural Revolution
General characteristics
Class and typeArethusa-class light cruiser
Displacement
  • 5,220 tons standard load
  • 6,665 tons full load
Length506 ft (154 m)
Beam51 ft (16 m)
Draught14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion
  • Four Parsons geared steam turbines
  • Four Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers
  • Four shafts
  • 64,000 shp
Speed32 knots (59 km/h)
RangeUnknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil
Complement500
Armament
Armour
Aircraft carriedOne aircraft (later removed)

HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, with the keel being laid down on 27 July 1935. She was launched on 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937.

In 1948 it was gifted to the Nationalist government in China and served as the flagship of the Republic of China Navy, being renamed Chongqing. In February 1949 its crew mutinied and defected to the Communists.

  1. ^ Lenton & Colledge 1968 p.41
  2. ^ Campbell 1985 p.34