HMS Aurora (12)

Aurora, July 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Aurora
Builder	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down	27 July 1935
Launched	20 August 1936
Commissioned	12 November 1937
Decommissioned	April 1946
Identification	Pennant number: 12
Fate	Sold on 19 May 1948 to the Nationalist Chinese Navy
Republic of China
Name	Chung King
Namesake	Chongqing
Acquired	19 May 1948
Fate	Defected to Communist China, 25 February 1949
People's Republic of China
Name	Tchoung King
Acquired	February 1949
Renamed	Huang He (1959) Pei Ching (1965) Kuang Chou
Fate	Sunk by ROC aircraft, March 1949. Later refloated and converted for other purposes. Scrapped during Cultural Revolution
General characteristics
Class and type	Arethusa-class light cruiser
Displacement	5,220 tons standard load 6,665 tons full load
Length	506 ft (154 m)
Beam	51 ft (16 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion	Four Parsons geared steam turbines Four Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers Four shafts 64,000 shp
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range	Unknown; 1,325 tons fuel oil
Complement	500
Armament	Original configuration: 6 × BL 6-inch (152 mm) guns 4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) single Mk V AA guns 2 × 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) quadruple machine guns 2 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (triple mount) April 1941 configuration: 3 × 6-inch (152 mm) dual guns 2 × 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom quad AA guns 3 × 20 mm Oerlikon single AA guns 2 × 0.5-inch quadruple machine guns 2 × 21-inch (533 mm) triple torpedo tubes. December 1943 configuration: 3 × 6-inch (152 mm) dual guns 2 × 40 mm Bofors quad AA guns 4 × 20 mm Oerlikon dual power-operated AA guns 3 × 20 mm Oerlikon single AA guns 2 × 0.5-inch quadruple machine guns 2 × 21-inch (533 mm) triple torpedo tubes[1][2]
Armour	Original configuration: 1 to 3 inches – magazine protection 2.25 inches – belt 1 inches – deck, turrets and bulkheads
Aircraft carried	One 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.