HMS Penelope (97)

HMS Penelope at Spithead, December 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	Penelope
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	940[1]
Laid down	30 May 1934
Launched	15 October 1935
Completed	15 November 1936[1]
Commissioned	13 November 1936
Identification	Pennant number: 97
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by U-410, 18 February 1944
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) gun 4 (2 × 2) 4-inch (102 mm) AA guns 8 (2 × 4) 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns 6 (2 × 3) 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes August 1940 configuration: 3 × 6-inch (152 mm) dual guns 4 × 4-inch (102 mm) dual AA guns 2 × quadruple mount QF 2-pdr (40 mm) "pom-pom" AA guns 6 × 20 mm Oerlikon single AA guns 2 × 0.5 inch quadruple machine guns 2 × 21 in (533 mm) triple torpedo tubes
Armour	Original configuration: One to three inches - magazine protection 2.25 inches - belt One inch - deck, turrets and bulkheads
Aircraft carried	One aircraft (later removed).

HMS Penelope was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Harland & Wolff (Belfast, Northern Ireland); her keel was laid down on 30 May 1934. She was launched on 15 October 1935, and commissioned 13 November 1936. She was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-410 near Naples with great loss of life on 18 February 1944. On wartime service with Force K, she was holed so many times by bomb fragments that she acquired the nickname "HMS Pepperpot".