Royalist anchored at Greenock, Scotland, in September 1943
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Royalist |
Builder | Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock |
Laid down | 21 March 1940 |
Launched | 30 May 1942 |
Commissioned | 10 September 1943 |
Recommissioned | 1967 |
Decommissioned | November 1967 |
Out of service | In reserve from 1946 to 1956 Loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1956 to 1966 |
Identification | Pennant number: 89 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, November 1967 |
New Zealand | |
Name | HMNZS Royalist |
Commissioned | 1956 |
Decommissioned | 1966 |
Out of service | Returned to Royal Navy control 1967 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Dido-class light cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length |
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Beam | 50 ft 6 in (15.39 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Installed power | 62,000 shp (46 MW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph) |
Range |
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Complement | 530 |
Armament |
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Armour |
HMS Royalist was a Bellona-class (improved Dido-class) light cruiser of the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) during the Second World War and early Cold War.
After her commissioning in 1943, Royalist was modified with extra facilities and crew for operating as a flagship in aircraft carrier operations. Initially, she operated in the North Sea before transferring to the Mediterranean for the invasion of southern France. Royalist remained in the Aegean Sea until the end of 1944 before sailing to the Far East in 1945 where the ship served until the end of the war.
Royalist was then put into reserve until 1953, when the Navy decided to proceed with plans to refit the ship. The high cost of reconstruction and new governmental policy forced the RN to transfer the vessel to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in 1956. In return, New Zealand covered the reconstruction costs of Royalist. After ten years of service with the RNZN, which included involvement in the Suez Crisis and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, she was scrapped in 1967.