1
9 4 4
May
Contractors
trials
June
22nd
Build completion
and commenced Acceptance Trials.
Commissioned for
service.
On
completion of trials and storing took
passage to Scapa
Flow to work-up with ships of
Home Fleet.
July
Worked
up with Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.
August
Deployed
with Home Fleet
to
Nominated for duty with Eastern Fleet
with 4th Cruiser Squadron.
September
October
Passage to Plymouth.
16th
Under refit for foreign
service at Devonport.
November
Passage to Mediterranean.
Deployed in Eastern
Mediterranean.
23rd
Transferred to
British Pacific Fleet on formation.
December
Passage
from Suez to Ceylon
8th
Arrived at Trincomalee..
10th
Passage to
Fremantle with HM Escort Carriers FENCER
and STRIKER screened by
three destroyers.
.
Joined
by HM Escort Carriers ATHELING, BATTLER
and HM Cruiser
ACHILLES and
two
destroyers.
16th
Detached with HMS
ACHILLES for independent passage.
24th
Arrived at Hobart
Passage to Sydney to join British Pacific
Fleet
1
9 4 5
January
Deployed
at Sydney and took part in Fleet exercises to
prepare for
service with US Navy ships.
(Note:
These included use of US Navy signalling
procedures..
BPF
ships were identified as Task Group 113.
February
Sydney
deployment
in continuation.
(Note:
US
approval for deployment of
RN ships with US 5th Fleet was delayed.
)
See
OPERATION PACIFIC by E Gray, THE FORGOTTEN
FLEET by J Winton,
WAR
WITH JAPAN
(HMSO) )
and Task
Force 57 by P
Smith.
28th
Took passage with ships of Task Group
113 to British Forward Base at Manus, Admiralty
Islands.
(Note: Part of
Unit 5 with HM Cruisers GAMBIA, BLACK
PRINCE and ARGONAUT.)
March
HM Battleship HOWE joined TG
113 during passage.
7th
Arrived at Manus to await approval for
operational service with US Navy
15th
Approval for joint service with US 5th
Fleet received.
18th
Sailed with TF113.5 to Ulithi
20th
Carried out
further exercises on passage.
23rd
Allocated to 5th
Fleet and designated Task Force 57.
Sailed
to support joint RN/USN carrier air
operations against airfields and shore
targets in
Sakishima-Gunto
Islands (
Operation ICEBERG I)
US
task Force 58 were also
deployed in this Operation.)
25th
Replenished in Area ANT from British
Fleet Train (TF113)
26th
Deployed in support of carrier air
operations
(Note:
This began a pattern of a period providing
defence with TF57 followed by
withdrawal
for
replenishment and two or three days
continuous attacks
by British aircraft.
Replenishment
were made in
designated areas. See WAR WITH JAPAN.
See
above references for details.)
April
1st
Under KAMIKAZE attacks.
8th
After replenishment in Area COOTIE
carried took passage to provide cover
during air operations
against
airfields in Formosa
by RN carriers (Operation
ICEBERG OOLONG.)
21st
Took passage to Leyte
after final air operations in ICEBERG I.
23rd
Arrived at Leyte
for R&R..
May
1st
Sailed from Leyte
with TF57 to resume air operations in Sakashima-Gunto
in conjunction with
TF58 aircraft
carriers (Operation ICEBERG II)
3rd
After replenishment in Area COOTIE
nominated with
HM
Cruisers BLACK PRINCE and EURYALUS to
bombard targets at Mitako
Shina, Formosa
4th
Returned from bombardment after ships
in Sakishima
Gunto had been
under sustained
KAMIKAZE
and conventional air attacks.
See
above references for details of damage to
RN carriers.
Resumed
pattern of air strike operations and replenishment
,
9th
Under further air
attacks with damage to US and RN
carriers.
10th
Deployed with HM Destroyer KEMPENFELT as
Air Picker away from carriers to give
early
warning of
enemy air attacks.
25th
Took passage to Manus with ships of TF57
on completion of final air operations and
replenishment
(Note:
HM Battleship KING GEORGE V which had only
recently joined BPF detached and
took
passage to Guam.)
June
Deployed at Manus for
maintenance.
Nominated for special
operation to carry out air strikes and
bombardments on Truk.
12th
Sailed from Manus with HMS IMPLACABLE,
HM Escort Carrier RULER, HM Cruisers
UGANDA
(RCN)
NEWFOUNDLAND and ACHILLES (RNZN) as TF
111.2 with Fleet destroyer
screen to carry
out air strikes and bombard enemy
positions
on Truk
(Operation INMATE).
14th
Provided air
defence during strikes by aircraft from
HMS IMPLACABLE.
15th
Bombarded Moen
with HM Destroyer TEAZER.
On
completion took passage.
17th
Rejoined BPF
at Manus.
Passage from Manus to
Sydney.
July
Deployed
at Sydney for R&R and to prepare for service
with 3rd
US Fleet as part of Task Force 37
Nominated for refit
before rejoining BPF in operations
against
targets on Japanese mainland.
15th
Under refit in Sydney.
August
Completed
refit and carried out post refit trials.
15th
During
passage to
rejoin TF37 at Manus returned to RN
control and redeployed for
support of
re-occupation of Hong
Kong.
17th
Took passage to Subic
Bay, Philippines.
25th
Joined British TG111 on formation at Subic
Bay.
27th
Sailed with HMS INDOMITABLE, HM Light
Fleet Aircraft Carrier VENERABLE, HM
Cruisers
EURYALUS and BLACK PRINCE, HM LCI(L)
PRINCE ROBERT (RCN),
screened by
six destroyers
and supported by minesweepers and
submarines
as TG111.2.
29th
Joined by HM Battleship ANSON and HM
Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier VENGEANCE
off Hong Kong prior to mine clearance operations.
30th
Entered Hong Kong with TG111.2 after
threat of attacks by Japanese explosive
boats had been
eliminated by
aircraft from HMS VENGEANCE.