HMS Manchester (15)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Manchester.

Manchester in 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Manchester
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn
Laid down:	28 March 1936
Launched:	12 April 1937
Commissioned:	4 August 1938
Fate:	Scuttled on 13 August 1942 off Tunisia
General characteristics
Class & type:	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement:	11,930 tons full load
Length:	591 ft 6 in (180.29 m)
Beam:	64 ft 9 in (19.74 m)
Draught:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers 82,500 shp (61.5 MW)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range:	7,320 nmi (13,560 km; 8,420 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h)
Complement:	750
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 279 air warning radar Type 273 surface warning radar Type 284 fire control radar Type 285 fire control radar
Armament:	Original Configuration: 12 × 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XXIII guns in triple turrets (4x3) 8 × 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns (4x2) 8 x 0.50-inch (12.7 mm) AA machine guns 6 x 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3) (deck mounted) (later removed)
Aircraft carried:	Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft 1 catapult (Removed in the latter part of WWII)
Notes:	Pennant number C15

The second HMS Manchester was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, belonging to the Gloucester subclass. She was laid down by Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn in March 1936, launched in April the following year and commissioned in August 1938. She had a relatively short, but active, career.

Early war service

Manchester was serving in the East Indies with the 4th Cruiser Squadron at the outbreak of war, but was ordered home and arrived back Britain on 25 November 1939. She subsequently served with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, on Northern Patrol duties, capturing the German merchantman Wahehe on 21 February 1940. She first saw action during the ill-fated Norwegian campaign in 1940, where she won her first battle honour. She was then based in the Humber for anti-invasion duties, but on 15 September sailed to the Mediterranean for Operation Collar. In 1940, Manchester, along with other Royal Navy warships, engaged an Italian cruiser squadron, in a naval action that became known as the battle of Cape Spartivento. Manchester was straddled by the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto and hit by shell splinters.

Two men stained with fuel oil taking a breath of fresh air on Manchester's flight deck, after being rescued from below deck. Both of them are wearing life preservers. Manchester had been damaged by an aerial torpedo but was not sunk

Bismarck and the Mediterranean convoys

Manchester returned to Britain on 13 December 1940 and spent the first four months of 1941 under refit, then patrolled the Iceland-Faroes passage during the Bismarck sortie. In July she returned to the Mediterranean for an important Malta convoy, but on 23 July she was hit on the port quarter by an aerial torpedo and badly damaged. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar, and the ship then sailed for Philadelphia for complete repair. This was finished on 27 February 1942, after which she returned to Portsmouth, where final work was completed by the end of April. On her return to service she joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow during the first week of May, then carried out Russian convoy cover duties and the reinforcement of Spitzbergen. In August she returned to the Mediterranean.

Sinking

Manchester took part in Operation Pedestal, an operation to supply the besieged island of Malta, and which cost a number of warships, including the aircraft carrier Eagle. During the operation, on 13 August, she was torpedoed and disabled by two Italian motor torpedo boats and subsequently scuttled with explosive charges. She was the largest ship sunk by motor torpedo boats during the Second World War.

Operation Pedestal, 11 August: A general view of the convoy under air attack showing the intense anti-aircraft barrage put up by the escorts. The battleship Rodney is on the left and Manchester is on the right

Aftermath

Her commanding officer, Captain Harold Drew, was court-martialled due to the Admiralty's belief that the ship was still navigable and capable of reaching a neutral port. Captain Drew was initially led to believe that he was taking part in an enquiry, and was only informed at the end of the trial that he was in fact being charged with negligence by a court martial. He was found guilty, and was reprimanded and dismissed. It was and remains a contentious decision; the ship had been crippled, and the Captain had feared the ship, including her radar gear, might fall into enemy hands. Many of the ship's crew were rescued by an Allied warship. Others, including Nigel Malim, fell into the hands of the Vichy French and were interned at Laghouat, to be released in November as a result of Operation Torch. Notably, the surviving crew members strongly supported both Captain Drew's assessment of the ship's situation and his decision to scuttle her, with one seaman stating: "We were down to 10-15% ammunition, listing at nearly 45 degrees, with one engine destroyed and not much hope of getting the other working. The Captain decided that his choices were to wait until dawn and get blown to buggery, or to save the men."

In 2002, Manchester was the subject of a documentary by ITV, called "Running the Gauntlet: Sink the Manchester!".

In 2009, a successful expedition to dive Manchester was completed.

Battle honours

• Norway 1940
• Spartivento 1940
• Malta 1942
• Arctic 1942

See also

• Operation Pedestal

Notes

a. ^{^} There is some disagreement about Manchester's fatalities among the sources: The following websites mention 150 "lost":

• "Royal Navy Cruisers - Part 4". Alex's Royal Navy Page. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
• "HMS Liverpool - Town Class Light Cruisers". The Naval Ships of Victor Johns. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

A more accurate account of the cruiser casualties reports 132 killed or missing and 568 survivors (rescued either by Allied forces or Vichy authorities).[Kemp, Paul:The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century, Sutton Publishing,1999].

Other sources only mention the deaths as result of the torpedo impact (about a dozen). [Woodman, Richard: Malta Convoys, 1940-1943, Jack Murray Ltd., London, 2000].

External links

• HMS Manchester at Uboat.net
• HMS Manchester at WWII cruisers
• HMS Manchester at naval-history.net