HMS Black Prince (81)

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Black Prince at anchor on the River Tyne, July 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name	Black Prince
Namesake	Edward, the Black Prince
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Yard number	1049[1]
Laid down	2 November 1939
Launched	27 August 1942
Completed	20 November 1943[1]
Commissioned	30 November 1943
Decommissioned	March 1962
Out of service	Loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy, 25 May 1946
Fate	Scrapped, 2 May 1962
Notes	Pennant number: 81
New Zealand
Name	HMNZS Black Prince
Commissioned	25 May 1946
Out of service	Returned to Royal Navy control, 1 April 1961
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Dido-class light cruiser
Displacement	5,950 tons (standard) 7,200 tons (full load)
Length	485 ft (148 m) (pp) 512 ft (156 m) (oa)
Beam	50.5 ft (15.4 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power	4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 62,000 shp (46 MW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines
Speed	32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph)
Range	6,824 km (3,685 nmi; 4,240 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	530
Armament	8 × QF 5.25-inch (133 mm) dual guns, 6 × 20 mm dual AA guns, 3 × 2-pounder (40-mm) pom-poms quad guns, 2 × 21-inch (530 mm) triple torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 3 in (76 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Magazines: 2 in (51 mm) Bulkheads: 1 in (25 mm)

HMS Black Prince was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, of the Bellona subgroup. The cruiser was commissioned in 1943, and served during World War II on the Arctic convoys, during the Normandy landings, and as part of the British Pacific Fleet. In 1946, the cruiser was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy, becoming HMNZS Black Prince. The cruiser was docked for modernisation in 1947, but in April, her sailors walked off the ship as part of a series of mutinies in the RNZN. The shortage of manpower resulting from these mutinies meant that the modernisation had to be cancelled, and Black Prince was placed in reserve until 1953. She returned to service after refitting with simplified secondary armament with a single quad "pom pom" in Q position and eight Mk3 40mm Bofors guns. The ship was decommissioned again two years later, and returned to the Royal Navy in 1961. Black Prince did not re-enter service, and was towed from Auckland to Osaka for scrapping in 1962.