HMS Fiji (58)

Fiji in 1940
History
United Kingdom
Name	Fiji
Namesake	Colonial Fiji
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Laid down	30 March 1938
Launched	31 May 1939
Commissioned	5 May 1940
Identification	Pennant number: 58
Fate	Sunk by German bombers, 22 May 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Fiji-class light cruiser
Displacement	8,530 long tons (8,670 t) (standard) 10,724 long tons (10,896 t) (deep load)
Length	555 ft 6 in (169.3 m)
Beam	62 ft (18.9 m)
Draught	19 ft 10 in (6 m)
Installed power	4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbine sets
Speed	32.25 knots (59.73 km/h; 37.11 mph)
Range	6,250 nmi (11,580 km; 7,190 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	733 (peacetime), 900 (wartime)
Armament	4 × triple 6 in (152 mm) guns 4 × twin 4 in (102 mm) DP guns 2 × quadruple 2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA guns 2 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Engine and boiler rooms: 3.25 in (83 mm) Decks: 2–3.5 in (51–89 mm) Magazines: 2–3.5 in (51–89 mm) Gun turrets: 1–2 in (25–51 mm)
Aircraft carried	2 × seaplanes
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult, 2 × hangars

HMS Fiji was the lead ship of her class of 11 light cruisers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the Second World War. Completed in mid-1940, she was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and was detached to escort a force tasked to force French West Africa to join the Free French. The ship was torpedoed en route and required six months to be repaired. Fiji was then assigned to Force H where she helped to escort convoys to Malta. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in early May 1941. After the Germans invaded Crete a few weeks later, she was sunk by German aircraft on 22 May after having fired off all of her anti-aircraft ammunition.