1941 HMS ARGONAUT. Argonaut was one of a new type of warship developed to
meet the threat of air attack. The type suffered very heavy losses in the Mediterranean.
THE ANTI-AIRCRAFT CRUISER
From the time of the Abyssinian Crisis in 1936 the Admiralty took steps to protect the fleet against attack by shore-based aircraft. Initially old cruisers were rearmed, but at the same time a new design was ordered, with a dual-purpose armament, in high-angle mountings but firing a large enough shell for use against surface targets. The Dido class were small enough to be built in numbers, and were fast enough to escort the fleets aircraft carriers and battleships. Although they played a major role in the sea-air battles in the Mediterranean, their 5.25in (133mm) gun mountings were not ideal, being too slow-firing for use against aircraft. The ships small hulls gave poor protection against underwater damage.
WARTIME ACTION
HMS Argonaut was the last of 11 Dido-class vessels (five more were built to a modified design), and was one of the survivors. After completion in 1942 she joined the Home Fleet, and was then detached to Force H at Gibraltar. While supporting the Torch landings in North Africa she was severely damaged by two submarine torpedoes on 14 December 1942. With both bow and stern blown off, she needed 11 months of repairs in Philadelphia Navy Yard, before rejoining the Home Fleet early in 1944. She provided gunfire support far the Normandy landings and then returned to the Mediterranean. At the end of 1944 she was sent to the East Indies and joined with the British Pacific Fleet early the following year. She was laid up in reserve in 1946 and saw no mare service. She was scrapped in 1955.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Anti-aircraft cruiser
Machinery: 4-shoft geared turbines, 62,000shp
Dimensions: I 156m (512ff); beam, 1 5.4m (50.5ff)
Displacement: 6850t (full load)
Draught: 5.lm (16.75ff)
