HMS Bellona (63)
Encyclopedia
HMS Bellona was the name ship of her subgroup of light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was a modified Dido-class
Dido class cruiser
The Dido class was a class of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the Arethusa class light cruisers. The first group of three ships was commissioned in 1940, the second group and third group were commissioned in 1941–1942...
design with only four turrets but improved anti-aircraft armament. Entering service in 1943 the cruiser operated during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as an escort for the Arctic convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
, as a jamming ship to prevent the use of radio-controlled bombs, and in support of the Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
landings.
In 1946 the cruiser was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
. Although not involved in the multi-ship mutiny
1947 Royal New Zealand Navy mutinies
During April 1947, the Royal New Zealand Navy was affected by a series of peaceful mutinies amongst the sailors and non-commissioned officers of four ships and two shore bases...
, at the start of the month, 140 sailors elected to not return to the ship in protest of the poor pay and working conditions and how their colleagues had been treated. Fifty-two sailors were eventually marked as deserters while the others were charged with various lesser offences.
Bellona was returned to the Royal Navy in 1956. She did not reenter service and was scrapped two years later.
Construction
Bellona was a modified Dido-classDido class cruiser
The Dido class was a class of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the Arethusa class light cruisers. The first group of three ships was commissioned in 1940, the second group and third group were commissioned in 1941–1942...
design with only four turrets but improved anti-aircraft (AA) armament. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a British shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the...
(Govan
Govan
Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
), with the keel being laid down on 30 November 1939. She was launched on 29 September 1942 and commissioned on 29 October 1943. All of the Bellona class used the HACS
HACS
HACS, an acronym of High Angle Control System, was a British anti-aircraft fire-control system employed by the Royal Navy from 1931 onwards and used widely during World War II...
high angle fire control system and they were all fitted with Remote Power Control allowing the HACS to remotely control their 5.25 inches (133.4 mm) guns.
Bellona was named after the Roman Goddess of War
Bellona (goddess)
Bellona was an Ancient Roman goddess of war, similar to the Ancient Greek Enyo. Bellona's attribute is a sword and she is depicted wearing a helmet and armed with a spear and a torch....
. Her motto was 'Battle is our Business'.
Royal Navy
Bellona participated in several Russian ConvoysArctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
, both before and after D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. Prior to D-Day she took over Channel patrol in place of HMS Charybdis
HMS Charybdis (88)
HMS Charybdis was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cammell Laird Shipyard , with the keel being laid down on 9 November 1939...
, which had been sunk off the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
by a radio-controlled bomb. On arrival at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, Bellona was fitted with equipment for jamming the radio signals that controlled the bombs. Bellona and seven destroyers were involved, including HMS Tartar
HMS Tartar (F43)
HMS Tartar was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in most of the naval theatres of World War II. She had an eventful career, eventually receiving the nickname 'Lucky Tartar' due to her numerous escapes from dangerous situations...
. The codename for the patrol force was 'Snow White and the seven dwarfs'.
During the day the force anchored in Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
, as air defence for Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. At dusk, under cover of darkness and maintaining radio and radar silence, the force would proceed at full speed to the French coast to keep the German Narvik-class destroyers bottled up in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
. The force would return to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
by daylight. By day the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
would patrol the Channel and, by night, Plymouth.
On D-day Bellonas duty was to help to support Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
, the American sector. The American battleships USS Texas
USS Texas (BB-35)
USS Texas , the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of Texas, is a . The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914....
and USS Arkansas
USS Arkansas (BB-33)
USS Arkansas , a was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 25th state.A dreadnought battleship, Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 14 January 1911 sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise...
were also there. As the army advanced Bellona fired her guns inshore at targets spotted by aircraft and forward observation officers off-shore. On several occasions Bellona returned to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
to get more ammunition and change the gun barrels because of wear. At night Bellona went close inshore and did the support firings.
In July 1944 Bellona covered the carrier raids against the German battleship Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
but the following month was back in the Channel, attacking German convoy traffic in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and off the Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
coast.
Bellona returned to northern waters, for the remainder of the war, on Arctic convoys and on carrier and cruiser sweeps along the Norwegian coastline before arriving in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
at the German surrender in May 1945.
After the war she was part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron until 1946 when she was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
.
Royal New Zealand Navy
During March and April 1947 Bellona was involved in training exercises with the Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
. During a gunnery practice a sailor, Gordon Patten, was injured and was sent to hospital for treatment where he remained for months. The cruiser returned to Devonport
Devonport Naval Base
Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and was a navy base from as far back as 1841...
in late April and the crew were given a day's leave to attend Anzac Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
services and events on Friday, 25 April. Although the ship had missed the main mutiny at the start of the month
1947 Royal New Zealand Navy mutinies
During April 1947, the Royal New Zealand Navy was affected by a series of peaceful mutinies amongst the sailors and non-commissioned officers of four ships and two shore bases...
, personnel from Bellona were concered about how their colleagues had been treated and, during the afternoon, about 100 sailors assembled in Quay Street, Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and decided to not return to duty. They compiled a list of three demands—that naval pay rates be increased to match the New Zealand Army
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army , is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946...
and Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
; that committees tasked with improving the welfare of the lower ranks be established; and that the sailors involved in the previous mutiny not be persecuted or punished. Another 40 sailors mustering before boarding Bellona were recruited into the mutiny. In response, Bellonas captain sent the entire complement on leave for the weekend.
On Monday 28 April a letter listing the mutineers demands was presented to the captain with the intention that it be forwarded to the Naval Board. Instead of addressing the complaints the New Zealand Naval Board declared that any sailor who did not return to duty by the morning of Tuesday 29 April would be marked as Absent Without Leave. By morning parade 52 men had failed to return. Those sailors were marked as having deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
even though naval regulations meant that they had to be absent for seven days before being considered deserters. Once marked, the sailors lost all unpaid pay and allowances. The issuing of arrest warrants for the sailors was also considered but the cruiser's captain dismissed the suggestion. Between the date of the mutiny and 23 June, when Bellona sailed on her next deployment, another 32 men returned. Various charges were laid against them, ranging from "wilfully disobeying a legal command" to "joining a mutiny not accompanied by violence" and the sailors were sentenced to periods of imprisonment up to 92 days.
In 1951 the cruiser was involved in a multinational exercise in Australian waters. During the exercise a Hawker Sea Fury
Hawker Sea Fury
The Hawker Sea Fury was a British fighter aircraft developed for the Royal Navy by Hawker during the Second World War. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, it was also one of the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built.-Origins:The Hawker Fury was an...
from accidentally fired four practice rockets into the superstructure of the New Zealand ship. Only minor damage was caused and, although an inquiry concluded that the pilot had unintentionally pressed the fire button, it was later found that certain signal frequencies transmitted by Sydney’s radio aerials could trigger the aircraft's weapon-firing circuits.
Bellona reverted to Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
control after the transfer of HMS Royalist
HMS Royalist (89)
HMS Royalist was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Bellona subgroup of the Royal Navy. She was a modified Dido design with only four turrets but improved AA armament - aka Dido Group 2. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company with the keel being laid down on 21 March 1940...
in 1956.
Fate
On 5 February 1958 she arrived at the Briton Ferry yardBriton Ferry
Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The town encompasses the electoral wards of Briton Ferry East and Briton Ferry West....
of Thomas W Ward Ltd to be broken up.