HMS Delhi was a Danae class cruiser

Danae class cruiser

The Danae or D-class was a class of light cruiser built for the Royal Navy at the end of World War I and that survived to see service in World War II.-Design:...

 that served with 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...

 in the Baltic and in 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...

. She was laid down in 1917 (launched in 1919) and scrapped in 1948 after war service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

In 1918-19 she served in the British campaign in the Baltic

British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19

The British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19 was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia but failed to secure the control of Petrograd by Russian White forces, one of...

.

HMS Delhi was based at Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 at the time of the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. The cruiser picked up refugees from Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

, Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 and Valencia, where she was straddled by aerial bombs and by gunfire from the Nationalist

Spanish State

Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....

 heavy cruiser Canarias

Spanish cruiser Canarias

The Canarias was a heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. She was designed in the United Kingdom and was a modified version of the Royal Navy's County class cruiser. She was built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval...

.

In World War II she was initially assigned to operate in home waters, in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 and off the Scandinavian coast. Here she captured the German merchant Rheingold, and intercepted the German merchant Mecklenburg east of Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

. The Mecklenburg's crew scuttled her before she could be captured.

From May to December, 1941 Delhi was refitted as an anti-aircraft cruiser at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

. This refit included 5"/38 calibre gun barrels originally intended for USS Edison

USS Edison (DD-439)

USS Edison , a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Thomas Alva Edison, an inventor and businessman who developed many important devices....

, and were hand-picked by Edisons commanding officer, but were ordered transferred to Delhi by President Roosevelt himself.http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.htm With her new dual purpose

Dual purpose gun

A dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.-Description:Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...

 main armament, she took part in a number of allied landings in the Mediterranean, (Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

, Salarno and Algiers

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

). On 20 November, 1942 Delhi was damaged by enemy action in Algiers Bay when her stern was blown off by Italian aircraft, whilst she was making smoke to protect the fleet. She returned to Britain and was under repair until April 1943.

During Operation Shingle

Operation Shingle

Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...

, the Allied landings at Anzio

Anzio

Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene...

, she collided with another Royal Navy ship whilst avoiding an air attack at night and suffered damage to her bow. Several ships were sent to relieve her, including HMS Spartan

HMS Spartan (95)

HMS Spartan 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 anti-aircraft armament - aka Dido Group 2. She was built by Vickers-Armstrongs , with the keel being laid down on 21 December 1939...

, but all were sunk. She was repaired at sea and remained in service for the rest of the war, taking part in fleet activity prior to 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...

 to create uncertainty as to the actual landing zones.

On 12 February 1945 she was attacked and lightly damaged, possibly by an explosive motorboat in the harbour at Split

Split (city)

Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

, Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. The attack missed the Delhi and struck a nearby landing craft. The force of the resulting explosion caused the Delhi's rudder to jam and she had to be towed to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

.

She returned to Britain and was laid up after the war. She was not fully repaired, and was instead sold on 22 January 1948 to be broken up. She arrived at the yards of Cashmore

John Cashmore Ltd

John Cashmore Ltd was a company based at Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales...

, of Newport in April 1948 to be scrapped.