HMS Dragon, also known in Polish service as ORP Dragon , was a D- or Danae-class

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:...

 cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 built 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 launched in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, in December 1917, and scuttled in July 1944 off the Normandy beaches

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

 as part of the Arromanches Breakwater

Breakwater (structure)

Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...

.

Pre World War II

One of the fastest-built ships of the time, Dragon (pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 D46) was laid down on 24 January 1917 in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. She was launched on 29 December that year. However, it was not until 10 August 1918 she was finally commissioned at Harwich by the Royal Navy as HMS Dragon, commanded by Capt. A. H. Allington. Armed with six 6-inch guns, the 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...

 was commissioned too late to enter service during the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. She carried HRH The Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

 (the future King Edward VIII

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

) to Canada in August 1919 to begin a Royal Tour

Royal tours of Canada

Canadian royal tours have been taking place since 1786, and continue into the 21st century, either as an official tour, a working tour, a vacation, or a period of military service by a member of the Canadian Royal Family...

.
She then took part in the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

 as part of a task force

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...

 aiding independent Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 and Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 against the Bolsheviks and German forces in October and November 1919, see 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...

. On 17 October 1919 Dragon was hit by three shells fired from a shore battery

Coastal artillery

Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....

 while taking part in operations against German forces attacking Riga, suffering nine killed and five wounded.
From 1920, she was part of the First Light Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet.

She recommissioned 8 May 1923 and 2 February 1926 at Chatham

In the interbellum

Interwar period

Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....

, in 1924, she was part of the First Cruiser Squadron, Atlantic. During 1924, she was attached to a task force with , , , (which would later replace Dragon in the Polish Navy) and for a variety of tasks around the world. Dragon was stationed in Zanzibar

Zanzibar

Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

, Ceylon, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, and took part in visits to the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Dutch Antilles, and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

On 20 December 1928, she was withdrawn from service and underwent a major refurbishment in Great Britain. Among other changes, the hangar for her seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

 was dismantled. 15 November 1929, she was given to Commander P. W. Nelles

Percy W. Nelles

Percy Walker Nelles, CB was a flag officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Chief of the Naval Staff from 1934 to 1944. He oversaw the massive wartime expansion of the RCN and the transformation of Canada into a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic. During his tenure U-boats raided the...

, RCN.

On 22 January 1930, the refit was completed and Dragon entered commission once more, and after undergoing trials at Chatham acted as tender to Pembroke. She was commissioned a number of times during the 1930s, and in 1935 was attached to the America and West Indies station. In 1934, she was involved in a collision with a ship in the harbour of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which resulted in an admiralty action

Wake-Walker v. SS. Colin W. Ltd.

Wake-Walker v. SS. Colin W. Ltd. is a Canadian admiralty law case concerning the issue of inevitable accident. The case was decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada. The Judicial Committee at that time was the court of last resort for...

 against her captain at the time, Frederic Wake-Walker

Frederic Wake-Walker

Admiral Sir Frederic Wake-Walker CB CBE was a British admiral who served in the Royal Navy during World War I and World War II, taking a leading part in the destruction of the German battleship Bismarck, and in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation at Dunkirk.-Early days:Born William Frederic...

. The Canadian courts found him liable for the collision. That finding of liability was upheld on appeal by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...

, at that time the court of last resort for the British Empire and Commonwealth. She recommissioned with a reserve crew 16 July 1937, serving as a tender to Cardiff, and in 1938-9 she formed part of the Reserve Fleet based at The Nore.

Wartime career

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...

 the ship was initially attached to the 7th Cruiser Squadron of the Northern Patrol operating against German U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s in the Shetland area. In November she took part in pursuit of the . In February, HMS Dragon crossed the Mediterranean and returned to the Atlantic. On 16 September 1940 she scored her first victory after capturing the . On 23 September of the same year she reached the area of the port of Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, where she took part in Operation Menace against the French fleet stationed there. Together with and she sank the and took part in shelling the port itself. After the action she was moved to Freetown

Freetown

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

, from where she operated against the in December.

Until November 1941 Dragon served as an escort ship of various convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

s in the Atlantic, after which she was moved to Asia. On 20 January 1942 she was attached to a task force operating in the Yellow Sea

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...

. After the fall of Singapore

Battle of Singapore

The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...

 she was joined with and the Dutch cruiser and operated from Ceylon. In May she was moved to Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. The following month the crew of the ship was landed and moved to other units, while the Dragon started her voyage back to Britain for refurbishment. Since the rump crew could not operate the ship independently, she had to be attached to various convoys and it took almost half a year before she finally reached Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 via Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, Chatham

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 and Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

.

Transferred to the Polish Navy

On 15 January 1943 she was handed over to the Polish Navy

Polish Navy

The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...

, renamed ORP Dragon and manned by a Polish crew. While the name of the ship remained the same it took on a new meaning. Dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

 in Polish is smok, while "dragon" in Polish means dragoon

Dragoon

The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...

 (a mounted infantry

Mounted infantry

Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...

 soldier) although the latter still comes in a roundabout way from dragon. Modernized in the Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

 shipyard in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, she was refitted with new electric plant and installation, radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 and armament. The refurbishment was finished on 23 August 1943 and the ship was moved to Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

. From there she operated as part of various convoy escorts. On 20 February 1944 she was joined by and and escorted the JW.57 convoy to Murmansk

Murmansk

Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

. On a return trip the ship escorted the RA.57 convoy. Upon her return she was attached to various larger ships for training of sea to land operations before the Battle of Normandy

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

. Finally on 2 June she was attached to a flotilla composed of , , , , , Danae and 24 smaller vessels and headed for Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

.

The ship saw action at the Normandy Landings as part of Operation Neptune

Operation Neptune

The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...

, shelling German shore batteries at Colleville-sur-Orne

Colleville-Montgomery

Colleville-Montgomery is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northern France.-Sights:* The ChurchBuilt by Saint-Vigor, Bishop of the city of Bayeux , during the 11th and 12th centuries, it has two choirs and a Romanesque nave.The first bay consists in barrel vaults...

 and at Trouville

Trouville

Trouville is the name or part of the name of several communes of Normandy, France:* Trouville, in the Seine-Maritime department* Trouville-sur-Mer, in the Calvados department, arguably the most famous of these communes, and commonly referred to as Trouville* Trouville-la-Haule, in the Eure department...

 (Sword Beach

Sword Beach

Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...

) from a distance of four kilometres. A near miss by a German 105 mm (4 in) shore battery gun wounded three sailors. She withdrew under cover of Ramillies and , whose fire destroyed the battery. In the evening of 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...

 she moved to Juno Beach

Juno Beach

Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...

 sector, to support the advancing Allied troops. The following day the ship shelled German positions in and around the town of Caen

Caen

Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

. However, on 8 June a communication systems failure prevented the ship from further bombardment and it was not until late at night that she again opened fire against the German 21st Panzer Division near Varaville. The following day she took part in an artillery duel with a shore battery at Houlgate

Houlgate

Houlgate is a small tourist resort in northwestern France along the English Channel with a beach and a casino. It is a commune in the Drochon Valley, in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region.-Pre-19th century:...

, after which she returned to Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 for refuelling and supplies. Between 12 June and 17 June she again shelled German positions near Caen, Gouneville, Lébisey and Varaville. During that time she also evaded a torpedo attack by an unknown submarine. On 18 June she was bound for Portsmouth escorting which had struck by a mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

.

Damage and scuttling

On 7 July 1944 Dragon returned to the area off Caen where she was to take part in the final artillery preparations for capturing the city after a month long siege

Battle for Caen

The Battle for Caen from June-August 1944 was a battle between Allied and German forces during the Battle of Normandy....

. The following day, at 5:40 am, while waiting for the order to open fire at 49°22′N 0°21′W, the Dragon was hit by a German Neger

Neger

Neger was a German torpedo-carrying craft generally described as a human torpedo which could not submerge, but was difficult to see during night operations. The vessel was used by the Kriegsmarine between 1943 and 1945...

manned torpedo piloted by Walther Gerhold

Walther Gerhold

Walther Gerhold was a highly decorated Marine-Schreiber-Obergefreiter in the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military...

 with the loss of 26 men.

A book published in London by William Kimber in 1955 provides a different pilot responsible for the attack. According to "K-Men: The Story of the German Frogmen and Midget Submarines" (author C.D. Bekker, with a preface by Hellmuth Heye

Hellmuth Heye

Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye was born on August 9th, 1895, son of father, August Wilhelm Heye, and mother Else Karcher Heye. Hellmuth was a German admiral in World War II and politician in post-war Germany. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

, formerly Admiral of the K-Force), the pilot was Midshipman Potthast. Potthast's first person account of the attack on Dragon is described. On 13 June, a week after the Normandy landings, 40 Negers and their personnel, many new recruits, began a journey from Italy to Normandy. They travelled to Paris by train and then road to Normandy. Allied fighter bomber activity made it difficult to travel during daylight hours and the flotilla leader, Lieutenant Hanno Krieg, was seriously wounded in one attack. Potthast, as the next most experienced pilot, took command and they finally met with Captain Böhme, a former destroyer commander, who had been sent ahead to the Bay of the Seine

Baie de la Seine

The Baie de la Seine or Baie de Seine is a bay in northern France.-Geography:It is a wide, rectangular inlet of the English Channel, approximately 100 kilometres by 45 kilometres, bounded in the west by the Cotentin Peninsula, in the south by the Normandy coast and in the east by the estuary of...

 to make facilities for the K-flotilla's arrival.

According to Potthast's report, 20 negers set sail in the early hours of 7 July. (Potthast had aborted a mission two nights previously due to mechanical problems.) At 03:00 a line of small patrol vessels passed by Potthast but "I had no intention of wasting my torpedo on them." Some 45 minutes later he let merchant ships pass as "I was determined to bag a warship". Around 04:00 he sighted a , but she turned away when some 500 yards from him so he was forced to wait. In the moonlight he then saw several warships in quarter-line formation crossing his path and he steered to attack the rear ship, which seemed larger than the others. At a distance of 300 yards Potthast pulled the torpedo firing lever and he actioned a post-attack escape. The explosion, so close by, almost "hurled" his neger out of the water. "A sheet of flame shot upwards from the stricken ship. Almost at once I was enveloped in thick smoke and I lost all sense of direction. When the smoke cleared I saw that the warship's stern had been blown away." Other vessels counter attacked, firing wildly as they could not see Potthast, but he managed to evade them. Later, two frigates passed close by Potthast but they did not spot him. After more than six hours in a cramped cockpit Potthast was severely fatigued. He eventually dozed and in the morning light a corvette attacked with gunfire from around 100 yards off. Potthast managed to get out of the neger as the gunfire disabled the craft. With blood pouring from an arm wound he collapsed, but the corvette crew rescued him with a boathook and rope looped under his arms. He was taken to the sick-bay and given tea and biscuits. Later flown to an English hospital, Potthast was interrogated by military intelligence and although confronted with maps and details of K-flotilla deployments he refused to confirm or deny anything. "After six weeks they gave up, then suddenly told him that he had himself been responsible for the sinking of the 5,000-ton cruiser Dragon. ...All this cheered up the prisoner, who felt that his arduous training had not been wasted after all," wrote Bekker.

The explosion caused a fire in the 3rd magazine, which had to be filled with water. Also, the 3rd engine was hit, and the ship started to sink on her port side. The angle of list reached 9°, but the situation was stabilized by the captain, who ordered all the turrets to train their barrels to the starboard. Although an additional 11 sailors died of wounds, the situation was stabilized, and the ship was moved to a shallow where she was to await the ebb tide. After the water was pumped out of the flooded engine room it was discovered that the hull was pierced across two sections and the hole was approximately 5 metres (16.4 ft) by 15 metres (49.2 ft).

Although still afloat and repairable, it was decided that the ship be abandoned. On 10 July, the aided the Dragon by transporting 17 of her officers and 320 of her enlisted men from Normandy to England. Until 15 July the remaining rump crew dismantled the armament. An additional two bodies were found in the ship, and the dead were buried at sea. On 16 July she was decommissioned and she was then towed to Mulberry "B"

Mulberry harbour

A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....

, where on 20 July she was scuttled to form part of the artificial breakwater near Courseulles. On 4 October 1944 she was replaced in Polish service with the ORP Conrad, formerly HMS Dragon's sister ship .

External links