HMS Danae (D44)

HMS Danae was a British Royal Navy light cruiser, the leader of her class, active from 1918 to 1948, serving in the Polish navy from 1944 to 1946.

History

Danae was completed in time to serve with the Harwich Fleet in the 5th Cruiser Squadron from 1918 to 1919, including the 1919 Baltic campaign. She later served in the Atlantic fleet from 1919 to 1924.

In 1924, she left in a special service squadron as an Imperial cruiser in the Mediterranean where she served with the 1st Cruiser Squadron from September 1925 to 1929.

He was then posted to the 8th Cruiser Squadron at the South Indies Station from August 1930 to 1935 when he was relieved by HMS Apollo.

She was again sent to a Chinese station in August 1936 as part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron, being withdrawn again in January 1938.

He joined the 9th Cruiser Squadron until the start of the war in September 1939, to be sent to China that same year.

She was part of the British naval force in Malaya and in March 1939 when Japan invaded the area, she acted as an escort on routes between the Chinese naval force and Singapore, Sunda and Java.

In February 1942, he took part in the fighting at Batavia before leaving for Sunda from Colombo. Subsequently, she served in the Eastern Fleet, in the 4th Cruiser Squadron until 1944, when the squadron was reformed and modernized by the British. She intervened in the Normandy landing by bombarding the beach as support in the combat on land.

On 4 October 1944, she was renamed Conrad and joined the Polish Fleet, where she served in the 10th Cruiser Squadron of the Polish Naval Fleet. She however returned to the British Royal Army on 28 September 1946, where she again regained the name Danae . She was decommissioned on January 22, 1948 and scrapped on March 27 of that same year.

Units of your class

• HMS Dauntless
• HMS Dragon
• HMS Delhi
• HMS Despatch
• HMS Diomede
• HMS Dunedin
• HMS Durban