HMS Gambia (48) 4821296 217506237 2008-06-06T09:58:55Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {|{{Infobox Ship Begin}} {{Infobox Ship Image |Ship image=[[Image:HMS Gambia.jpg|300px]] |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Hide header= |Ship country=[[UK]] |Ship flag={{navy|UK|size=60px}} |Ship class=[[Crown Colony class cruiser|Crown Colony-class]] [[light cruiser]] |Ship name=HMS ''Gambia'' |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=[[Swan Hunter]], [[Wallsend]], [[Tyne and Wear]] |Ship laid down=[[July 24]], [[1939]] |Ship launched=[[30 November]], [[1940]] |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=[[February 21]], [[1942]] |Ship recommissioned=[[1 July]] [[1946]] |Ship decommissioned=December [[1960]] |Ship in service=Returned to the Royal Navy on [[27 March]] [[1946]] |Ship out of service=Transferred to the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]] on [[22 September]] [[1943]] |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Scrapped by Ward, [[Inverkeithing]], arriving on [[5 December]] [[1968]] |Ship status= |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Hide header= |Ship country=[[New Zealand]] |Ship flag={{navy|NZ|size=60px}} |Ship class= |Ship name=HMNZS ''Gambia'' |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=[[22 September]] [[1943]] |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=Returned to the Royal Navy on [[27 March]] [[1946]] |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate= |Ship status= |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox Ship Characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship displacement=8,530 tonnes standard<br>10450 tons full load |Ship tons burthen= |Ship length= 169.3 m (555.5 feet) |Ship beam=18.9 m (62 feet) |Ship draught= 5.0 m (16.5 feet) |Ship draft= |Ship propulsion=Four oil fired three-drum Admiralty-type boilers<br>four-shaft geared turbines<br>four screws<br>54.1 megawatts (72,500 shp) |Ship speed={{convert|33|kn|km/h|0}} |Ship range=6520 nm at 13 knots |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship complement=730 |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament= Twelve 6 inch guns (4 × 3),<br> eight 4 inch guns (4 × 2),<br> eight [[Bofors 40 mm gun#Naval versions|40 mm Bofors AA]] (4 × 2) guns,<br> 3 quadruple [[Pom-Pom (gun)|2 pounder ("pom-pom") AA]] mounts, 12 20 mm AA (6 × 2) guns. <br> Six 21 inch (2 × 3) torpedo tubes |Ship armour=83 mm,<br>deck: 51 mm, <br>turrets: 51 mm, <br>Director control tower: 102 mm. |Ship aircraft=Two [[Supermarine Walrus]] aircraft |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship notes=[[Pennant number]] 48 }} |} '''HMS ''Gambia''''' ([[pennant number]] 48, later C48) was a [[Crown Colony class cruiser|Crown Colony-class]] [[light cruiser]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was in the service of the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]] (RNZN) as HMNZS ''Gambia'' from 1943 to 1946. She was named after the then [[British overseas territories|Crown colony]] of [[History of the Gambia|The Gambia]], and has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. HMS ''Gambia'' was conceived in the 1938 Naval Estimates and was laid down on [[24 July]], [[1939]], at [[Swan Hunter]]'s Yard at [[Wallsend]]. She was launched on [[30 November]], [[1940]], by Lady Hilbery and finally commissioned on [[21 February]], [[1942]]. ==Early wartime career== She saw active service in the [[East Indies]] with the [[British Eastern Fleet]], and was involved in the [[Battle of Madagascar]] in September 1942. She then carried out trade protection duties in the [[Indian Ocean]], but returned to home waters, calling at the territory of [[the Gambia]] on the way, where West African Chiefs in full regalia led thousands of their subjects to visit the ship named after their Colony. She refitted at Liverpool between June and September, following which she operated anti-blockade runner patrols in the [[Bay of Biscay]] in December, as part of [[Operation Stonewall]]. ==Royal New Zealand Navy service== Because [[New Zealand|New Zealand's]] two other [[cruiser]]s of the time, [[HMNZS Leander|HMNZS ''Leander'']] and [[HMNZS Achilles (70)|HMNZS ''Achilles'']] were damaged, it was decided in discussions with the Royal Navy [[Admiralty]] that HMS ''Gambia'' would be recommissioned as HMNZS ''Gambia'', for the use of the Royal New Zealand Navy. ''Gambia'' was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy on [[22 September]] [[1943]]. ''Gambia'' served with the [[British Pacific Fleet]], and participated in attacks on [[Japan]]ese positions throughout the [[Pacific]]. In February 1944 she was searching for blockade runners in the [[Cocos Islands]] area. She also supported a series of carrier raids against oil installations and airfields. She saw action off [[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa]] and [[Taiwan|Formosa]]. She was under attack by Japanese aircraft at the time that a ceasefire was announced, so has the honour of firing some of the last shots of [[World War II]]. She was present on [[2 September]] [[1945]] in [[Tokyo Bay]] for the signing of [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]]. ==Return to the Royal Navy== ''Gambia'' was returned to the Royal Navy at Portsmouth on [[27 March]] [[1946]]. She underwent a refit and was recommissioned on [[1 July]] 1946 for the 5th Cruiser Squadron with the Far East Fleet. She returned to the UK on [[6 January]] [[1948]], and in January [[1950]] she was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, later serving with the 1st Cruiser Squadron on the same station until October [[1954]]. In 1953, she and her sister [[HMS Bermuda (52)|HMS ''Bermuda'']] brought aid to the Greek island of [[Zakynthos]] when it was struck by a [[Zakynthos#History|severe earthquake]]. Greek officials would later comment, "we Greeks have a long-standing tradition with the Royal Navy and it lived up to every expectation in its infallible tradition of always being the first to help".<ref>[http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2003/0310/0003100601.asp Navy News]</ref> In [[1955]] she became [[flagship]] of the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the East Indies Station and, as the last flagship on this station, returned to [[Chatham]] on [[19 September]] [[1958]]. On [[4 November]] 1958 she recommissioned for the 1st Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean. In [[1960]] she served in the South Atlantic and the Home fleet before paying off to reserve in December that year. She remained in reserve at [[Portsmouth]] until she was put on the disposal list and sold to T. W. Ward for scrapping. She left Portsmouth under tow on [[2 December]] 1968 and arrived at [[Inverkeithing]] for breaking up on [[5 December]]. ==External links== * [http://www.hmsgambia.com/ HMS ''Gambia'' Association] * [http://www.geocities.com/rnznhistory/nz_main.html The Unofficial Website of the Royal New Zealand Navy] ==References== {{Reflist}} *{{colledge}} *[http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 WWII cruisers] *[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4032.html HMS Gambia at Uboat.net] {{Crown_Colony_class_cruiser}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gambia (C48)}} [[Category:Ships at the Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] [[Category:Crown Colony class cruisers]] [[Category:Cruisers of New Zealand]] [[Category:Cruisers of the Royal New Zealand Navy]] [[Category:World War II cruisers of New Zealand]] [[Category:World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom]] [[hu:HMS Gambia]]