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Allied Warships

HMS Sussex (96)

Heavy cruiser of the London class


HMS Sussex during the war (Photograph taken by Arthur Eric Jones (offsite link)

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeHeavy cruiser
ClassLondon 
Pennant96 
Built byHawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down1 Feb, 1927 
Launched22 Feb, 1928 
Commissioned19 Mar, 1929 
End service2 Feb, 1949 
Loss position
 
HistoryOn the night of 17-19/9/1940 she was in drydock at Glasgow, Scotland, when a german air raid started. Sussex sustained one bomb hit: the bomb penetrated the decks and detionated 2-3 level below the main deck.
The ship caught on fire and was severely gutted at the stern, suffering additional heavy damage whern the dock was flooded and she capsized to port. Her repairs took 2 years and she did not recommission until August 1942 for service in the Atlantic .

Decommissioned on 2 February 1949. Sold on 3 January 1950. Broken up by Arnott Young at Dalmuir arriving there on 23 Febuary 1950.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Alexander Robert Hammick, RN
16 December 1938 - ???

HMS Sussex was in Dockyard Control during repairs

Capt. William York La Roche Beverley, RN
7 July 1942 - ???

A/Capt. Michael Everard, RN
??? – 2 September 1944

Cdr. D.A. Lawford, RN
2 September 1944 – 1 December 1944

Capt. Anthony Fane de Salis, DSO, RN
1 December 1944 – still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 


Noteable events involving Sussex include:

Sep, 1939
Sussex and sistership Shropshire formed Group "H" in the South Atlantic in the hunt for the Graf Spee.

2 Dec, 1939
The German passenger ship Watussi (9552 GRT) is intercepted in the South Atlantic about 50 nautical miles south of Cape Agulhas, South-Africa by the British battlecruiser HMS Renown (Capt. C.E.B. Simeon, RN) and the British heavy cruiser HMS Sussex (Capt A.R. Hammick, RN). However, before the German ship can be captured she is scuttled by her own crew.

Following the Graf Spee scuttling in December 1939 returned to the UK, took part in the Norwegian Campaign then went to Glasgow for a refit.

26 Feb, 1943
HMS Sussex (aided by code-breaking) intercepted the German supply ship Hohenfriedberg (7892 GRT) north-east of the Azores in position 41º45'N, 20º58'W. The ship scuttled when challenged and the same time Sussex was narrowly missed by a spread of torpedoes from U-264 which was accompanying the supply ship.

Transferred to the Eastern Fleet until the end of the war, covered the reoccupation of the Netherlands East Indies before returning home. (see map)

26 Jul, 1945
Her Task Force was attacked by 2 "Val" suicides (Mitsubishi type 99 dive-bombers): one was shot down by escort carrier Ameer and the second by Sussex. However, this latter one bounced on the surface of the sea and impacted the cruiser's hull above the waterline, causing a 2½ metre dent. Later in the same day Sussex downed another aircraft.


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