HMS Manchester was a light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s, one of three ships in the Gloucester subclass. Completed in 1938, she was initially deployed with the East Indies Station and had a relatively short but active career. When World War II began in September 1939, the cruiser began escorting convoys in the Indian Ocean until she was ordered home two months later. In late December Manchester began conducting patrols in the Norwegian Sea enforcing the blockade of Germany. Beginning in April 1940 the ship played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign, mostly escorting convoys. She was assigned to anti-invasion duties in May–November in between refits.
In November the cruiser was tasked to escort a convoy through the Mediterranean and participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento. Manchester was refitting during most of early 1941, but began patrolling the southern reaches of the Arctic Ocean in May. The cruiser was detached to escort a convoy to Malta in July and she was badly damaged by an aerial torpedo en route. Repairs were not completed until April 1942 and the ship spent the next several months working up and escorting convoys.
Manchester participated in Operation Pedestal, another Malta convoy, in mid-1942; she was torpedoed by two Italian motor torpedo boats and subsequently scuttled by her crew. Casualties were limited to 10 men killed by the torpedo and 1 who drowned as the crew abandoned ship. Most of the crew were interned by the Vichy French when they drifted ashore. After their return in November, the ship's leadership was court martialled; the captain and four other officers were convicted for prematurely scuttling their ship.
Design and description The Town-class light cruisers were designed as counters to the Japanese s built during the early 1930s and the last batch of three ships was enlarged to accommodate more fire-control equipment and thicker armour.Raven & Roberts, pp. 172–175 The Gloucester group of ships were a little larger than the earlier ships of the class and received additional armour. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The cruisers had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of .Whitley, p. 104 They were powered by four Parsons geared steam turbine sets, each driving one shaft using steam provided by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and were designed to give a maximum speed of . During her sea trials on 28 March – 7 April 1938, Manchester achieved an average speed of from .Waters, p. 61 The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . The ship's complement was 800–815 officers and ratings.Lenton, p. 63
The Town-class ships mounted twelve BL six-inch (152 mm) Mk XXIII guns in four triple-gun turrets, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from front to rear. Their secondary armament consisted of eight QF Mk XVI dual-purpose guns in twin mounts. Their light anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of quadruple mounts for the two-pounder () ("pom-pom") anti-aircraft (AA) guns and two quadruple mounts for Vickers AA machine guns. The ships carried two above-water, triple mounts for torpedoes.Raven & Roberts, p. 418 The Towns lacked a full-length waterline armour belt, although the sides of the Gloucester group's boiler and engine rooms and the sides of the magazines were protected by of armour. The top of the magazines and the machinery spaces were protected by of armour. The armour plates on the main-gun turrets had a thickness of 2–4 inches.Waters, pp. 103–104
The cruisers were designed to handle three Supermarine Walrus amphibious reconnaissance aircraft, one on the fixed D1H catapult and the others in the two hangars abreast the forward funnel, but only two were ever carried in service. A pair of cranes were fitted to handle the aircraft and the ships' boats.Waters, pp. 96–97
Modifications When Manchester returned home in November 1939, she was refitted with degaussing equipment and probably had her aft high-angle director-control tower (DCT) fitted. During a brief refit in November 1940, the ship was probably equipped with a Type 286 search radar. During a longer refit in January–March 1941, Manchesters hull was reinforced and her Vickers machine guns were exchanged for an ex-Army 40-millimeter Bofors AA gun atop 'B' turret and five Oerlikon AA guns. A Type 284 gunnery radar was installed on the roof of the main armament DCT atop the bridge during this refit. Additional splinter plating to protect the secondary armament and torpedo tubes was probably added at this time, as was an ASDIC sonar system.Osborne, pp. 23, 30; Waters, pp. 129, 151–152
Two additional ex-Army Bofors guns reinforced the ship's anti-aircraft suite before she participated in Operation Substance in June 1941. Manchester was torpedoed during this convoy escort mission and while she was being repaired in the United States and Britain, she received three more Oerlikon guns for a total of eight weapons, six of which were positioned in the superstructure, one on the roof of 'X' turret and one on the quarterdeck. Two more ex-Army Bofors guns were added amidships before the ship participated in Operation Pedestal in August 1942. When the repairs were completed in April 1942, her radar suite consisted of a Type 279 early-warning radar, the Type 284 system for her main armament, two Type 285 gunnery radars for the four-inch guns, a Type 273 surface-search radar to replace the Type 286 and probably a pair of Type 282 gunnery radars for the "pom-pom" directors.Waters, pp. 120, 125, 131, 152
Construction and career Manchester, the first ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,Colledge, p. 214 was ordered on 23 October 1935 from Hawthorn Leslie and Company. The ship was laid down at their Hebburn shipyard on 28 March 1936 and was launched on 12 April 1937 by the wife of Joseph Toole, the Lord Mayor of Manchester. She was commissioned on 4 August 1938 and departed for her first duty assignment with the 4th Cruiser Squadron in the East Indies on 24 September.McCart, pp. 178–179; Osborne, p. 7
After arriving in the British Colony of Aden, Yemen, on 12 October, Manchester was met by the heavy cruiser , the station flagship, and the two ships proceeded to Bombay, British India, and then to Trincomalee, British Ceylon by the end of the month where they spent the next month working up. They spent the next month making port visits on the western coast of British India before returning to Ceylon for a maintenance period in Colombo's dockyard. Ports along the Bay of Bengal were visited in February–March 1939, before the two cruisers arrived in Singapore in the British Straits Settlements on 13 March. They conducted exercises with the aircraft carrier , the heavy cruiser and the submarine depot ship off the eastern coast of Malaya for the next several weeks.Osborne, p. 8
Visiting Port Blair in the Andaman Islands en route on 28 March, Manchester arrived at Trincomalee to prepare for a refit in Colombo. Rising tensions in Europe caused the refit to be delayed for a week and her refit was completed in early June. She began a tour of Indian Ocean ports on 6 June, supporting an aeronautical survey in Diego Garcia three days later with fuel and supplies before arriving in the British Protectorate of Zanzibar on 20 June. The ship began moving up the African coast until she rendezvoused with her sister ship , the new station flagship, at Kilindini Harbour in British Kenya on 14 July. The sisters sailed to Aden when they met the sloops and later that month to practice convoy escort tactics in light of the potential threat posed by Italian colonies on the Red Sea.Osborne, pp. 8–9
Early war service Manchester had just returned from a patrol in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden when Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939. Together with Gloucester, she sailed for Colombo after refuelling. On 25 September, the ship rendezvoused with the sloop to help escort an Indian troop convoy through the Red Sea. Manchester escorted an Anglo-French convoy there before rendezvousing with the ocean liner in the Gulf of Suez to escort her to Colombo. The cruiser was ordered home on 10 November and arrived at Malta eight days later, where Vice-Admiral Geoffrey Layton hoisted his flag as commander of the 18th Cruiser Squadron (CS). The ship arrived in HM Dockyard, Portsmouth on the 25th and was docked to have storm damage and some other defects repaired.Osborne, pp. 9–10
Her refit was completed on 22 December and she joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow two days later. Later that month, Manchester was attached to the Northern Patrol, where she was tasked to enforce the blockade of Germany, searching for German blockade runners and contraband material. On 21 February 1940 the ship helped to capture the German merchantman .Haarr 2013, p. 308; McCart, pp. 183, 185; Rohwer, p. 15 She remained on this duty until early April, although the cruiser was in Scapa Flow when it was attacked by German aircraft on 16 March. Manchesters gunners were unprepared for the attack and her shells were ineffectual.Osborne, p. 14
Norwegian campaign
The 18th CS was relieved of its attachment to the Northern Patrol and was assigned to escort convoys to and from Norway. On 7 April Manchester, her half-sister , the anti-aircraft cruiser and four destroyers were escorting the 43 ships of Convoy ON 25 bound for Norway. After the Royal Air Force (RAF) reported German ships in the North Sea, the convoy was ordered to turn back and the two light cruisers were to rendezvous with the Home Fleet in the Norwegian Sea. Their orders were later modified to patrol the southern part of the sea. Late on the 8th, the Admiralty ordered the ships to rendezvous with the Home Fleet lest they be caught between the two groups of German ships believed to be at sea; this was accomplished early on the morning of 9 April.Haarr 2013, pp. 413, 427; Osborne, p. 16
Reinforced by their sisters and and seven destroyers of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, the 18th CS was ordered to attack the believed to be in Bergen, Norway, later that morning. That afternoon the RAF reported two cruisers in Bergen and the Admiralty cancelled the operation. The Luftwaffe had been tracking the squadron as it approached Bergen and bombers from KG 26 and KG 30 began attacking shortly afterwards. They sank the destroyer and near misses damaged Southampton and Glasgow. That night Manchester, Southampton and the 6th Destroyer Flotilla patrolled off Fedjeosen to observe German forces in Bergen and prevent any resupply. The only incident that night was when Manchester spotted a submarine crossing between the two cruisers on the surface; the ship attempted to ram, but only managed a glancing blow. The next morning, the ships were recalled and the cruisers arrived in Scapa Flow that evening to refuel and replenish ammunition.Haarr 2009, pp. 284–288; Osborne, p. 16