- Yes
- Maybe
- Unsure
- No
- 1944 Refit
- 1945 Refit
- 1951 Refit
- Unsure
- I said no to the first question
Note(s):
Spoiler
- Due to the fact that this suggestion is talking about the vessel in Canadian service, the as built configuration is not included since she was receiving a refit when she was transferred
Background
HMCS Uganda or HMCS Quebec is one of 11 Crown colony class light cruisers otherwise known as the Fiji class cruisers, in particular she is one of the 3 ships of the Ceylon group of vessels, originally serving in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1944 before being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and following this she took part in the war in the pacific and after the war was put into reserve in 1947, it’s important to note that she would only receive the name of Quebec upon her reactivation in 1951 due to the outbreak of the Korean War however she would not take part in any action during the war.
Her armament consisted of 9 x 6-inch (152mm) guns in 3 triple turrets as the Ceylon group were completed with, the ship had a secondary battery of 8 4-inch guns in 4 twin turrets, her anti air battery consisted of 12 2-pdr 40mm pom poms in 3 quad mounts along with 20 20mm Oerlikons in 10 twin mounts, her torpedo armament consisted of the standard 6 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes in 2 triple mounts as previous cruiser classes had done. Over time her AA armament would change however with her AA ardent being reworked over time as more 40mm guns were installed which saw the reduction or removal of 20mm guns and by the 1950’s her AA armament consisted of only 40mm Bofors.
History
Spoiler
HMS Uganda (1943 - 1944)
HMS Uganda was laid down on July 20th, 1939, she was launched on August 2nd, 1941, and was commissioned on January 3rd, 1943, upon entering service she first found herself assigned to training in Scapa Flow before being deployed as a convoy escort to protect a Sierra Leone-bound convoy from the German forces and would help escort a second convoy before she was assigned to escort the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary as she was carrying Winston Churchill and his staff to Washington for a meeting with President Rosevelt and would arrive in Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland as she was low on fuel, following this she returned to Plymouth for a refit.
After completing her refit Uganda was sent to the Mediterranean to escort a large troop convoy to Sicily and then took part in providing shore bombardment for Operation Husky from July to August, in September she took part in Operation Avalanche and would once again provide shore bombardment during which she accidentally collided with HMS DeIhi during a air attack by the Germans on the 9th, 4 days later during another German air attack she was hit by a Fritz X guided bomb which passed through 7 decks and straight through her keel, exploding underwater just under the keel and this caused major damage and flooding and had to be towed to Malta by the fleet tug USS Narragansett.
After making minor repairs at Malta Uganda was forced to sail across the Atlantic to the United States as no dock in Europe that could handle her was available and as a result of the extensive damage she sailed to the US with only 1 propeller operational and she arrived in Charleston, South Carolina on November 27th, during the repairs it was decided to give her a refit in the process which saw her anti aircraft armament increase however she would never leave the dock as HMS Uganda since Canada decided to acquire her from the Royal Navy and would retain her name however now as HMCS Uganda, the official transfer of the vessel took place on October 21st, 1944.
HMCS Uganda (1944 - 1952)
Once Uganda refit had been completed she was assigned to join the British Pacific Fleet but before she could do so she was sent back to the UK as she required further modifications however tragically for the crew she would not receive modifications that would help her operations in the pacific, following this she was sent to the pacific via the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal and would join up with the British Pacific Fleet in February, under this role she served as the flagship of the Royal Canadian Navy due to her being the most powerful and largest warship in service with Canada, due to her recent refit she proved to be a very valuable asset due to the new radar and aircraft identification capabilities which were amongst the best in the fleet, she would find herself helping to defend against kamikaze attacks as well as taking part in shore bombardment.
While deployed the Canadian government changed the manning policy for all ships deploying to the Pacific theatre as all those heading to the Pacific would have to re-volunteer. Upon volunteering again, the serviceman would be eligible for 30 days leave in Canada before deployment, this change in policy also included current active crew and the crew of Uganda took the poll for if they would continue to volunteer for her deployment in the Pacific, the results found that out of 907 of her crew, 605 of them refused to continue to volunteer, this was caused by 2 major reasons which created discontent among the crew, the 1st being the poor living conditions and the 2nd being the lack of Canadian identity, the 1st reason was due to the fact the ship was not modified to operate in the Pacific which was much warmer than what she was fit for, the 2nd reason was due to the fact that most of the crew had volunteered to fight against German, not Japan. The British Admiralty was displeased by this as they said they could not replace her in the Pacific until as early as July 27th which as a result meant that despite most the crew against continuing her deployment she was forced to continue operations against Japan though the Canadian government did purpose to replace her with HMCS Prince Robert, an anti-aircraft flak ship that was being refitted in Vancouver however this was never done, she continued to operate including helping to escort US carriers during raids against mainland Japan and would eventually be allowed to return to Canada as she was replaced by HMS Argonaut on July 27th.
Uganda would make her way back to Canada by proceeding to Eniwetok, and then to Pearl Harbor for refueling before heading for Esquimalt. While on her way back to Canada her crew would hear about the dropping of the Atomic Bombs and would learn of Japan’s surrender on August 10th when they made it to Esquimalt and after the war she operated on the Canadian west coast as a training vessel until she was placed into reserve after being paid off on August 1st, 1947.
HMCS Quebec (1952 - 1961)
In 1951 the Uganda was given a second chance of life, with Canada joining the Korean War and commitment of Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy units to the British Commonwealth Forces Korea saw the reactivation of the ship, she was put into dock in August in order to modernize and refit her after sitting in reserve for 4 years, this saw her AA armament revised once again with the ship now have only 40mm Bofors for her anti aircraft armament in 2 quad mounts, 1 twin mount, and 4 single Boffin mounts, this work was completed on January 14th, 1952 and was finally given a Canadian name as HMCS Quebec (C31).
Soon after she re-entered service she was immediately sent to her new home port of Halifax in order to her allow her to replace ships which were returning from Korea, in June she made a visit to her new namesake in Sorel, Quebec and in September she took part in the large scale exercise Mainbrace, in February of 1953 she took part in a exercise with HMCS Portage and HMCS Huron in Bermuda for training with the submarine HMS Andrew and in June she once more acted as flagship as she was the flagship for Rear Admiral Bidwell and led the RCN ships to Spithead for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In October of 1954 she left for a 7 week trying cruiser which saw her sail to the Caribbean Sea and South America, making several port visits during this and would return to Canada in April of 1955 and during this training cruise she gained the distinction of being the first Canadian naval ship to circumnavigate Africa.
With the end of the Korean war Quebec was paid off once more on June 13th, 1956 and was placed in reserve and in 1960 she was sold for scrap along with the other Canadian light cruiser Ontario which had only been partially scraped to Mitsui and Co. of Japan for scrap and she was broken up in 1961, her name would go on to be used for a cadet summer training centre for the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets however as of 2012 the training center was permanently closed.
Specifications
Displacement:
8,712 tons standard
11,024 tons full load
Length: 169.3 m (555 ft 5 in)
Beam: 18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
Draft: 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:
4 x oil fired three-drum Admiralty-type boilers
four-shaft geared turbines
four screws
54,100 kW (72,500 shp)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range: 10,200 nmi (18,900 km; 11,700 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:
920 (wartime)
730 (peacetime)
Sensors and processing systems:
(Refits might have composed of different systems than listed)
(unsure if any changes were made with the 1951 refit)
1944 Refit
Type 281 air-warning
Type 277P air / surface search radar
Type 293 surface / low angle air seach
Type 284 fire control (152 mm)
Type 283 fire control (102 mm)
Type 282 fire control (2 pdr)
1945 Refit
Type 281B air-warning
Type 277P air / surface search radar
Type 293 surface / low angle air seach
Type 274 fire control (152 mm)
Type 283 fire control (102 mm)
Type 282 fire control (2 pdr)
Armament: (Does not include as built configuration as that applies to her British service)
1944 Refit
Main Armament:
9 × BL 6-inch (152mm) Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary armament:
8 × 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (4 x 2)
AA armament:
12 × 2-pdr (40mm) QF Mark VIII pom pom guns (3 x 4)
8 x 40mm/56 OQF Mark II Bofors guns (2 x 4)
16 × 20mm Oerlikon guns (4 x 2 & 8 x 1)
Torpedo tubes:
6 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
1945 Refit
Main Armament:
9 × BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary armament:
8 × 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (4 x 2)
AA armament:
12 × 2-pdr (40 mm) QF Mark VIII pom pom guns (3 x 4)
8 x 40mm/56 OQF Mark II Bofors guns (2 x 4)
12 × 20mm Oerlikon guns (12 x 1)
Torpedo tubes:
6 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
1951 Refit
Main Armament:
9 × BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary armament:
8 × 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (4 x 2)
AA armament:
8 x 40mm/56 OQF Mark II Bofors guns (2 x 4)
2 x 40mm/56 Bofors Mark V guns (1 x 2)
4 x 40mm/56 Boffin (Bofors) guns (4 x 1)
Torpedo tubes:
6 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
Armor:
belt: 89mm - 83mm
bulkheads: 51mm - 38mm
turrets: 51mm - 25mm
barbettes: up to 25mm
deck: 51mm - 32mm
Sources
Spoiler
UGANDA light cruiser (1943/1944)
https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/quebec.html
Image Sources