- Yes
- No
Design:
Length: 137m (450ft 3in)
Beam: 13.2m (43ft 5in)
Draught: 4.5m (14ft 8in)
Displacement: 5,490t
Power: 40,000shp (30,000kW)
Belt Armor: 32-76mm (1.25-3in)
Deck Armor: 25mm (1in)
Main Armament: 4x2 4-inch (102mm) dual-purpose guns
Secondary Armament: 2x1, 1x4 2-pounder (40mm) AA guns
Tertiary Armament: 2x4 Vickers 0.5 in (12.7mm) AA machine guns
Curacoa in 1941:
History:
Construction-
The HMS Curacoa was ordered in June of 1916 due to an Emergency War Program. The ship was laid down on July 13th, 1916, and launched on May 5th, 1917. She was commissioned on February 18th, 1918, as the fourth ship to carry the name Curacoa.
Interwar Period-
In April of 1919 Curacoa was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron and deployed to the Baltic Sea in May in order to assist the White Army in the Russian Civil War. On a voyage to Libau she struck a sea mine damaging the ship and killing a crew member. Makeshift repairs were made at sea, and she then sailed to Tallinn Estonia. After further repairs were made she sailed back to Great Britian to be fully repaired and was then assigned to the reserve fleet in August. In November of 1920 the ship was reactivated and transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in order to assist in evacuations during the Greek-Turkish war.
World War II-
In July of 1939 Curacoa began refitting to become an anti-aircraft cruiser. The conversion was completed on January 24th, 1940. She was then assigned to the Home Fleet and used to escort troops to Norway. On April 24th, the ship was struck by a German bomb in her bridge killing 45 crew members. The damage was so severe the ship had return to Great Britian for major repairs. Eventually the ship was designated to protect the US based RMS Queen Mary.
Sinking-
On October 2nd, 1942, Curacoa was rendezvousing with RMS Queen Mary off the Irish coat. Both captains had different interpretations of “The Rule of the Road”, believing their ship had right of way. Both ships were zigzagging in order to confuse any German U-boats that may be stalking them. Eventually Queen Mary caught up with Curacoa and were getting too close to each other. Despite this, the captain of the Queen Mary stated to his officer, “Carry on with the zig-zag. These chaps are used to escorting; they will keep out of your way and won’t interfere with you.” As the Queen Mary started to turn starboard it was too late for Curacoa to react. Curacoa was stuck amidship at full speed slicing the cruiser in two. Later, 101 survivors were rescued out of the crew of 340.
References:
Design- HMS Curacoa (D41) - Wikipedia
History- HMS Curacoa, British light cruiser, WW2
Light cruiser HMS Curacoa - Militär Wissen
HMS Curacoa Tragedy, 1942 – History and Things
Images- HMS Curacoa Tragedy, 1942 – History and Things
HMS Curacoa (D41) - Wikipedia