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. 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 . 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 . The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . The ship's complement was 800–815 officers and ratings.
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. 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.
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.
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.