HMAS Shropshire

HMAS Shropshire

Navy photo
History
Name	HMAS Shropshire
Owner	Royal Australian navy
Builder	William beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir, Scotland
Launched	5 Jul 1928
In service	24 Sep 1929
Out of service	10 Nov 1949
Fate	broken up in the UK
General characteristics
Type	Heavy Cruiser
Tonnage	9,850 tons
Length	633 feet (192.94m)
Beam	66 feet (20.12m)
Depth	17 feet (5.18m)
Propulsion	Turbines, 4 screws
Speed	32.5 knots
Capacity	820 crew

Remarks

Carried armament of: 8 x 8-inch guns 4 x 4-inch guns (later 8) 4 x 2-pounder guns (later 16) 4 x 3-pounder guns 2 x 1.5-inch machine guns 8 x 21-inch torpedo tubes (2 quadruple mounts)

HMS Shropshire operated primarily in the Mediterranean until ww2. Still in the Royal Navy she saw service in both the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans before late December 1942 when she was transferred to the Australian navy as a replacement for the HMAS Canberra.

On 25 Jun 1943 she was finally ready for service in the RAN and began her voyage to Australia escorting a convoy to Gibraltar. On 30 October she joined the Australian Squadron in Brisbane and soon after participated in the landing of troops at Arawe and Cape Gloucester on New Britain. She then took part in the action to seize the Admiralty Islands, and the bombardment of Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea. In May 1944 she was a participant in the Wakde/Sarmi/Biak operations and then returned to Sydney.

Returning to New Guinea in July 1944 she bombarded Japanese positions, and joined in the last landings in New Guinea. She was part of the bombardment fleet at the capture of Morotai, and at Leyte Gulf in October 1944, where she was involved in the major fleet battle that saw the virtual end of the Japanese Navy. Next she supported the landings at Lingayen Gulf in northern Philippines, and then at Corregidor. In march 1945 she returned to Sydney for maintenance and crew leave before beign back in the operational area in June 1945 when she bombarded the landing places at Brunei.

She was one of the Australian ships at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay, and remained in Japan until 17 Nov 1845 when she sailed for Sydney. In may 1946 she sailed for the UK carrying the Australian Contingent for the Empire Victory Celebration. Her final act was to be the Australian representative in Japanese waters between January and March 1947, after which she returned to Australia where she was placed in special reserve. Sold for scrap in July 1954 she was towed to the UK by tug.

Battle Honours

• Pacific 1941-45
• New Guinea 1942-44
• Leyte Gulf 1944
• Borneo 1945
• Lingayen Gulf 1945

Crew members

• Clyde Traill Traill-Nash 1 Sep 1945 - 1 Sep 1946
• Rowland Basil Devereux 25 Nov 1946 - 8 May 1949