View source for HMS Cairo (D87)

{{short description|Royal Navy C-class light cruiser}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Cairo.jpg
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship class=[[C class cruiser|C-class]] [[light cruiser]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Cairo''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Cammell Laird]]
|Ship laid down=17 November 1917
|Ship launched=19 November 1918
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=23 September 1919
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=Converted to anti-aircraft cruiser in 1939
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sunk 12 August 1942 by the [[Italy|Italian]] [[submarine]] [[Italian submarine Axum|''Axum'']] off [[Bizerta]]
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=Kaihara ('Victory')
|Ship badge="On a Field Blue, a female Egyptian head proper, habited Black and Silver, upon three wavelets Silver"
|Ship honours=* Norway 1940
* Atlantic 1940-41
* Malta Convoys 1942
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: 97 (Sep 19);<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J J |title=British Warships 1914–1919 |date=1972 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |page=49}}</ref> 87 (Nov 19); I.87 (1936); D.87 (1940)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |title=The Development of the British Royal Navy's Pennant Numbers Between 1919 and 1940 |journal=Warship International |date=2024 |volume=61 |issue=2 |page=134–66}}</ref>

}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship displacement=4,190 tons
|Ship length={{convert|451.4|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|43.9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=*Parsons geared turbines
* Yarrow boilers
* Two propellers
* 40,000 shp
|Ship speed=29 knots
|Ship range=carried 300 tons (950 tons maximum) of fuel oil
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=330–350
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*5 × [[BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun|{{convert|6|in|adj=on|0}}]] guns
* 2 × [[QF 3 inch 20 cwt|{{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on|0}}]] anti-aircraft guns
* 4 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|3-pounder]] guns
* 2 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|2-pounder]] pom-poms
* 1 × machine gun
* 8 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=*3in side (amidships)
* {{frac|2|1|4}}–{{frac|1|1|2}}in side (bows)
* 2in side (stern)
* 1in upper [[Deck (ship)|deck]]s (amidships)
* 1in deck over rudder
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Cairo'' (D87)''' was a [[C class cruiser|C-class]] [[light cruiser]] of the [[Royal Navy]], named after the [[Egypt]]ian capital,  [[Cairo]].  So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was part of the ''Carlisle'' group of the C-class of cruisers.

== History ==
[[file:The Norwegian Campaign 1940- Naval Operations N320.jpg|thumb|left|Gun position on HMS ''Cairo'', smoke above Narvik in the back on 8 June 1940.]]
She was laid down by [[Cammell Laird]] at [[Birkenhead]] on 28 November 1917, launched on 19 November 1918 and commissioned on 24 September 1919. ''Cairo'' was not ready for service in [[World War I]] and her first posting was to the [[China Station]] in 1920, followed by the [[East Indies Station]] from 1921 to 1925. On 23 April 1926 ''Cairo'' visited [[Kismayu]], [[Italian Somaliland]], during the [[Jubaland]] Boundary Commission.<ref>Letter dated 30th November 1926, Ref: 6/5/3/1/2, from The Secretariat, Nairobi to Captain E.N. Erskine c/o HM Consul Ksmayu thanking him for acting as Liaison Officer and Interpreter.</ref> After a further temporary attachment to the China Station until 1927, she joined the [[8th Cruiser Squadron]] on the [[North America and West Indies Station]], based at the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda|Royal Naval Dockyard]] on [[Ireland Island, Bermuda|Ireland Island]], [[Bermuda]]. From 1928 to 1930, ''Cairo'' was in the Mediterranean as flagship for the Rear-Admiral (D).<ref>The suffix "D" indicates command of flotilla(s) of destroyers.</ref> After a refit from 1931–1932, she was with the [[Home Fleet]] as Commodore (D). She was converted to an [[anti-aircraft]] cruiser in 1939.

In [[World War II]] she took part in the [[Allied campaign in Norway|Norwegian Campaign]], where she was damaged by German aircraft [[Battles of Narvik|off Narvik]] on 28 May 1940. 10 sailors were killed <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-05MAY.htm#curlewlost|title=Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, May 1940, including Norway}}</ref> and the ship was out of action for two months. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Cairo.htm|title=HMS Cairo, British light cruiser, WW2}}</ref> In the Mediterranean she led the escort of a six cargo-ship convoy from [[Gibraltar]] to [[Malta]], code named [[Operation Harpoon (1942)|Operation Harpoon]], which endured intense air strikes. The British squadron also faced the attack of an Italian light cruiser division in the [[Strait of Sicily|Sicilia channel]]. Four merchantmen and two destroyers were sunk, while ''Cairo'' was hit by two 6-inch rounds from the [[Italian cruiser Eugenio di Savoia|Italian cruiser ''Eugenio di Savoia'']], killing two members of her crew.

In August 1942, ''Cairo'' took part in [[Operation Pedestal]], the escort of a [[convoy]] to [[Malta]]. During the operation she was torpedoed and sunk by the [[Italian submarine Axum|Italian submarine ''Axum'']] north of [[Bizerta]], [[Tunisia]], on 12 August 1942. One torpedo blew off part of the stern, the port propeller was gone, the engine room flooded and gun mount Y fell off in the sea. As during the battle it was impossible to tow her to safety, it was decided to scuttle her. The destroyer {{HMS|Pathfinder|G10|6}} fired four torpedoes but only one hit. A series of depth charges did not finish her off, so finally the [[escort destroyer]] {{HMS|Derwent|L83|6}} received orders to sink her with gunfire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hastings |first=Max  |translator-first=Wilma |translator-last=Paalman |title=Operatie Pedestal: de vloot die zich in 1942 een weg naar Malta vocht |date=2021 |publisher=Hollands Diep |isbn=978-90-488-5275-8 |location=Amsterdam |pages=241 |oclc=1285722455}}</ref> Twenty-four seamen went down with the ship.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, August 1942|url = http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1942-08AUG.htm|website = www.naval-history.net|access-date = 2015-10-31}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Mayflower Books|location=New York|year=1980|isbn=0-8317-0303-2 |chapter=Great Britain |last1=Campbell |first1=N.J.M.|pages=2–85}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last=Crabb |first=Brian James |title=Operation Pedestal: The story of Convoy WS21S in August 1942|location=Donington |publisher=Shaun Tyas |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-907730-19-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After|year=2010|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-59114-078-8 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|first1=Antony|last1=Preston|author-link=Antony Preston|pages=1–104}}
* {{cite book|last1=Raven|first1=Alan|last2=Roberts|first2=John|title=British Cruisers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1980|isbn=0-87021-922-7|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2 |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Cassell |location=London|year=1995|isbn=1-86019-874-0|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|HMS Cairo (D87)}}
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80010579 IWM Interview with survivor Clifford Richardson]

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{{C class cruiser}}
{{August 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairo (D87)}}
[[Category:C-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Mersey]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Italian submarines]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Cruisers sunk by submarines]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1942]]