HMS Euryalus (42)

HMS Euryalus was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built at Chatham Dockyard UK), with the keel being laid down on 21 October 1937. She was launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941. Euryalus was the last cruiser that Chatham Dockyard built.

Post War Service
HMS Euryalus was the last original Dido operational in RN, till 1954, mainly on the Sth Atlantic station. It was much the most modernised of the original Didos, having been extensively updated October 1943 – June 1944 at John Browns on the Clyde with new light a/a armament of 20mm, 40mm and 2pdr mounting and a generally new radar suite with 293 radar the standard post war RN target indicator and close range air and surface search, 272 heightfinders and surface warning and new navigation radar. After the end of WW2 HMS Euryalus spent 18 further months in the Pacific Fleet operating from Sydney, Japan and Hong Kong before returning to the UK for a year-long modernisation at Rosyth in 1947-48. By this time the Long range airwarning radar on the HMS Euryalus was the late war 279b/281, the precursor of the post 1945, Type 960. Photos reveal that Euryaluss 5.25 turrets were also modified externally in the same way as Vanguards and Royalist's with the insertion in the turret for operators of a large perplex sighting windows. It should be noted that plans to update 4 Didos or Improved Didos in the 1950s to HMS Royalist included 2 of the original Didos which would have been reboilered.