HMS Naiad (93)

HMS Naiad was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy which served in World War II, and was sunk in action on 11th March 1942.

History
She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK), with the keel being laid down on 26 August 1937. She was launched on 3 February 1939, and commissioned 24 July 1940.

She initially joined the Home Fleet and was used for ocean trade protection duties. As part of the 15th Cruiser Squadron she took part in operations against German raiders following the sinking of HMS Jervis Bay in November 1940. In December and January she escorted convoys to Freetown, but at the end of January 1941 was back in northern waters when she briefly sighted the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau south of Iceland as the German ships were in the course of breaking out into the Atlantic (Operation Berlin). By May 1941 Naiad was with Force H on Malta convoy operations, and Flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. Naiad participated in the Crete operations, where she was heavily damaged by German aircraft. She later operated against Vichy French forces in Syria, where, together with HMS Leander, she engaged the French destroyer Guépard. The remainder of her service was in the Mediterranean, mostly connected with the continual attempts to resupply Malta. However, in March 1942 she sailed from Alexandria to attack an Italian cruiser reported damaged. This report was false, and on the return, on 11 March 1942, HMS Naiad was sunk by the German submarine U-565 south of Crete. 77 of her ship's company were lost.