Dido class cruiser
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 HMS Argonaut | |
| Dido-class | 
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|---|---|
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,700 tons to 5,900 tons standard / 6,900 tons to 7,600 tons full load |
| Dimensions: | 512 by 50.0 by 17.8 ft (156 by 15.3 by 5.4 m), Bellona class 512 by 50.45 by 18.0 ft (156 by 15.4 by 5.5 m) |
| Armament: | Original configuration:
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| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 1 cruising turbine (Bellona-class only), 4 shafts, 4 boilers, 62,000 shp (46 MW) (3,900 shp (2.9 MW) cruising turbine) = 32.25 knots (32.20 knots Bellona-class. 21 knots cruising turbine) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 480 (530 Bellona-class) |
The Dido class was a class of sixteen (including the Bellona sub-class) light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the Arethusa-class light cruisers. The first group (three ships) were commissioned in 1940, the second group (six ships) and third group (two ships) were commissioned in 1941–1942. The Bellona-class ships commissioned in 1943–1944. All the class were named after figures of Greek mythology.
The class were intended to be armed with ten 5.25-inch (133 mm) guns in twin turrets, but a shortage of the guns, due to difficulties in manufacturing them, led to the first group being armed with eight 5.25-in (133 mm) guns in four twin turrets. The fifth twin turret was added later to Dido only. The first group was also armed with a single 4-inch (102 mm) gun and eight 2-pounder (37/40 mm) guns.
The second group had the full five twin 5.25-inch guns but did not have the single 4 in (102 mm) gun added. The third group's armament was completely changed due to the shortage of the 5.25in gun, being armed with eight 4.5-inch (114 mm) guns in four twin turrets instead. The 4.5-inch (114 mm) gun was actually better suited to the primary anti-aircraft role of the Dido-class. The single 4.0-inch (102 mm) gun was also reintroduced, and its 2-pounder armament was increased from eight to ten.
The Bellona sub-class differed only slightly to their predecessors. They had eight 5.25-inch (133 mm) guns in four twin turrets, and had vastly improved anti-aircraft armament, with twelve 2-pounder guns and twelve 20 mm Oerlikons. The bridge of the Bellona-class was lowered by one deck compared to the previous three groups, which allowed full radar control to be fitted to the 5.25-inch (133 mm) turrets and 2-pounders, due to the decreased topweight. Bellona, Black Prince and Royalist were loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy post-World War II. In 1956, Diadem was sold to Pakistan and renamed Babur.
In World War II, the ships of this class saw much action, including the battle of Cape Matapan, the battle of Okinawa, Operation Overlord, Operation Torch and the Second Battle of Sirte, as well as many other duties in the Mediterranean and Pacific, though it must be said that the Didos saw even more service than is mentioned here. The class lost a number of ships during the war. These were Bonaventure, Charybdis, Hermione, Naiad, Scylla and Spartan. The post-war survivors continued in service; all were decommissioned by the 1960s.
| Dido-class cruiser |
| Royal Navy |
| Argonaut | Bellona | Black Prince | Bonaventure | Charybydis | Cleopatra | Diadem | Dido | Euryalus | Hermione | Naiad | Phoebe | Royalist | Scylla | Sirius | Spartan |
| Royal New Zealand Navy |
| Bellona | Black Prince | Royalist |
| Pakistan Navy |
| Babur (ex-Diadem) |
| List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |