Birmingham
Country | United Kingdom |
Ship Class | Town-class Light Cruiser |
Builder | Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, England, Britain |
Laid Down | 18 Jul 1935 |
Launched | 1 Sep 1936 |
Commissioned | 18 Nov 1937 |
Displacement | 9,100 tons standard; 11,350 tons full |
Length | 558 feet |
Beam | 62 feet |
Draft | 21 feet |
Machinery | Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines, four Admiralty 3-drum boilers |
Power Output | 75,000 shaft horsepower |
Speed | 32 knots |
Crew | 748 |
Armament | 4x3x6in guns, 4x2x4in guns, 4x3pdr, 2x4x2pdr, 6x21in torpedo tubes |
This article has been removed for review and updates, please check back again soon!
Last Major Revision: Sep 2007
Light Cruiser Birmingham Interactive Map
Photographs
Birmingham Operational Timeline
18 Nov 1937 | Birmingham was commissioned into service. |
21 Oct 1938 | Before dawn, HMS Birmingham sailed along the coast of Gulangyu island, an international zone, near Xiamen, China. At 0800 hours, she sailed into Xiamen harbor between four columns of Japanese war ships by surprise; Birmingham's crew was able to take photographs of classified Japanese naval equipment such as fire controls and radar antennae before the Japanese crew was able to cover them up. At 1100 hours, Birmingham set sail for Hong Kong. |
16 May 1939 | HMS Birmingham arrived at Gulangyu island, an international settlement off Xiamen, China in response to the arrival of a Japanese Special Naval Landing Force detachment nearby. She disembarked a contingent of sailors and marines. |
26 May 1939 | HMS Birmingham departed Xiamen, China with Vice Admiral Percy Noble aboard. |
22 Apr 1941 | Light cruiser HMS Birmingham arrived at Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0602 hours after completing escort duties which began on 8 Feb. |
5 Oct 1943 | Task Force 19 consisting of Essex-class carriers Essex, Lexington, and Yorktown with light carriers Cowpens, Independence, and Belleau Wood escorted by cruisers New Orleans, San Francisco, Birmingham, Nashville, Santa Fe, and Mobile and destroyers Hull, Hazelwood, Bancroft, Caldwell, Coghlan, Braine, Halford, Kidd, Bullard, Chauncey, John Rodgers, Harrison, Murray, Ringgold, Sigsbee, Schroeder, Dashiell, Conner, Burns, Boyd, and Bradford began two days of strikes against Wake Island. So intense was the bombardment that island commander Rear Admiral Sakaibara Shigemitsu was convinced it was a prelude to an invasion and he ordered the execution of all 98 remaining POWs that had been there since 23 Dec 1941, many of whom had been civilian contractors at the time of their capture. |
2 Nov 1943 | Battleships USS Washington, USS Massachusetts, and USS South Dakota escorted by destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Fletcher, USS LaVallette, USS Jenkins, and USS Taylor rendezvoused and joined with carriers USS Essex, USS Bunker Hill, and USS Independence with battleships USS Alabama, USS Indiana, USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, and USS Colorado and cruisers USS Portland, USS Mobile, USS Santa Fe, and USS Birmingham with destroyers USS Taylor and USS Radford. Together, this task group steamed toward Nandi Bay, Fiji. |
7 Nov 1943 | Carriers USS Essex, USS Bunker Hill, and USS Independence with battleships USS Washington, USS Massachusetts, USS South Dakota, USS Alabama, USS Indiana, USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, and USS Colorado with cruisers USS Portland, USS Mobile, USS Santa Fe, and USS Birmingham escorted by destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Fletcher, USS LaVallette, USS Jenkins, USS Taylor, and USS Radford arrived at Nandi Bay, Fiji. |
12 May 1944 | USS Honolulu, USS Birmingham, and USS St. Louis departed Tulagi, Solomon Islands bound for exercises in the northern Solomon Islands. |
13 May 1944 | USS Honolulu, USS Birmingham, and USS St. Louis arrived at Hathorn Sound at the south end of Kula Gulf. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
27 Apr 2020 10:55:07 AM
My uncle Alfred Arthur Frank Hillier served aboard HMS Birmingham he was one of the able bodied seaman who died when the ship was torpedoed by the submarine U407 he is buried in the war cemetery in Alexander Egypt many thanks Victor
7 Sep 2020 02:43:52 PM
My Uncle Danny (Daniel Rankin) was a stoker on HMS Birmingham when she was torpedoed in the med. She limped to Alexandria North Africa.
7 Mar 2022 11:35:19 AM
My father, William "Bunty" Chiles, was a leading seaman on the Birmingham when it was struck by the torpedo in the Med.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Winston Churchill, 1935
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3 Apr 2013 04:58:02 AM
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