Leander-class cruiser (1f/2m).
L/B/D:
554.5 × 56 × 19 (169m × 17.1m × 5.8m). Tons:
9,144 disp. Hull:
steel. Comp.:
570. Arm.:
8 × 6 (4 × 2), 4 × 4, 12 × 0.5 mg; 8 × 21TT; 1 aircraft. Armor:
3.5 belt, 1 deck. Mach.:
steam turbines, 72,000 shp, 4 screws; 32.5 kts. Built:
Cammell Laird & Co., Ltd., Birkenhead, Eng.; 1933.
Commissioned in 1933, the light cruiser HMS Achilles was attached to the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division in March 1936. On August 29, 1939, Captain W. E. Parry received orders to sail for the West Indies. On September 2 the ship was reassigned to cover Allied shipping along the west coast of South America, and in October Achilles joined Commodore Harry Harwood's South American Squadron—
HMS Exeter and
Ajax—which fought the German pocket battleship
Admiral Graf Spee on December 13 off the River Plate. When the Royal New Zealand Navy was officially formed, on October 10, 1941, she was recommissioned HMNZS Achilles. In 1948 she was recommissioned as RIN Delhi, flagship of the Royal Indian Navy, and she took part in the seizure of the Portuguese colony of Goa in 1961. She also played herself in the 1956 movie Pursuit of the Graf Spee (in England, Battle of the River Plate) before paying off in 1977.
Pope, Battle of the River Plate.
