Hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee
The German "pocket battleship" cruiser Admiral Graf Spee had become a nuisance to British interests and this led to the Royal Navy forming a dedicated attack group to end her reign as a raider. "Force G" was made up of HMS Ajax (as flagship) and joined by HMS Exeter, HMS Cumberland and HMS Achilles. The group eventually located and engaged the Graf Spee in what became "The Battle of the River Plate" beginning on December 13th, 1939.
The German warship opened fire while closing in at full speed with Ajax in its crosshairs. HMS Exeter received most of the blows as her forward turrets were disabled while Ajax and Achilles closed ranged. Ajax took a total of seven hits to her structure that resulted in the loss of her two aft turrets. Also damaged with wounded aboard, the German warship made its way to neutral Montevideo where she was eventually scuttled by her crew - the Germans believed there to be a much larger British naval contingent waiting for them in open waters. Such ended the reign of Graf Spee which marked one of the earliest critical British victories of the war.
Following a refit period, HMS Ajax was pressed into action against the Italian Navy in Mediterranean waters where she would be used for convoy protection and convoy-hunting. Operations ranged throughout the region and included supporting actions across North Africa. She partook in the Battle of Cape Matapan (March 1941) where she took damage from German aerial bombs but survived. She then assisted in the Allied evacuation of Crete in late May.
1942 and Beyond
From the period of 1942 to 1943, HMS Ajax remained out of the war and underwent a substantial refit to improve her capabilities in the growing war. This led to a revision of her armament where 11 x 20mm Oerlikon Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns were added for local defense. Her fire control systems and radar fits were also upgraded and she lost her aircraft-launching capability. In December of 1942, she was back in the fold as part of "Force Q" near Algeria where convoys would once again be the call of the day.
A bomb explosion in one of her boiler rooms on January 1st, 1943 led to her being relocated to the Norfolk Navy Yard in the United States for repairs and this kept her out of the fight into September of that year. At this time her AA facilities through installation of quad-gunned 40mm Bofors AA turrets and improve fire control and radar systems. She rejoined the British fleet in December of 1943.
Her final wartime actions were recorded during 1944 where she was stationed in Mediterranean waters again and, later, supported the June 6th, 1944 D-Day landings in northern France. Her area of operation became "Gold Beach", the beach assigned to British forces near Le Hamel and La Riviere. She then returned to the Mediterranean and support the oft-forgotten Allied landings in Southern France and further aided Allied actions in the Balkans. The war in Europe ended in early May of 1945.
In the immediate post-war period, Ajax was sent back to Montevideo to collect the group of German sailors held there from the Graf Spee operation. After a time in Middle East waters, she was decommissioned in February of 1948 and was arranged to be sold to India until politics doomed the transfer. Her hulk was scrapped in 1949 brining about an end to the storied history of HMS Ajax.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.