HMS Liverpool (C11) [1938 - 1952]
Photographs (top to bottom):
(Top): HMS Liverpool (Valletta Harbour, Malta)
(Middle): HMS Liverpool Christmas card
(Bottom): Detail from Christmas card (1949 / 1950)
For additional information click on 'Comments' below.
posted by ritsonvaljos at 3:52 pm
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Additional information
The HMS Liverpool (penant number C11) which saw service in the Royal Navy during WW2 was a light cruiser ('Town' or 'Gloucester' Class). She was commissioned in 1938 and decommissioned in 1952. The other Royal Navy vessels in this class were HMS Gloucester (sunk on 22 May 1941) and HMS Manchester (sunk 13 August 1942).
HMS Liverpool was named after Liverpool, the seaport in the North West of England. HMS Liverpool's latin motto, like that of her home town of Liverpool was "Deus nobis haec otia fecit" ("God has given us this tranquility").
Yet, the wartime service for HMS Liverpool was anything but tranquil. She gained four battle honours and on two occasions was seriously damaged in torpedo attacks by the Italians. She was sold for scrap in 1958 and dismantled at Bo'ness, Scotland. It was a sad end to a happy but efficient ship.
The above images are from a 1949 / 1950 Christmas and New Year card. It was sent to the home of my maternal grandparents by a young neighbour who was serving on HMS Liverpool at the time.
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Another HMS Liverpool decommissioned
The primary catalyst for writing this article was the decommissioning ceremony of another HMS Liverpool (D92) [1980 - 2012]. This later HMS Liverpool was a Type 42 destroyer built by Cammell Laird shipbuilders at Birkenhead and launched in 1980.
After accelerated sea trials this younger HMS Liverpool set sail for the Falklands in June 1982. Although she arrived after the Agentinian surrender, HMS Liverpool (D92) remained on station for six months.
With the Type 42 destroyers being replaced by the Type 45s, on 26 March 2012 the 1980 version of 'Liverpool' sailed into Portsmouth for the final time as a Royal Navy commssioned vessel. The decommissing ceremony took place on Friday 30 March 2012.
Once again, another vessel bearing the name of 'Liverpool' had come to the end of its useful service life. It was the final chapter of another happy but efficient ship proudly bearing the name of 'Liverpool'.
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Further reading
1. Decommissioning of HMS Liverpool (D92) [1980 - 2012]:
HMS Liverpool [1980 - 2012]
2. HMS Liverpool (C11) [1938 - 1952]
(Wikipedia website page):
HMS Liverpool [1938 - 1952]
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