HMAS Perth (I)
Class |
Modified Leander Class |
---|---|
Type |
Light Cruiser |
Pennant |
D29 |
Builder |
Portsmouth Naval Dockyard, England |
Laid Down |
26 June 1933 |
Launched |
26 July 1934 |
Launched by |
Marchioness of Titchfield |
Commissioned |
10 July 1939 |
Decommissioned |
1 March 1942 |
Fate |
Lost in action on 1 March 1942 |
Dimensions & Displacement | |
Displacement | 6830 tons |
Length | 555 feet |
Beam | 56 feet 8 inches |
Draught | 15 feet 8 inches |
Performance | |
Speed | 32.5 knots |
Propulsion | |
Machinery | 4 Parsons geared turbines |
Horsepower | 72,000 |
Armament | |
Guns |
|
Torpedoes | 8 x 21-inch torpedo tubes |
Other Aircraft | Walrus amphibian (of 9 Squadron, RAAF) |
Awards | |
Battle Honours |

HMS Amphion was the first of three modified Leander class cruisers built by the Royal Navy that were later transferred to the Royal Australian Navy. Amphion was ordered on 1 December 1932 and work began on her construction on 26 June 1933. She was launched by the Marchioness of Titchfield on 26 July 1934 and commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 June 1936. The engine and boiler rooms in the modified Leander class were spaced alternately instead of the boiler rooms being grouped amidships. Notable differences to the Leander class were the presence of two funnels as opposed to one truncated funnel amidships.
After trials she left Portsmouth on 18 July to join the 6th Cruiser Squadron with two Hawker Osprey aircraft embarked.
The cruiser arrived at Simonstown, South Africa on 3 October 1936 and spent the next two years as Flagship on the Africa station, based on the Cape of Good Hope and cruising as far north as Dakar on the west coast and Beira on the east. Her mid-commission refit was undertaken at Simonstown in the late autumn of 1937.
Amphion departed Simonstown early in October 1938 and arrived at Spithead on 14 December, proceeding to Portsmouth the following day to pay off for a refit. Her commanding officer throughout the commission had been Captain RL Burnett, OBE, RN
The refit at Portsmouth Dockyard involved, among other modifications, the addition of a 'heavy' catapult to accommodate a Seagull V amphibion and the installation of modern twin 4-inch anti-aircraft mountings in place of the original old single guns.
Following agreement between the British and Australian Governments for the purchase or Amphion for the RAN it was decided to transfer the ship in 1939. Subsequently the cruiser HMAS Adelaide (I) paid off and her crew, who were to man the new addition to the RAN, left Australia for the United Kingdom on 15 May 1939 in SS Autolycus.
On 29 June 1939 Captain Harold B Farncomb MVO, RAN joined Amphion and preparations were immediately put in place to effect her transfer to the RAN. This subsequently took place in a naming ceremony held on the quarterdeck when Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent, officially renamed the cruiser HMAS Perth.