Didos
keel was laid down on 26 October 1937 by Cammell Laird Shipyard of Birkenhead. She was
launched on 18 July 1939 and
commissioned on 30 September 1940 at Birkenhead. Following her commissioning,
Dido was sent to
Scapa Flow for working up in September 1940. Part of this included high-speed sweeps off
Fair Isle and
Greenland. Immediately after this,
Didos first mission, in November 1940, was to escort the
aircraft carrier to West Africa, ferrying aircraft.
Mediterranean Dido then spent four months on convoy duty in the Atlantic before running supplies to
Malta where she joined the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in April 1941. In May of that year
Dido was sent to
Crete and assisted in the evacuation of the British forces. As part of a convoy from Souda Bay to Egypt on 14 May, she carried
bullion from Greece worth $7,000,000. On 29 May 1941
Dido was badly damaged by bombs whilst taking troops from Crete to
Alexandria.
Oberleutnant Wolf-Dietrich Huy from
Jagdgeschwader 77 scored one of the hits. On 8 June 1941,
Marines from
Dido accepted the surrender of
Assab in Eritrea. From July to November 1941,
Dido was sent to the
Brooklyn Navy Yard in
New York City for a refit, before proceeding to the
Royal Naval Dockyard in the
Imperial fortress colony of
Bermuda, then rejoining the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet in December 1941. The first three months of 1942 were spent on convoy escort duty between Alexandria and Malta but in March that year,
Dido took part in a bombardment of
Rhodes. A week later
Dido joined the cruisers , , , and under the command of Rear Admiral
Philip Vian at the
Second Battle of Sirte. On 18 August 1942 Captain H. W. U. McCall brought
Dido to
Massawa for major repairs to its bomb-damaged stern. As
Dido was at that time one-quarter of British surface power in the Eastern Mediterranean it was critical that she be repaired as quickly as possible. The only working dry dock in Massawa was not large enough to lift
Dido entirely so she was partially floated up to clear the stern, leaving the bow low in the water. Six days later
Dido was undocked to return to battle with its
sister ships,
Euryalus,
Cleopatra and .
Dido then spent the rest of the year supporting the British campaign in North Africa before being transferred to the Western Mediterranean Fleet in December 1942.
Dido then performed the duty of anti-aircraft guard at
Bone and
Algiers until March 1943. In April 1943,
Dido returned to
Liverpool for a three-month refit before rejoining the Western Mediterranean squadron. The next month was spent taking part in diversionary bombardments against North
Sicily during the
Operation Husky landings.
Dido was then used as an anti-aircraft guard for invasion bases at
Palermo and
Bizerte. On 12 September 1943,
Dido escorted 600 troops to
Taranto where the Italian Fleet surrendered. From Taranto,
Dido went to
Sorrento where she took part in the shelling to support troops. October and November 1943 saw
Dido back in Alexandria for another refit. On return to service,
Dido spent time in Malta and Taranto before taking part in a diversionary action off
Civitavecchia in support of the
Anzio landings. August 1944 saw
Dido supporting the
Allied Operation Dragoon the landing in southern France. In September 1944,
Dido returned to the UK.
Arctic In October 1944,
Dido escorted a convoy to Russia before supporting carrier strikes off Norway. In April 1945,
Dido escorted , and to the North
Kola Inlet to lay
mines.
Didos last mission in the war was to go to
Copenhagen, firing the last naval shot in the war in Europe on the way for the surrender of the German
Kriegsmarine which was signed aboard
Dido.
Dido escorted the German cruisers and to
Wilhelmshaven.
Postwar In July 1945,
Dido took King
George VI and
Queen Elizabeth to the
Isle of Man. Between 1946 and 1948 she was commanded by
P Reid. In 1953 she took part in the
Fleet Review to celebrate the
Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II, where she was
flagship of the Reserve Fleet. She was subsequently
decommissioned and sold for scrap to
Thos. W. Ward and scrapped at
Barrow-in-Furness in 1957. ==Footnotes==