User:SirDixie:eu/testing2
Contents
Delhi, 1948
Construction
- Builder: Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
- Laid down: 11 June 1931
- Launched: 1 September 1932
- Commissioned: 5 July 1948 (Royal Indian Navy)
- Fate: Scrapped, 1978
Specifications
- 7,270 tons displacement, standard
- 169.32m length
- 17m beam
- 5.84m draft (mean)
Machinery
- 4 × Parsons geared steam turbines, 6 × Yarrow boilers
Performance
- 32.5 knots at 73,280 shaft horsepower
- 5,730nm range at 13 knots
Armor
- Main belt: 76mm
- Decks: 25mm main
- Turrets: 25mm
Armament
Main
- 6 (3x2) 152mm rifles
Secondary
- 8 (4x2) 102mm dual purpose? rifles
Anti-Aircraft
- 14 (6x1, 4x2) 40mm guns
Torpedoes
- 8 (2x4) 533mm torpedo tubes
INS Delhi was a Leander-class light cruiser of the Indian Navy. She was originally built and commissioned as HMS Achilles for the Royal Navy, serving with the New Zealand Division and the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was sold to India in 1948 and renamed HMIS Delhi. In 1950 she was renamed INS Delhi.
Early History
She was originally built as Achilles and commissioned in 1933, before transferring to the New Zealand Division in 1936. Upon creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, she was renamed and recommissioned HMNZS Achilles in September 1941. As HMS/HMNZS Achilles, she took part in the Battle of the River Plate and saw combat in the South Pacific against Japan. After the war, Achilles served as the guardship at Tokyo until March 1946. She was returned to the UK in September 1946.
On her return to the UK, Achilles was placed in reserve before being sold to India. On 5 July 1948, she was officially commissioned into the Royal India Navy as HMIS Delhi; at this time, she still had many British officers and petty officers, including her captain. The arrival of Delhi marked the beginning of a change in the RIN, from a small coastal protection fleet toward a true ocean-going navy. She arrived in Bombay in September 1948, having called at Gibraltar and Malta en route.
Indian Independence
In January 1950, India became a republic, and HMIS Delhi became INS Delhi. Commander Adhar Kumar Chatterji became her first Indian commanding officer. The first years of her service with newly independent India saw her performing many goodwill cruises, particularly to East Africa. Together with INS Mysore, she was one of the major ships of the Indian Navy, gaining the nickname "Empress of the Indian Ocean." In 1953, she took part in Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Review, and in 1956, she reprised her role of “HMS Achilles” in the movie Battle of the River Plate. She took part in patrols and naval gunfire support during Operation Vijay, the annexation of Portuguese territories in India.
From 1968 she was reclassified as a training vessel; by this time, the Indian Navy had taken delivery of their first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. Her role as a training vessel would see her return to New Zealand in 1969, where many World War II veterans were reunited with their ship.
Delhi was finally decommissioned in 1978. One of her gun turrets was sent to New Zealand, and her main mast was used as the quarter deck at the National Defence Academy of India. The rest of the ship was scrapped, although there are reports that one of her turrets is preserved at the Regiment of Artillery Museum. Unconfirmed rumors allege that her third turret also survives, despite allegedly being recorded as “eaten by white ants.”
