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HMS ''Sheffield'' was one of the ''Southampton'' sub class of the cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the more traditional brass. This was an attempt to reduce the amount of cleaning required on the part of the crew. Her nickname, the "Shiny Sheff", stemmed from this. A prototype radar system was placed into service in August 1938 on the Sheffield. It was the first vessel in the Royal Navy to be so equipped.〔Coales, J. F., and J. D. S. Rawlinson; "The Development of Naval Radar 1935-1945", ''J. Naval Science'', vol. 13, nos. 2-3, 1987.〕 ==War service== At the outbreak of war, ''Sheffield'' served with the 18th Cruiser Squadron, patrolling the Denmark Straits and then, in April 1940, she was engaged in the Norwegian Campaign. After a short spell carrying out anti-invasion duties in the English Channel, she joined Force H, based in Gibraltar. During that time, she operated in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic until the year's end, and took part in Operation ''White'' and the battle of Cape Spartivento. In 1941, she participated in the shelling of Genoa (9 February), operations against Vichy convoys and supporting air reinforcements to Malta. In May, ''Sheffield'' took part in the sinking of the , narrowly escaping a friendly fire torpedo attack by the aircraft carrier s Fairey Swordfish; Eleven torpedoes were dropped (despite having been warned ''Sheffield'' was in the vicinity), and only defective Duplex exploders and fine ship handling saved her from disaster.〔Stephen, Martin. ''Sea Battles in Close-up'' (Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan, 1988), Volume 1, pp.89-90.〕 (In the report of the attack, Admiral Sir John Tovey, commanding Home Fleet, was told only no hits were scored on ''Bismarck''.〔Stephen, p.91.〕 The reaction of ''Sheffield''s crew "has not made its way into the official records".)〔Stephen, p.89..〕 On 12 June, she located and sank one of ''Bismarck''s tankers, ''Friedrich Breme''. After the destruction in early October 1941 of another German supply ship, ''Kota Penang'', (aided by the cruiser ), ''Sheffield'' returned to Britain. She was occupied on Arctic convoys until hitting a mine off Iceland on 3 March 1942 and was under repair until July. After more Arctic convoys, ''Sheffield'' joined the forces supporting the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation ''Torch'') in November. In December 1942, ''Sheffield'' and ''Jamaica'' formed "Force R", under the command of Rear-Admiral Robert Burnett (in ''Sheffield''), which provided cover for Convoy JW 51B. The convoy was attacked by a strong German surface force. In the ensuing action (Battle of the Barents Sea), the Germans withdrew and ''Sheffield'' sank the German destroyer , while also damaging the cruiser , ''Eckholdt'' mistaking ''Sheffield'' for ''Hipper''. During this engagement, the destroyer and the minesweeper were sunk by gunfire of the two German vessels. In February 1943, ''Sheffield'' moved to operate in the Bay of Biscay and, in July and August, she supported the landings at Salerno (Operation ''Avalanche''). Returning yet again to the Arctic, she took part in the sinking of the battleship ''Scharnhorst'' off the north coast of Norway, in late December. In 1944, ''Sheffield'' was an escort for the Royal Navy carrier force that executed a series of air attacks on the , between April and August. These had limited success and responsibility was passed to the Royal Air Force. A lengthy refit in Boston and in Britain kept ''Sheffield'' out of action until after the end of the war. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Sheffield (C24)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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