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{{Short description|Leander-class cruiser of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Neptune}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:HMS Neptune (AWM 302461).jpg|300px|center|HMS Neptune in 1937]]
|Ship caption=HMS ''Neptune'' in 1937
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Neptune''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Portsmouth Dockyard]]
|Ship laid down=24 September 1931
|Ship launched=31 January 1933
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=12 February 1934
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: 20
|Ship fate=Sunk 19 December 1941 by mines off [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]
|Ship motto=*''Regnare est servire''
*(Latin: "To reign is to serve")
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class={{Sclass|Leander|cruiser (1931)|0}} [[light cruiser]]
|Ship displacement=*7,270 tons standard
*9,740 tons full load
|Ship length={{convert|554.9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|56|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|19.1|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power={{convert|72000|shp|kW}}
|Ship propulsion=*4 × Parsons geared steam turbines
*6 × Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers
*Four shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|32.5|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship range={{convert|5730|nmi|km}} at {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}
|Ship complement=*peacetime 550
*wartime 680
|Ship sensors=*type 284/286 air search radar
*type 273/271 surface search
*type 285 6&nbsp;inch (152&nbsp;mm) fire control
*type 282 40&nbsp;mm fire control
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*Original configuration:
*8<ref name="L&C">Lenton & Colledge 1968 p.39</ref> × [[BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun]]s<ref name="Campbell">Campbell 1985 p.34</ref>
*4 × [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}}]] guns
*12 × [[Vickers .50 machine gun|0.5&nbsp;in]] machine guns
*8 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=*4&nbsp;in (102&nbsp;mm) main [[Belt armor|belt]]
*2.5&nbsp;in (64&nbsp;mm) ends
*1.25 to 2&nbsp;in (32 to 51&nbsp;mm) [[Deck (ship)|deck]]
*1&nbsp;in (25&nbsp;mm) [[gun turret|turret]]s
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=*One [[Aircraft catapult#Interwar and World War II|catapult]]-launched aircraft
*Original type was a [[Fairey Seafox]]
*catapult and aircraft later replaced with [[Supermarine Walrus]]
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Neptune''''' was a {{sclass|Leander|cruiser (1931)|0}} [[light cruiser]] which served with the [[Royal Navy]] during [[World War II]]. ''Neptune'' was the fourth ship of its class and was the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name.

==Construction and commissioning==
Built by [[Portsmouth Dockyard]], ''Neptune'' was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 24 September 1931, [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 31 January 1933, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] into the Royal Navy on 12 February 1934 with the [[pennant number]] 20.

==Operational history==
During World War II, ''Neptune'' operated with a crew drawn predominantly from the [[New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy]]. The ship also carried a large contingent of seconded South African personnel.<ref>Keene, John (1995) ''South Africa in World War II.'' Human & Rousseau (Pty) Ltd, pp. 134. {{ISBN|0-7981-3388-0}}</ref>

In December 1939, several months after war was declared, ''Neptune'' was patrolling in the South Atlantic in pursuit of German surface raider [[heavy cruiser]] {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Graf Spee||2}}. ''Neptune'', with other patrolling Royal Navy heavy units, was sent to Uruguay in the aftermath of the [[Battle of the River Plate]]. However, she was still in transit when the Germans scuttled ''Graf Spee'' off [[Montevideo]] on 17 December.

''Neptune'' was the first British ship to spot the Italian Fleet in the [[battle of Calabria]], on 9 July 1940, marking also the first time since the [[Napoleonic Wars]] that the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] received the signal "enemy battle fleet in sight".<ref>Thomas, David A. (1999). ''Malta Convoys''. Leo Cooper, p. 25. {{ISBN|0-85052-663-9}}</ref> During the subsequent engagement, she was hit by the Italian [[light cruiser]] {{ship|Italian cruiser|Giuseppe Garibaldi|1936|2}}.<ref>[http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=35&lid=1&cid=3 Action of Calabria], by Christian D'Adamo</ref><ref>Jordan, John (2008). ''Warship 2008''. Conway maritime press, p. 32. {{ISBN|1-84486-062-0}}</ref> The 6-inch shell splinters struck the [[aircraft catapult]] and damaged her [[Fairey Seafox|floatplane]] beyond repair, its wreckage being thrown into the sea.<ref>Smith, Peter Charles (1980). ''Action imminent: three studies of the naval war in the Mediterranean theatre during 1940''. Kimber, p. 66. {{ISBN|0-7183-0197-8}}</ref> Minutes later, ''Neptune''<nowiki/>'s main guns scored three hits on the [[Italian cruiser Bolzano|heavy cruiser ''Bolzano'']], inflicting some damage on her torpedo room, below the waterline and the "B" [[gun turret|turret]].<ref>Green, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943'', Chatham Publishing, pp. 74–75. {{ISBN|1-885119-61-5}}</ref>
During 1941, she led Force K, a raiding squadron of cruisers. Their task was to intercept and destroy German and Italian convoys en route to Libya. The convoys were supplying [[Erwin Rommel|Rommel's]] [[Afrika Korps]] in North Africa with troops and equipment.

===Sinking===
Force K was sent out on 18 December 1941, to intercept a convoy bound for [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], right after the brief fleet engagement at sunset known as [[First Battle of Sirte]].

On the night of 19–20 December, ''Neptune'', leading the line, struck two [[naval mine|mines]], part of an Italian minefield laid by an Italian cruiser force in June 1941. The first struck the anti-mine screen, causing no damage. The second struck the bow hull. The other cruisers present, {{HMS|Aurora|12|2}} and {{HMS|Penelope|97|2}}, also struck mines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4004.html|title=HMS Neptune (20) of the Royal Navy - British Light cruiser of the Leander class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net|website=uboat.net|access-date=2017-12-26}}</ref>

While reversing out of the minefield, ''Neptune'' struck a third mine, which took off her propellers and left her dead in the water. ''Aurora'' was unable to render assistance as she was already down to {{convert|10|kn|km/h|0}} and needed to turn back to [[Malta]]. ''Penelope'' was also unable to assist.

The [[destroyer]]s {{HMS|Kandahar|F28|2}} and {{HMS|Lively|G40|2}} were sent into the minefield to attempt a tow. The former struck a mine and began drifting. ''Neptune'' then signalled for ''Lively'' to keep clear. ''Kandahar'' was later evacuated and scuttled with a torpedo by the destroyer {{HMS|Jaguar|F34|2}}, to prevent her capture.

''Neptune'' hit a fourth mine and quickly capsized, killing 737 crew members.  Initially some 30 others survived the sinking, but they also died of wounds and exposure in the subsequent days. As a result, only one was still alive when their [[carley float]] was picked up five days later by the Italian torpedo boat {{ship|Italian destroyer|Generale Achille Papa||2}}. The sole survivor, Norman Walton, spent 15 months in an Italian prisoner of war camp. In 1991, Walton travelled to the small city of [[Nelson, New Zealand]], to unveil a memorial to ''Neptune''. Of the 764 that perished, 150 were New Zealand sailors, including four from Nelson.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nelson's war memorials |url=https://www.theprow.org.nz/society/nelson-war-memorials/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=theprow.org.nz}}</ref> A memorial service to ''Neptune'' and her crew is held each year in Nelson.

== See also ==
* [[First Battle of Sirte]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book| title=Naval Weapons of World War Two |author=Campbell, John |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1985 |isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Caruana |first1=Joseph |title=The Demise of Force "K" |journal=Warship International |date=2006 |volume=XLIII |issue=1 |pages=99–111 |issn=0043-0374}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After|year=2010|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-59114-078-8 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book| title=British and Dominion Warships of World War Two |author1=Lenton, H.T.  |author2=Colledge, J.J. |publisher=Doubleday and Company |year=1968}}
* {{cite book|last1=Raven|first1=Alan|last2=Roberts|first2=John|title=British Cruisers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1980|isbn=0-87021-922-7|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2 |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book| title=Neptune's Legacy|author=Taverner, Nixie |publisher=Arcturus Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-90732-286-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Cassell |location=London|year=1995|isbn=1-86019-874-0|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|HMS Neptune (ship, 1933)}}
* [http://www.hmsneptune.com/ HMS ''Neptune'' Association]

{{Leander class cruiser 1931}}
{{December 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{Coord|33|15|N|13|30|E|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neptune (20)}}
[[Category:Leander-class cruisers (1931) of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portsmouth]]
[[Category:1933 ships]]
[[Category:World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Military history of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]

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