A SHORT HISTORY OF HMS NIGERIA (Served in WWII)



HMS NIGERIA MAGAZINE

A SHORT HISTORY OF HMS NIGERIA
(www.hmsnigeria.com)

The following is a short account of the more important events in the history of H.M.S. Nigeria.

H.M.S. NIGERIA was built by Messrs. Vickers Armstrong Ltd., at Newcastle. A Nigerian chief was invited to christen the ship at her launching, which he did, with due ceremony, and wearing his robes of state. A silver bell, suitably inscribed, was then presented to the ship on behalf of the people of Nigeria. She was commissioned on 3rd September, 1940, by Captain J. G. L. Dundas, Royal Navy, and her trials were completed on 23rd September, 1940.

After working up, NIGERIA became part of the Tenth Cruiser Squadron, and was Flagship of the Squadron at various periods. She was based at Plymouth for a short time at the beginning of 1941, acting as part of the force which was operating in the Channel. Other than firing at enemy aircraft at a distance, the ship's first real job came on 28th August, when, in company with four destroyers, she steamed as far north as the ice-belt, to capture an enemy weather-reporting trawler. The operation was successful, and it is believed that this was the first time in this war that ships of the Royal Navy had penetrated so far north. When Spitzbergen had been taken, a thousand Russians were transferred to the troopship, EMPRESS OF CANADA, and escorted by NIGERIA to Archangel. This was followed by a bombardment of Bear Island, where two Norwegians were taken off and the W /T destroyed. NIGERIA carried out several Northern Patrols, twice providing cover for minelaying operations, and she also escorted convoys to Russia, working in co-operation with units of the Russian Fleet. During these many escort duties above the Arctic circle, the convoys as a whole were continuously subjected to bombing and torpedo attacks from enemy aircraft. NIGERIA suffered several near-misses, but sustained no damage.

It is interesting to note that during the ship's initial trip to Spitzbergen, a lecture was given in which it was stated that no British warship had been to Spitzbergen since the days of Nelson.

The ship spent some weeks based on Murmansk and her task was to meet incoming convoys and escort them through the Kola Inlet. At that time the Russians were still very suspicious of Great Britain. Some of the ship's officers decided they would like to ski, but were told that they could not borrow any skis, as there were insufficient for the Russian Army. It was soon discovered, however, that the storekeeper would produce as many pairs of skis as they wanted, was crossed with the magic packet of twenty Player's cigarettes. Their abortive attempts at ski-ing drew large crowds of spectators who roared with laughter at their antics. The Russians were soon convinced that there could not possibly be any guile in these Britishers, and a warm friendship began. They were entertained on board, and were very pleased when their choir was asked to sing, which they did-magnificently!

If a lasting friendship with the U.S.S.R. is now an established fact, we can at least feel that NIGERIA helped to lay the foundations.

There was no doubt about the desire of the Russian authorities to promote goodwill with Great Britain, as the following story will show. One of the Russian sentries had been insolent to some of the ship's officers, and they felt they were justified in lodging a complaint through the liaison officer on board. They received an assurance that the offender would be dealt with, and when they next enquired what had happened to him, they were informed that he had been shot. There were no further complaints on either side!

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