HMS Hawkins
Index of Allied warships during Operation Neptune
History, technical sheet and photo
H.M.S. Hawkins history
The heavy cruiser D86 H.M.S. (Her Majesty Ship) Hawkins, launched on October 1, 1917 during the First World War, entered service on July 25, 1919. Flagship of the 5th Light Cruiser squadron based in the China Sea, it becomes flagship of the 2nd Wing operating in the Atlantic on December 1929. In May 1930, it was removed from service, placed in reserve and used by the cadets of the Royal Navy.
When the Second World War broke out in Europe, it returned to service and was immediately deployed in South America and South Africa. In February 1941, it operated off the Horn of Africa and in the Indian Ocean where many merchant ships German and Italian were arrested.
In the spring of 1944, the Hawkins was deployed in the English Channel as part of the preparations for Operation Neptune. It participated in Operation Tiger, a life-size rehearsal of the landing, which resulted in a terrible failure due to the intervention of German speedboats. On June 6, 1944, it anchored off Utah Beach and bombarded the batteries at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville and Maisy. Then deployed along Gooseberry 4 in front of Courseulles-sur-Mer, it continued to support by fire the progression of the allied land forces in Normandy until the end of June before returning to Great Britain.
Once again used by the Royal Navy cadets as of August 1944, HMS Hawkins was later removed from active service and placed in reserve in 1945. Used as a target for the Royal Air Force, it was scrapped as of 21 August 1947.
H.M.S. Hawkins technical sheet
Creator/User: Britain
Denomination: D 86 – H.M.S. Hawkins
Class: Hawkins-class heavy cruiser
Crew: 800 sailors
Armament (1944): 7x 190 mm guns, 8x 76 mm guns, 2x 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, 6x 533 mm torpedo tubes
Displacement: 12,190 tons
Speed: 30 knots
Length: 184 m
Beam: 20 m
Draught: 5,26 m
