10p HMS CARLISLE
Visited Tristan in 1932 and 1937. She landed 7 January 1932 with the New Bishop of St Helena, the first such visit since 1856, and the Tristan Representative Mr Percy Snell. The opportunity was taken to try and establish whether a radio transmitter could be installed to assist future possible sea plane visits and photographic Postcards were produced for the visit showing pictures taken between 1922 and 1929 which proved popular with the crew and now collectors.
On her second visit she landed 28 February 1937 carrying 74lbs of letters and 1600lbs of parcels, amongst them 500 special illustrated envelopes produced and sold on board by the mail officer. This visit included a dental survey which was reported in the 1938 National Geographic magazine.
Tristan da Cunha Press Release
Built as a light cruiser under yard No 580 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan for the Royal Navy.
02 October 1917 laid down as CAWNPORE but before launching renamed.
09 July 1918 launched as the HMS CARLISLE one of the C class, the CARLISLE was the lead ship of her class.
Displacement 4,190 tons standard, 5,250 tons full load, dim. 137.6 x 13.3 x 4.3m. (draught), length bpp. 129.5m.
Powered by two sets of geared Parsons steam turbines, 40,000 shp, twin shafts, speed 29 knots.
Armament: 5 – 6 inch, 2 – 3 inch AA, 4 – 3 pdr., 2 – 2 pdr pom-poms and 1 MG. 8 – 21 inch torpedo tubes.
Crew 330 – 350.
11 November 1918 commissioned.
HMS CARLISLE was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, named after the English City of Carlisle. She was the name ship of the Carlisle group of the C-class of cruisers. Carlisle was credited with shooting down eleven Axis aircraft during the Second World War, and was the top scoring anti-aircraft ship in the Royal Navy.
Construction and early years
She was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in 1917, and launched on 9 July 1918. She was completed with a hangar positioned under the bridge, and she was to carry aircraft. This was never carried out and the hangar was later removed. CARLISLE was commissioned too late to see action in the First World War, and in 1919 CARLISLE joined the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron at Harwich. During March she left Harwich in company with the squadron, and took up station in China. She was refitted between 1921-1929 and went on to serve on the Africa Station with the 6th Cruiser Squadron. In February 1930, Carlisle was docked in the Selborne dry dock at Simon's Town, South Africa prior to becoming a unit of the 2nd cruiser squadron Atlantic (Home Fleet). On 16 March 1937 she was relieved by the cruiser HMS NEPTUNE and returned to the U.K. to be reduced into the reserve. In June 1939 CARLISLE started a conversion to an A/A cruiser, with 8-4" QF MK16 and 1 quadruple 2 pdr Pom-Poms being fitted. This conversion was completed in January 1940. CARLISLE was fitted with radar during her conversion and introduced the Type 280 radar combined air warning and gunnery radar into the Royal Navy; she thus became the first naval vessel to be equipped with an anti-aircraft fire control radar system.
Early war service
She then spent a brief period with the Home Fleet, in which she participated in the allied opposition to the German invasion of Norway. She was employed on escort duties of a troop convoy consisting of the 148th Infantry Brigade who went ashore at Åndalsnes; with this the German position in Trondheim was threatened from the north and south (Operation Sickle). Later during the month the sloop HMS BITTERN was mistaken for a cruiser and was badly damaged by German JU88s and had to be sunk by HMS JANUS. In August CARLISLE was serving in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area when she assisted in the evacuation of British troops, civilians and the sick from Berbera in British Somaliland to Aden before Berbera was occupied by Italian troops.
Mediterranean
She returned to the Eastern Fleet in August 1940 after being converted to an anti-aircraft ship in 1940. Like most of her sisters, she was then assigned to the Mediterranean Sea, departing the Far East in March 1941. Once in the Mediterranean, she was used to escort convoys as an A/A vessel of the 15th cruiser squadron for convoys from Alexandria to Greece (Operation Lustre). She became involved in Battle of Cape Matapan, as well as the first and second battles of Sirte. She was also involved in the naval attack during the Battle of Crete in 1941, and was hit and damaged in an air attack on the 22 May whilst attacking an enemy convoy. A direct hit killed her Commanding Officer, Capt. Thomas Cloud Hampton, RN. The British destroyer HMS KINGSTON went alongside to give assistance, whilst Carlisle continued to engage the enemy. She went on to rescue the survivors of the SS THISTLEGORM after the ship was sunk in an air attack on 5 October 1941. By December, the cruiser was back performing convoy duties between Alexandria and Malta, she was tasked to support the commissioned auxiliary supply ship HMS BRECONSHIRE.
Damage and reclassification
In July 1943, she provided escort for the support force for the Allied landings in Sicily. During September–October, during the German counterattack in the Aegean Sea, CARLISLE made a sortie into the area south of Piraeus with the destroyers HMS PANTHER and HMS ROCKWOOD in order to intercept German convoys in the Scarpanto Strait. On 9 October 1943 they were spotted by German Ju 87 dive bombers from I. StG 3 of Megara Air Base which succeeded in sinking HMS PANTHER at 12.05 hrs and later on seriously damaged CARLISLE in which 20 men were killed in position 35 48N 27 36E. She was taken in tow to Alexandria by ROCKWOOD. She was considered to be beyond economical repair as a warship, and instead was converted to serve as a base ship in the harbour of Alexandria in March 1944. She was last listed as a hulk in 1948 after the war had ended, and was broken up in 1949 in Alexandria.
CARLISLE’s badge can still be seen painted on the side of the Selborne dry dock wall at Simonstown, South Africa.
Tristan da Cunha 2015 10p sg?, scott?
Ascension 1970 9d sg131, scott (only the crest is shown.)
Guyana 2015 $80 sg?, scott?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Carlisle_(D67)