HMS Colony Class
The Colony Class, of eleven ships, were slightly smaller than the Southamptons, but with the Belfast's armor: they could be distinguished from the former by their upright funnels. The Colonies numbered eleven ships which completed beween 1940 and 1943. They were the BERMUDA, CEYLON, FIJI, GAMBIA, JAMAICA, KENYA, MAURITIUS, NEWFOUNDLAND, NIGERIA, TRINIDAD and UGANDA. The growing preoccupation with anti-aircraft defense led to the deletion of turrets in the later ships, so as to save space and weight for more anti-aircraft guns.
Two were lost in the war, both to German aircraft; the Fiji off Crete in 1941 and the Trinidad in the Barents Sea in 1942. The Gambia was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Uganda to the Royal Canadian Navy. The Kenya and the Nigeria were damaged by torpedoes during the Malta convoy called 'Pedestal' in August 1942. The Jamaica fought the Lutzow and Hipper in the Barents Sea and she was also in action, steaming with the Duke of York, when they sank the Scharnhorst.
After the war these cruisers continued in service into the 1960's, the last survivor being the Gambia. The Nigeria, which was the only one to retain her X turret, was sold to the Indian Navy in 1957 and the Newfoundland and Ceylon were sold to the Peruvian Navy in 1960.
