HMS Leander, the 7289-ton (standard displacement) lead ship of a class of five light cruisers, was built at Devonport, England. Completed in March 1933, she served with the Royal Navy until April 1937, when she was transferred to New Zealand and became HMNZS Leander. The cruiser mainly served in the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas until 1940, then operated in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. On 29 October 1940 her embarked aircraft attacked a fish cannery at Mogadishu, Somalia, and on 27 February 1941 she encountered and sank the Italian auxiliary cruiser RAMB 1 near the Maldive Islands.
HMNZS Leander served in the East Indies and South Pacific in 1941-1943. While operating with a U.S. Navy task force she was torpedoed by Japanese ships during the 13 July 1943 Battle of Kolombangara. Though badly damaged, with 28 of her crew dead, she was able to leave the battle area under her own power. Temporary repairs in New Zealand during the remainder of 1943 were followed by a transit to the U.S. East Coast, where she received permanent repairs at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts. This work continued from early 1944 until August 1945, by which time the Second World War was effectively at an end. Now back in the Royal Navy, HMS Leander steamed back to the United Kingdom in the fall of 1945. She was sold for scrapping in December 1949.
This page features selected views concerning the British (later New Zealand) light cruiser Leander
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 59838 HMS Leander (British Light Cruiser, 1933) Underway in harbor, circa the mid-1930s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 47KB; 740 x 520 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59843 HMS Leander (British Light Cruiser, 1933) Underway in harbor, circa the mid-1930s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 520 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59834 HMNZS Leander (British/New Zealand Light Cruiser, 1933) Underway in Gatun Lake, Panama Canal, 19 July 1937. Note the Supermarine "Walrus" aircraft on her catapult, amidships, and her recently-installed twin four-inch anti-aircraft gun mounts. Leander had been loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy a few months earlier. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 59836 HMNZS Leander (British/New Zealand Light Cruiser, 1933) Underway in Gatun Lake, Panama Canal, 19 July 1937. Note the Supermarine "Walrus" aircraft on her catapult, amidships. Leander had been loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy a few months earlier. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-7293 Suva, Fiji Allied warships in Suva harbor, February 1942. Photographed from USS Curtiss (AV-4). These ships are (from left top right): HMNZS Leander (New Zealand Light Cruiser, 1933) USS Niagara (PG-52), and USS Chicago (CA-29). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 47KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-7294 HMNZS Leander (New Zealand Light Cruiser, 1933) In Suva harbor, Fiji, in February 1942. Photographed from USS Curtiss (AV-4). USS Chicago (CA-29) is in the background, at right. Note Leander's pattern camouflage, and the PBY "Catalina" flying boat on the water in the far right distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-56728 HMNZS Leander (British/New Zealand Light Cruiser, 1933) At anchor in Solomon Islands waters, 25 July 1943. Photographed from USS Nicholas (DD-449). Leander was then on loan to the Royal New Zealand Navy. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 87KB; 685 x 675 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-342763 Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943 USS Saint Louis (CL-49) and HMNZS Leander firing during the action. This is probably the battle's initial engagement, in which the Japanese light cruiser Jintsu was sunk by gunfire and torpedo hits and Leander was damaged by a Japanese torpedo. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 33KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 104624 British Leander class light cruiser Recognition silhouette prepared by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Ships of this design included Leander, Neptune, Orion, Achilles and Ajax. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 19KB; 740 x 440 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 January 2007