HMAS Shropshire, our ship, our heavy cruiser was the largest ship in the RAN during WWII. She was the longest. She had the greatest displacement, the most crew, the most efficient and longest range radar, the only ship in the RAN with a cafeteria and the most efficient gunnery including rockets on 'A' turret. She was the most heavily armed ship in the RAN, and she was the fastest of the three heavy cruisers. During her RAN service 1943-1945 she was the most successful, unsurpassed by any other cruiser in the RAN. How many other RAN ships can claim a successful attack on an enemy battleship in the dead of night and surviving after being fired at by ( 6) six 14" shells? At this juncture I mention that our escorting destroyer HMAS Arunta was with us firing her torpedoes at the enemy battle column.

HMAS Shropshire

To the two thousand and more men who served in her - this is your story and as an introduction I will give an outline of those magnificent heavy cruisers usually called County Class Cruisers because they were named after the counties of England. Originally because of Treaty agreements after WWII some unthinking people called them 'useless, hopeless and helpless' because they thought they were ungainly, underarmed and under armour-plated. However, we all know how wrong those critics were because throughout all the battles the Countys were there - the sinking of the Graf Spee, the Bismarck and our own episode, the sinking of the Yamashiro, proved their value as fighting ships.

Our record of achievement in radar and gunnery was commended by both the commanders of the United States Navy and the AIF and not just a 'thanks for the job well done'. Long range radar reporting topped nearly all the reports combined from all other ships of the American Seventh Fleet. Our gunnery became very accurate during bombardments and our anti-aircraft barrage kept our ship and crew very safe and our engines never faltered.

So those ships with their high flush deck hulls, unrivalled sea-keeping qualities as well as reasonable comfort for the crew more than proved their value in all the oceans they were posted. (A little less comfortable in Shropshire when the crew numbers jumped from about 800 to 1280). As an aside my brother Captain David Nicholls OBE, RAN (Rtd) who served the whole six years at sea, serving in many hot spots such as the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean, Indian and the Pacific Ocean said we were a 'lucky' ship as few could say they had actually been in a 'ship to ship action battle' as we were at the Battle of Surigao Straits.

So for a lot of imagined problems or faults which critics were prepared to condemn these heavy cruisers, they proved beyond doubt their value during WWII.

In the main, most of these fine ships were used in the role for which they were designed, i.e. patrolling, seeking out and destroying enemy raiders and convoys.
The word cruiser was used in the eighteenth century by the Royal Navy to indicate ships which could cruise the seas protecting British ships and their cargoes, keeping the sea lanes open, but were not fit for the line. Slowly but surely the demanding role of the 'cruiser' increased requiring a vessel with guns significant in size and range to deter enemy vessels attacking, also a vessel able to remain at sea for long periods. Thus as time went on, the earlier decision to use 6'' gunned light cruisers was changed and they were replaced by 8'' gunned heavy cruisers to carry out this role of protecting our own convoys as well as other attack assignments.

Specifications
There were fifteen (15) heavy cruisers designed in the years 1923-1926 originally by Sir Eustace d'Eyncourt and later an improved design by Sir William Berry.

Finally thirteen (13) were launched and five ( 5) only were lost due to enemy action, two in l 941 and three in 1942, including York and Exeter the smaller cruisers.

HMS Cornwall lost 5/4/1942
HMS Dorsetshire lost 5/4/1942
HMAS Canberra lost 9/8/1942

After the cessation of hostilities all the remaining heavy cruisers were relegated to various odd tasks and or placed in reserve until scrapped. Eg, HMAS Shropshire was scrapped 20/1/1955 at Dalmuir and finally the hull only 19/9/1955 at Troon. HMAS Australia was scrapped 5/7/1955 at Barrow. Whilst the specifications of these heavy cruisers were very similar, the later design improved the maximum speed slightly and so to compare those three (3) ships can be to some an interesting exercise that you should find useful in debate.

Shropshire was launched by the Countess of Powis, Baroness D'Arcy de Knagth.

During the trials at Scapa Flow in 1943 the ship still retained its power and reliability as an excellent adjunct to the RAN and replacement for the ill-fated Canberra sunk rather ignominiously during the Savo Island debacle in 1942.

Even though the sea trials at ScapA Flow showed the engines were still in excellent order, an overheated set of bearings caused some concern to the Australian engine room staff. They discovered that the manufacturers had incorrectly marked the fitted bearings and when they were changed over with spare bearings from the store by the dockyard workers with assistance from our engineers the problem was resolved. (This overheating problem had apparently been Shropshire's for some years prior to the handover to the RAN), e.g. trials

Full power still sustained a speed of 31 knots, 9/10 - 29.5 knots; 3/5 - 26.6 knots; 2/5 - 23.5 knots; 1/5 - 10.9 knots. The economical speed was 10.5 knots. So you can see from the above figures that using the full 80 000 horsepower available, quickly consumed our oil supplies of 3200 tons maximum bunkering.

An interesting factor regarding Shropshire's maximum speed of 32.646 knots in 1929 was that it was obtained at 10 000 tons displacement whilst its engines developed 81 562 shaft horsepower, and at its deep draught of 12 700 tons full load at the time it maintained a speed of 31.518 knots whilst its shaft horsepower was 80 440 and its RPM were 299.7.

Fuel consumption at this speed was 31.5 tons per hour giving an endurance range of 3100 nautical miles. At a more economic speed of 11-12 knots a range of 12,500 miles was obtainable. Because of our huge oil bunkering capacity we were called upon to refuel our escorting destroyers both RAN and USN vessels attached to the Australian Squadron - this was always an interesting and exciting exercise and if the seas were running even a slight swell, a dangerous exercise as the ships rolled inwards. This story would not be complete without some history of how and why these heavy cruisers were designed.

The Washington Naval Treaty of 6 February 1922 specified that heavy cruisers were limited to a maximum calibre 8" guns and should not exceed 10 000 tons displacement. Because all signatories to this treaty built these ships to the limit, problems arose in design and use of machinery, eg Shropshire and the other ships of similar class (Counties) were designed with engines developing 75 000 SHP when in the original design they were to be fitted with engines developing 100 000 SHP giving them a slight increase in speed. So one (1) boiler was eliminated saving 400 tons deadweight but in effect only losing 1-2 knots in top speed, depending on draught but finally the engines were designed to develop 80 000 SHP.

Some other factors of interest: One of the original Kent class heavy cruisers Berwick was built with short funnels, however, a smoke problem arose restricting visibility abaft the bridge and affecting the crew on the upper deck and bridge with subsequent smoke inhalation sickness. The funnels were heightened. The resulting change of increasing the height of the funnels by fifteen feet solved this design error for the RN but the Australian Government requested an additional change be made and the funnels of both Australia and Canberra were increased by eighteen feet giving both of these vessels a very distinctive and easily identifiable appearance.

Additionally when the Kent class were redesigned and called the London class, Shropshire with its increased stern rake added 2'8" to the overall length, and although minimal in alterations, both the stern rake and powerfulness gave Shropshire a slightly different and more appealing silhouette.

Further design changes to the London class heavy cruisers were the vertical side hull construction giving greatly improved stability; the omission of the anti-torpedo bulge and many other internal changes which resulted in the bridge superstructure being moved aft by fifteen feet making it necessary to move the foremast and the two (2) forward funnels slightly aft. (No measurements given).

The masts were removed and replaced by tripods during the 1943 refit as well as radar offices being added. Altogether with these changes taking place the remaining constant in all those thirteen (13) ships was the unchanged distance between the perpendiculars of the turrets of these County class heavy cruisers.

There were of course many other changes, not obvious to most, such as armour on the 4" shell and warhead magazines being omitted, some armour added to the TS telephone exchange and lower steering position so you will understand from the inception, the distribution of weight allowed for the many and varied design proposals, continuously under review.

The figures for 1943, 1944 and 1945 were not available but we all witnessed the obvious changes such as the removal of torpedo tubes, depth charge racks, 20mm guns, etc, and the fitting of new radar aerials, Bofor guns, rocket frames. (Not forgetting of course the addition of our icecream machine and beer supplies.)

Shropshire was originally completed at a trials displacement of 10 032 tons in July 1929 and also carried out trials at a full load of 12 700 tons during the same period in l 929. I mentioned some statistics earlier on about the speeds obtained but as a reminder it was 32.646 knots and remembering that the distance travelled whilst at a speed of l knot varies depending on latitude and 1 degree of latitude near the equator measures greater than 2000 yards, and is less than 2000 yards near the poles, our ship was travelling at quite a speed when you consider the draught and bulk of the ship above the waterline. So you add approx 1/7th the speed in knots to bring it to 37.419 mph land speed.

When Shropshire was refitted many changes took place:-
Original Armament 1929

8 x 8" guns Twin Turret mountings MK.I.
50 Calibre B/L MK VIII 2561b shells muzzle velocity 27 75 FPS
elevation 70 degree
4 x 4" guns Single mountings - elevation 85 degree
4 x 2 Pdr guns (4 single barrel pompom).
4 x 3 Pdr guns (Saluting guns)
8 x 21" Torpedo tubes (2 quadruple mountings)
Depth charge rack (aft on quarter deck)

Armament 194.3 Refit for RAN and up to 1945

8 x 8 '' guns (as above)
8 x 4" guns (4 twin mountings)
16 x 2 Pdr guns (2 x 8 Barrel pompom MKVI - 37mm)
2 x 20mm (Single Oerlikon Mountings)
10 x 20mm (5 twin power operated Oerlikon mountings)
8 x 21'' Torpedo tubes as above (midships)
Depth charge racks mounting
Smoke Canisters
Projector rockets 12 2'' VP fitted to 'A' Turret
'Y' Turret not fitted with rockets (war ended).

Eventually because of their maximum effective range of only 1000 yards all the Oerlikon mountings were removed and replaced by 15 x 40mm single long barrel army Bofors with an effective range of 5000 yards, The torpedo tubes, depth charge rack and smoke canisters were also removed to cut down on top weight.

Aircraft (original) The ship carried an aircraft and was fitted with a catapult and crane but because of the much increased efficiency and varying capabilities of radar, the use of a spotting plane was made obsolete, as well as the slow speed of 100 knots making them easy targets for the latest fast moving enemy fighters. Shropshire used three types of spotting aircraft during her life.

First was a Fairy 111 Float Plane. Second was a Hawker Osprey.
Third was the Walrus Amphibian.

When the 1943 refit for the RAN came about only the crane remained and the catapult deck was utilized for radar installations and radar offices as well as an improved after control with a sea cabin (horizontal) being fitted, for our Executive Officer, Commander George Oldham DSC when he joined the ship.

Radar

1. Radar 281 sets were fitted to both foremast and mainmast and could detect up to thirty miles distant at about sea level. However, if aircraft were flying high ( l 6 000 - 20 000 feet) greater distances up to eighty-five miles were determined. Again to an experienced operator like AB Joe Barrington MID, who could read around the curved edge of the radar screen, enemy aircraft were reported to be at a range of up to 120 miles, provided the weather conditions were perfect.

2. A 273 set in a bold lantern type structure was fitted to locate surface craft at a range of eighteen mites.

3. 285 sets featuring swivel direction aerials were fitted for gunnery bearings.

Searchlights
Originally 2 x 36" and 1 x 18'' were fitted. During the 1943 RAN refit 3 x 36" were fitted. Two of these 36" searchlights were placed port and starboard side of the after funnel and the third searchlight was just abaft the after control.

Gunnery Fire Control Directors
One Director Four AFCT Mk 111; One HACS Mk 1; Four 12ft Range Finders.
(One in AFCT, HACS, and both sides of the bridge wings).

Armour and Protective Plating
Sides: 1'' in DI abreast machinery Lower Deck'. - 1 3/8" in DI over machinery Lower Deck: - 1 1/2" in DI over steering gear Bulkheads..1'' in DI at ends of machinery.

Main Magazines and Shell Rooms

B and X Turrets

3" NC & DI crowns and end bulkheads
4 3/8" sides NC & DI

A and Y Turrets

1'' DI crowns and end bulkheads
1'' DI sides

Maximum shell carrying capacity was 1440 ( 8") Captain Nichols as a precautionary measure over-loaded to a capacity of 1900 8" shells just prior to the Leyte Gulf bombardments.

Midships

4" shell magazines 2" (NC & DI)
Crowns and bulkheads 3 3/8" (NC & DI)

Barbettes

1 '' in NC

Turrets

1 '' in NC sides and crowns
3/4" in DC floor.

Machinery
Parsons IR geared turbines, four shafts and four screws, 80 000+ shaft horsepower. 8 Admiral 3 drum boilers (4 forward and 4 aft), each boiler giving 250 PSI resulting in a top trial speed of 32.646 knots.

Builder
William Beardmore and Company Ltd, Dalmuir, Scotland.
Finally depending on weight of fuel, ammunition, crew, stores, etc, some final statistics could be of interest.
At a displacement of 10 000 tons the

Draught - Forward - 16 feet
Draught - Aft - 18 feet
Freeboard - Forward - 32 1/4 feet
Freeboard - Midships - 26 1/2 feet
Freeboard - Aft - 28 1/4 feet

and towards the end of WWII as both Shropshire and Australia added more weight due to new guns, supplies and crew the deep draught increased to 22 1/2 feet with a decrease in top speed of about 1 knot. From sea level to the top of the mast, including the radar aerial, it was approximately 120 feet permitting Shropshire to pass under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A report on statistics is interesting but the most vital statistics of all are all the specialist areas manned by men. Without those people the ship is only a piece of machinery but with them it ensured the economic, effective and efficient running of this great fighting ship of the RAN.

So with this in mind, I follow with a brief description of all the men in their specialist areas whether they be officers or lower deck personnel. I hope the following will help make things clear in the minds of those who read this account of before, during and after Shropshire's battle tour as to how these 1280-plus men work and fight together as a team to turn out one of the most happy and successful ships of the Australian Squadron to survive the war. It goes without saying that the captain must come first - he is boss; he is responsible for the ship and men's lives and for the ship's capability of defending our nation against our enemies.

The Captain
All captains are not the same. Their responsibilities, their roles, their decisions have to be taken in their stride. First and foremost the safety of the ship, the crew and their training to meet all conditions at sea, whether it be fighting an enemy, fighting the sea or just being a happy ship.

It is a most formidable job and usually a 'fairly' lonely one as captains of all ships have had to fmd out either to their joy or dismay.

A captain's future is in the main built on success, being careful and sometimes being in the right place at the right time. Some say it's not what you know but who you know, and most of us have witnessed that occurrence many times, however every ship needs a tough but fair captain and our ship was certainly blessed by our commanding officers.

The Commander and Executive Officer
Waiting in the wings was his lot and during action stations placed at a 'safe' distance above the after control just in case the bridge was blown away and he had to take over. During normal duties his role was a never ending, time consuming task of running the daily routine of the ship - a man to be reckoned with at all times.

'Guns' Our Gunnery Officer
Well, what can be said - Warwick Bracegirdle, a great 'one-eyed' gunnery officer never failing in his enthusiasm. When he talked about action it was the 'Tiger Country'. When he left Shropshire his training and effect on the men remained unchanged and 'Braces' men did not let Lieutenant Commander Marks down as he trained our guns on the beaches of Balikpapan, our last operation in WWII

The Engineers
A group of men working below decks with their staff seeing nothing, hearing the rumble of gunfire above the noise of the engine room, experiencing the sudden changes of course and increasing and decreasing revolutions as required and sometimes stopping engines not knowing what was happening above deck.

To my mind a scary place to be - a survival situation which could become instantly desperate. Some friends told me the thought of a torpedo attack was about the worst nightmare imaginable.

Well to us on topside, facing the elements, strafing, shelling, kamikazes, etc they had it made, safely tucked up behind all that steel but I am not so sure; I guess after all, we were all in it together because if we went they went and vice versa.

The Officers
They also had a tough job, some more than others, especially the professional and technical specialist groups, engineers, gunnery officers, navigators, medical staff, etc, because if at any time danger was imminent and they were not prepared this small 'town' of 1280 men could all be finished one way or the other - eg the Savo Island episode.

So to all those men who at all times had to be aloof whilst being fair and firm and at the same time be consistent in giving orders I say a job well done. The navy could not afford officers who were over friendly and lost the respect of all other ranks.

The Warrant Officers, Chiefs and Petty Officers and Leading Hands of all Specialist Ratings
These were the men we all depended on for their knowledge and skills - they knew the navy inside out from the lower deck to the upper deck. Without their guidance it would have taken a lot longer to get our tasks completed, so to these men, one has to say thanks to your navy training and years of service, we have succeeded.

The Seamen
The seamen were the men that fought and manned the guns and associated equipment, they anchored the ship, stored the ship, ammunitioned the ship, painted, scrubbed, polished and looked after their parts of the ship, foc'sle foretop, maintop and quarterdeck. They were the fighting men and the ship's 'labourers' and during action stations would be found above and below decks.

The Stokers
An old name used when the ships bunkered coal and the fires were fuelled and stoked by coal, so the name stuck. However these men still operate the boilers, turbine engines, bunkering oil, fresh water supplies, motor boat engines and other auxiliary machinery. They are the men who keep the ship moving and manoevring as required, mostly below decks and mainly below the waterline. They also carry out labouring duties when taking in oil and cleaning boilers under dirty and hot conditions.

The Artificers
The artificers were many. These are the top tradesmen in the engine room, on gunnery ordnance, electrical maintenance, communications and who all play their part in keeping their most important parts of the ship maintained for instant action.

The Communicators
The signalmen, the telegraphists, the coders and the radar operators belong to this most important group, because without them, the Squadron as a whole could quickly be at cross-purposes and in great danger to one another - eg, at the Battle of Surigao Straits one US battleship, the Calfornia, mistook a signal and altered course fifteen degrees instead of a turn of fifteen and narrowly avoided hitting USS Tennessee. The speedy action of the engineroom in reversing engines saved the day and a lot of red faces.

Supply Team
Our supply team, an indispensable group of men because without their constant checking of stores such as food, clothing and for general maintenance needs, how long could a ship last as an effective component of the fleet?

The Cooks, Butchers and Bakers
The cooks, butchers and bakers have to be there and it goes without saying, the task of keeping 1280 men fed three times a day under all sorts of situations is a difficult job and it can be said of our 'galley slaves' that a job was well done, particularly their efforts to vary and 'disguise' those meals of bully beef.

The Writers
The writers are usually a quiet group of dedicated men, seen but rarely heard but making sure our pay, records and reports were kept up to date, helping out during action stations in various parts of the ship.

The Bandsmen
The bandsmen keeping us entertained in the torpedo space, playing as we entered and left harbour as well as being part of the TS and our damage control teams in case of enemy damage during action stations.

Our Policemen
The Master at Arms and regulating petty officers mostly a great bunch of fellows carrying out a very necessary but not always a popular job.

The Stewards
The stewards keeping services up to the officers in the wardroom, gun room and warrant officers mess making sure our decision-makers were always looked after in an exemplary manner.

The Sick Bay
The doctors, the chief and his sick berth attendants always ready and able to deal with all cases of sickness, real or imagined, with particular mention made about the multi-coloured attacks on our bodies to reduce skin complaints.

Their preparation, thankfully never put to use, for supplies of medical requirements, placed at strategic parts of the ship in case men were wounded was, in the main, organised by Chief Ralston.

The Shipwrights and Joiners
The shipwrights and joiners always repairing damaged timber fittings to the ship and our motor boats. A small, quiet but efficient group of men usually given assistance by seamen as required.

Our Plumber
Well he did exactly the same as ashore and more. Blocked drains, leaking pipes were never ending in a sea-going vessel twisting and turning in a rough sea let alone the vibration damage caused after continual broadsides from our guns.

The Painter and His Mate
The supplier and mixer of those dreaded pots of paint, brushes, chipping hammers etc. Remember the 1/2" of paint and in some areas more, that were chipped off the lower deck bulkheads and the turret trunks.

The Blacksmith
The blacksmith at his forge - never a dull moment in a ship the size of Shropshire but as opposed to a shore establishment working under worse conditions as space was at a premium. He was also an important team member of the cable party during mooring and weighing anchor and streaming the paravanes.

The Wiremen
Tracing wiring in back bending and back breaking conditions was part of their lot from the bilges to the truck. I hope I have not missed many. However, a word about those Civilians in Uniform, the canteen staff. They worked hard but who wouldn't when you have a captive group of money spenders - 'us'. During action stations they were also part of the damage control team.

The word 'Yeoman' synonomous with those with 'standing' in the ship and who supported and gave assistance to senior officers in all their specialist fields - eg yeoman of signals, all NCO's, navigator's and meteorologist's yeoman.

Before finishing this segment, our AIF Officers and OR's as well as the USN officers who served on board in varying capacities must be mentioned as part of the ship's liaison group. A special mention to Sergeant A. Thompson who drew the night encounter, Surigao Straits battle plan under the direction of our navigator Lieutenant Commander L. Gellatly. (A copy of this plan is on pages 127 and 130.)

Well to conclude, and I hope no one is forgotten, we made a great team and came out virtually unscathed except for a few scary memories and a job very well done.