Sunday, September 15, 2013

Military papercraft Bristol BEAUFIGHTER MK VI F

Bristol BEAUFIGHTER MK VI F Paper Model



Type 156 Beaufighter
The Bristol Beaufighter papercraft model is also the name of a car produced by Bristol Cars in the 1980s.

Type 156 Beaufighter
Beaufighter, armed with rockets
Role Heavy fighter / strike aircraft
Manufacturer Bristol Aeroplane Company
First flight 17 July 1939
Introduction 27 July 1940
Retired 1960 (Australia)
Primary users Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Produced May 1940 – 1946
Number built 5,928
Developed from Bristol Beaufort



The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design. The name Beaufighter is a portmanteau of "Beaufort" and "fighter".

Unlike the Beaufort, the Beaufighter had a long career and served in almost all theatres of war in the Second World War, first as a night fighter, then as a fighter bomber and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber. A unique variant was built in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) and was known in Australia as the DAP Beaufighter. paper model


Design and development papercraft model

The idea of a fighter development of the Beaufort was suggested to the Air Ministry by Bristol. The suggestion coincided with the delays in the development and production of the Westland Whirlwind cannon-armed twin-engined fighter. By converting an existing design the "Beaufort Cannon Fighter" could be expected to be developed and produced far quicker than starting a completely fresh design. Accordingly the Air Ministry produced specification F.11/37 written around Bristol's suggestion for an "interim" aircraft pending proper introduction of the Whirlwind. Bristol started building a prototype by taking a part-built Beaufort out of the production line. The prototype first flew on 17 July 1939, a little more than eight months after the design had started and possible due to the use of much of the Beaufort's design and parts. A production contract for 300 machines had already been placed two weeks before the prototype flew, as F.17/39.

In general the differences between the Beaufort and Beaufighter were minor. The wings, control surfaces, retractable landing gear and aft section of the fuselage were identical to those of the Beaufort, while the wing centre section was similar apart from certain fittings. The bomb-bay was omitted, and four forward-firing Hispano 20 mm cannons were mounted in the lower fuselage area. These were initially fed from 60-round drums, requiring the radar operator to change the ammunition drums manually — an arduous and unpopular task, especially at night and while chasing a bomber. As a result, they were soon replaced by a belt-feed system. The cannons were supplemented by six 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning guns in the wings; four in the starboard wing and two to port. The areas for the rear gunner and bomb-aimer were removed, leaving only the pilot in a fighter-type cockpit. The navigator / radar operator sat to the rear under a small perspex bubble where the Beaufort's dorsal turret had been located.

The Bristol Taurus engines of the Beaufort were not powerful enough for a fighter and were replaced by the more powerful Bristol Hercules. The extra power presented problems with vibration; in the final design they were mounted on longer, more flexible struts, which stuck out from the front of the wings. This moved the centre of gravity (CoG) forward, a bad thing for an aircraft design. It was moved back by shortening the nose, as no space was needed for a bomb aimer in a fighter. This put most of the fuselage behind the wing, and moved the CoG back where it should be. With the engine cowlings and propellers now further forward than the tip of the nose, the Beaufighter had a characteristically stubby appearance.

Production of the Beaufort in Australia, and the highly successful use of British-made Beaufighters by the Royal Australian Air Force, led to Beaufighters being built by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), from 1944 onwards. The DAP's variant was an attack/torpedo bomber, known as the Mark 21: design changes included Hercules CVII engines, dihedral to the tailplane and enhanced armament.

By the time British production lines shut down in September 1945, 5,564 Beaufighters had been built in England, by Bristol and also by Fairey Aviation Company, (498) Ministry of Aircraft Production (3336) and Rootes (260).
When Australian production ceased in 1946, 365 Mk.21s had been built.

Operational service
Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1paper model in No. 252 Squadron, North Africa

By fighter standards, the Beaufighter Mk.I was rather heavy and slow. It had an all-up weight of 16,000 lb (7,000 kg) and a maximum speed of only 335 mph (540 km/h) at 16,800 ft (5,000 m). Nevertheless this was all that was available at the time, as the otherwise excellent Westland Whirlwind had already been cancelled due to production problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines.

The Beaufighter found itself coming off the production line at almost exactly the same time as the first British Airborne Intercept (AI) radar sets. With the four 20 mm cannons mounted in the lower fuselage, the nose could accommodate the radar antennas, and the general roominess of the fuselage enabled the AI equipment to be fitted easily. Even loaded to 20,000 lb (9 t) the plane was fast enough to catch German bombers. By early 1941 it was an effective counter to Luftwaffe night raids. The various early models of the Beaufighter soon commenced service overseas, where its ruggedness and reliability soon made the aircraft popular with crews.

A night-fighter Mk VIF was supplied to squadrons in March 1942, equipped with AI Mark VIII radar. As the faster de Havilland Mosquito took over in the night fighter role in mid to late 1942, the heavier Beaufighters made valuable contributions in other areas such as anti-shipping, ground attack and long-range interdiction in every major theatre of operations.

In the Mediterranean, the USAAF's 414th, 415th, 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943, achieving their first victory in July 1943. Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground-attack operations, but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night. Although the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944, USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war.

By the autumn of 1943 the Mosquito was available in enough numbers to replace the Beaufighter as the primary night fighter of the RAF. By the end of the war some 70 pilots serving with RAF units had become aces while flying Beaufighters.

Coastal Command

1941 saw the development of the Beaufighter Mk.IC long-range heavy fighter. This new variant entered service in May 1941 with a detachment from No. 252 Squadron operating from Malta. The aircraft proved so effective in the Mediterranean against shipping, aircraft and ground targets that Coastal Command became the major user of the Beaufighter, replacing the now obsolete Beaufort and Blenheim.

Coastal Command began to take delivery of the up-rated Mk.VIC in mid 1942. By the end of 1942 Mk VICs were being equipped with torpedo-carrying gear, enabling them to carry the British 18-inch or the US 22.5-inch torpedo externally. The first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters came in April 1943, with No. 254 Squadron sinking two merchant ships off Norway.

The Hercules Mk XVII, developing 1,735 hp at 500 feet, was installed in the Mk VIC airframe to produce the TF Mk.X (Torpedo Fighter), commonly known as the "Torbeau." The Mk X became the main production mark of the Beaufighter. The strike variant of the "Torbeau" was designated the Mk.XIC. Beaufighter TF Xs would make precision attacks on shipping at wave-top height with torpedoes or RP-3 rockets. Early models of the Mk Xs carried metric-wavelength ASV (air-to-surface vessel) radar with "herringbone" antennae carried on the nose and outer wings, but this was replaced in late 1943 by the centimetric AI Mark VIII radar housed in a "thimble-nose" radome, enabling all-weather and night attacks.

The North Coates Strike Wing (Coastal Command), based at RAF North Coates on the Lincolnshire coast, developed attack tactics combining large formations of Beaufighters on anti-flak suppression with cannon and rockets while the Torbeaus attacked on low level. These tactics were put into practice in mid 1943 and in a 10-month period 27,000 tonnes of shipping were sunk. Tactics were further adapted when shipping was moved from port during the night. North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti-shipping force of the Second World War, and accounted for over 150,000 tons of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing. This was half the total tonnage sunk by all strike wings between 1942-45.
Pacific war
Beaufighter of No. 30 Squadron RAAF over the Owen Stanley Range, New Guinea, 1942.(AWM OG0001)

The Beaufighter arrived at squadrons in Asia and the Pacific in mid-1942. It has often been said — although it was most probably a propaganda invention — that Japanese soldiers referred to the Beaufighter as "whispering death", supposedly because attacking aircraft often were not heard (or seen) until too late. (The Beaufighter's Hercules engines featured sleeve valves which lacked the noisy valve gear common to poppet valve engines. This was most apparent in a reduced noise level at the front of the engine.)

South east Asia

In the South-East Asian Theatre the Beaufighter Mk VIF operated from India on night missions against Japanese lines of communication in Burma and Thailand. The high-speed, low-level attacks were highly effective, despite often atrocious weather conditions, and makeshift repair and maintenance facilities.

South west Pacific

Before DAP Beaufighters arrived at Royal Australian Air Force units in the South West Pacific theatre, the Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC was employed in anti-shipping missions.

The most famous of these was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in which they co-operated with USAAF A-20 Bostons and B-25 Mitchells. No. 30 Squadron RAAF Beaufighters flew in at mast height to provide heavy suppressive fire for the waves of attacking bombers. The Japanese convoy, under the impression that they were under torpedo attack, made the fatal tactical error of turning their ships towards the Beaufighters, leaving them exposed to skip bombing attacks by the US medium bombers. The Beaufighters inflicted maximum damage on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews during strafing runs with their four 20 mm (0.787 in) nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. Eight transports and four destroyers were sunk for the loss of five aircraft, including one Beaufighter.
Postwar

From late 1944, RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War, finally withdrawing in 1946.

The Beaufighter was also used by the air forces of Portugal, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. It was used briefly by the Israeli Air Force.

Variants

Beaufighter Mk IF
Two-seat night fighter variant.

Beaufighter Mk IC
The "C" stood for Coastal Command variant; many were modified to carry bombs.

Beaufighter Mk II
However well the Beaufighter performed, the Short Stirling bomber program by late 1941 had a higher priority for the Hercules engine and the Rolls Royce Merlin XX-powered Mk II was the result.

Beaufighter Mk IIF
Production night fighter variant.
Beaufighter Mk III/IV
The Mark III and Mark IV were to be Hercules and Merlin powered Beaufighters with a new slimmer fuselage carrying an armament of 6 cannon and 6 machine guns which would give performance improvements. The necessary costs of making the changes to the production line led to the curtailing of the Marks. [1]

Beaufighter Mk V
The Vs had a Boulton Paul turret with four 0.303 machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit supplanting one pair of cannons and the wing-mounted machine guns. Only two Mk Vs were built.

Beaufighter Mk VI
The Hercules returned with the next major version in 1942, the Mk VI, which was eventually built to over 1,000 examples.

Beaufighter Mk VIC
Torpedo-carrying variant dubbed the "Torbeau".

Beaufighter Mk VIF
This variant was equipped with AI Mark VIII radar.

Beaufighter Mk VI (ITF)
Interim torpedo fighter version.

Beaufighter TF Mk X
Two-seat torpedo fighter aircraft. The last major version (2,231 built) was the Mk X, among the finest torpedo and strike aircraft of its day.

Beaufighter Mk XIC
Built without torpedo gear for Coastal Command use.

Beaufighter Mk 21
The Australian-made DAP Beaufighter. Changes included Hercules CVII engines, a dihedral tailplane, four 20 mm in the nose, four Browning .50 in the wings and the capacity to carry eight five-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR), two 250 lb bombs, two 500 lb bombs and one Mk13 torpedo.

Beaufighter TT Mk 10
After the war, many RAF Beaufighters were converted into target tug aircraft.






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Saturday, August 10, 2013

ORP Conrad

ORP Conrad



ORP Conrad
ORP Conrad
Historia
Położenie stępki 1 grudnia 1916
Wodowanie 26 stycznia 1918
 Royal Navy
Nazwa HMS Danae
Wejście do służby 22 czerwca 1918
 Marynarka Wojenna
Nazwa ORP Conrad
Wejście do służby 4 października 1944
Wycofanie ze służby 28 września 1946
 Royal Navy
Nazwa HMS Danae
Wycofanie ze służby 1948
Los okrętu złomowany
Dane taktyczno-techniczne
Wyporność standardowa: 4276 t
pełna: 5603 t
Długość 146,5 m
Szerokość 14,02 m
Zanurzenie 4,41 m
Prędkość 29 węzłów
Zasięg 1.480 Mm/29 w; 6.700 Mm/10 w
Załoga 462
Napęd
turbiny parowe o mocy 40 000 KM napędzające 2 śruby
Uzbrojenie
5 dział kalibru 152 mm
1 działo kalibru 102 mm
8 dział przeciwlotniczych kalibru 40 mm pom-pom (2 x IV)
12 dział przeciwlotniczych kalibru 20 mm (2 x IV; 4 x I)
wyrzutnia bomb głębinowych
Commons Multimedia w Wikimedia Commons

Model okrętu
ORP Conrad – polski lekki krążownik otrzymany po stracie ORP Dragon, uprzednio i następnie brytyjski HMS "Danae" typu D.

Historia

Stępkę pod pierwszy krążownik nowego typu Danae położono 1 grudnia 1916 w stoczni Armstrong Whitworth w Walker-on-Tyne, zwodowano zaś 26 stycznia 1918 roku. Był to − w chwili zakończenia I wojny światowej − jeden z najszybszych krążowników na świecie. Napędzany przez dwie turbiny parowe Brown-Curtis o mocy 39 500 Km, mógł rozwinąć prędkość 29 w. Zbiorniki o pojemności 1060 ton oleju napędowego pozwalały na przebycie 1480 Mm z prędkością 29 w. i 6700 Mm z prędkością 10 w. Okręt był opancerzony na burtach i stanowisku dowodzenia blachami stalowymi o grubości 76 mm, na zbiornikach paliwa i komorach amunicyjnych 57 mm, a na pokładzie głównym 25 mm.
Włączony w ostatnich miesiącach wojny do stacjonującego w Harwich 5 Dywizjonu Krążowników Lekkich wziął udział w kilku patrolach na Morzu Północnym, a w roku następnym na Bałtyku, gdzie wraz z siostrzanymi krążownikami HMS Dragon i HMS Dauntless wspierał Białych walczących z bolszewikami podczas wojny domowej w Rosji, jak również strzegł polskich interesów w porcie w Gdańsku.

Dookoła świata


HMS Danae w roku 1937
W roku 1923 HMS Danae wszedł w skład Specialnego Dywizjonu Royal Navy, flotylli utworzonej dla celów propagandowych. Flotylla składała się z pancerników HMS Hood i Repulse, krążowników Delhi, Dragon, Dauntless i Dunedin oraz dziewięciu innych okrętów (w większości niszczycieli). Dywizjon opuścił 27 listopada Devonport i skierował się do Freetown w Sierra Leone. Następnie odwiedził Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London i Durban, dokąd przybył ostatniego dnia roku. Następnego dnia okręty wyruszyły do Zanzibaru, po czym odwiedziły Trincomalee, Singapur, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart i Sydney, skąd popłynęły do Wellington na Nowej Zelandii. 16 maja flotylla złożyła krótką wizytę w portach Suva i Samara na Fidżi, 6 czerwca przybyła do Honolulu, 25 czerwca do Victorii i Vancouveru, a następnie do San Francisco, gdzie okręty zatrzymały się do 11 lipca 1924 roku. Tam flotylla rozdzieliła się i krążowniki lekkie ruszyły w drogę powrotną do Anglii przez Kanał Panamski, odwiedzając kilka portów w Ameryce Środkowej i na Karaibach.
W latach 1927-1929 Danae służył w 1 Dywizjonie Krążowników na Morzu Śródziemnym, po czym wrócił do Wielkiej Brytanii na remont kapitalny i modernizację. Do służby powrócił w roku 1930 i został dołączony do 8 Dywizjonu Krążowników stacjonującego w Brytyjskich Indiach Zachodnich. W 1935 roku, po wybuchu II wojny chińsko-japońskiej, eskortował konwoje z Szanghaju do Hongkongu i został ostrzelany przez okręty floty japońskiej.

II wojna światowa

W lipcu 1939 roku Danae wszedł w skład 9 Dywizjonu Krążowników, który od października operował na południowym Atlantyku i Oceanie Indyjskim. 23 marca 1940 roku wszsedł w skład Malajskiego Zespołu Uderzeniowego biorąc udział w patrolowaniu wód okalających Holenderskie Indie Wschodnie i Półwysep Malajski. Od 20 stycznia pełnił służbę eskortową na Morzu Żółtym i pomiędzu Indiami Holenderskimi i Cejlonem. 24 lutego 1941 roku przybył do Batawii, a następnie do Colombo, skąd został skierowany do Cape Town na remont.
Do służby powrócił w lipcu 1943 roku, po spędzeniu 11 miesięcy w stoczni. W marcu roku 1944 powrócił do Wielkiej Brytanii i wszedł w skład 1 Dywizjonu Krążowników. Tuż przed lądowaniem w Normandii wraz z wieloma innymi okrętami prowadził przygotowawczy ostrzał artyleryjski plaży Sword. W lipcu dywizjon został skierowany w rejon Ouistreham, by w sierpniu powrócić do Wielkiej Brytanii. Wycofany z czynnej służby, Danae został przekształcony w hulk mieszkalny w porcie Plymouth.

Dzieje okrętu w Polskiej Marynarce Wojennej


Podniesienie polskiej bandery
ORP "Conrad" przekazany został Polskiej Marynarce Wojennej w miejsce utraconego 8 lipca 1944 krążownika ORP Dragon. Był okrętem tego samego typu, a obsadzony został marynarzami z „Dragona”, nowa załoga okrętu nie musiała więc odbywać przeszkolenia przed rozpoczęciem na nim służby.
Początkowo okręt planowano nazwać ORP "Wilno" bądź ORP "Lwów". Nie stało się tak jednak ze względów politycznych (brytyjskie władze obawiały się sprowokowania tą nazwą władz ZSRR). Ostatecznie zdecydowano się nadać mu pod tym względem neutralną politycznie nazwę ORP "Conrad". Nazwą tą uczczono pamięć angielskiego pisarza urodzonego w Polsce, Josepha Conrada (właściwie Józefa Konrada Korzeniowskiego), którego utwory przeważnie związane były z morzem. Imię okrętu nawiązywało w ten sposób do polsko-brytyjskiej współpracy na morzu.
Przejęcia okrętu w imieniu PMW dokonał komandor Karol Korytowski, a pierwszym dowódcą został komandor Stanisław Dzienisiewicz – ostatni dowódca ORP Dragon. Pod polską banderą okręt był używany do patrolowania północno-wschodnich obszarów Atlantyku, a przez tydzień, od 7 do 14 czerwca 1945 roku pełnił dyżur nadzorujący w bazie KriegsmarineWilhelmshaven, zajętej w ostatnich dniach wojny przez 1 Dywizję Pancerną generała Stanisława Maczka.
28 września 1946 roku o godzinie 15.15 opuszczono polską banderę i przekazano okręt Royal Navy. Powrócono do dawnej nazwy HMS "Danae" i skierowano do rezerwy w Falmouth, a 27 marca 1948 roku rozpoczęto złomowanie w Barrow.

Dowódcy

Okręty typu D

ORP "Dragon", HMS "Danae" (od 04.10.1944: ORP Conrad), HMS "Dauntless", HMS "Delhi", HMS "Despatch", HMS "Diomede", HMS "Dunedin", HMS "Durban".

Inne jednostki o podobnej nazwie

Bibliografia

  • Jerzy Pertek: Wielkie dni małej floty. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1976.
  • Jan Piwowoński: Flota spod biało-czerwonej. Warszawa: Nasza Księgarnia, 1989. ISBN 978-83-100-8902-1.

HMS Danae (D44)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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HMS Danae (D44).jpg
HMS Danae underway, August 1943
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Danae
Builder: Armstrong Whitworth
Laid down: 1 December 1916
Launched: 26 January 1918
Commissioned: 22 July 1918
Decommissioned: 4 October 1944
Fate: Transferred to Poland
Career (Poland)
Name: ORP Conrad
Namesake: Józef Konrad Korzeniowski
Commissioned: 4 October 1944
Decommissioned: 28 September 1946
Fate: Returned to Royal Navy
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Danae
Recommissioned: 28 September 1946
Decommissioned: 22 January 1948
Fate: Scrapped 27 March 1948 at Barrow
General characteristics
Class & type: Danae-class light cruiser
Displacement: 4,276 tons
Full: 5,603 tons
After 1924: 4,850
Length: 445 ft (136 m)
Beam: 46.5 ft (14.2 m)
Draught: 14.5 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion: Six Yarrow-type water-tube boilers
Parsons geared steam turbines
Two shafts
40,000 shp
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 1,060 tons of oil
1,480 nautical miles (2,740 km; 1,700 mi) at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 462
Armament: 1918: six BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) L/45 Mark XII guns on single mountings CP Mark XIV
two QF 3 inch (76.2 mm) Mk II AA guns
two 40 mm QF 2 pdr "Pom-pom" AA guns
twelve 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes (4 triple launchers)
1930: six BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) L/45 Mark XII guns
three QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk V AA guns
two 40 mm 2 pdr Pom-pom AA guns
twelve 533 mm torpedo launchers
1942: six 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns
two 4-inch Mk V AA guns
six 40 mm 2 pdr Pom-pom AA
twelve 533 mm torpedo launchers
1943: five 6-inch (152 mm) guns,
one 4-inch (102 mm) gun
8 x 40 mm 2 pdr Pom-pom AA guns
3 x quadruple mounting Mark VII 2 pounder Mark VIII guns
12 x 20 mm AA guns
depth charge launcher
Armour: 3 inch side (amidships)
2, 1¾, 1½ side (bow and stern)
1 inch upper decks (amidships)
1 inch deck over rudder
HMS Danae, during the latter part of World War II commissioned as ORP Conrad, was the lead ship of the Danae class cruisers (also known as the D class), serving with the Royal Navy between the world wars and with the Polish Navy during World War II.

Contents

  • 1 Service
    • 1.1 World cruise
    • 1.2 Second World War
  • 2 References
  • 3 External links

Service

Danae was laid down on 1 December 1916 in the Armstrong Whitworth Shipyard in Walker-on-Tyne and launched on 26 January 1918. The lead ship of her class, she was one of the fastest cruisers of her times. Propelled by two Brown-Curtis steam turbines of 40,000 HP, 6 cauldrons and 2 propellors, she could travel at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). With 1,060 tons of oil in her tanks, she had a range of 1,480 nautical miles (2,740 km; 1,700 mi) at 29 knots and 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She was also decently-armoured, with the sides and the command deck protected with 3 inches (76 mm) of reinforced steel, the tanks and munition chambers with 57 mm, and the main deck with 2 inches (25 mm).
Attached to the Harwich-based 5th Light Cruiser Squadron, she took part in several North Sea patrols during the last months of World War I. Between October and November of the following year, she passed to the Baltic Sea, where she supported the Whites in the Russian Civil War, along with her sister ship HMS Dragon and HMS Dauntless. In February 1920 she was attached to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet.

World cruise


HMS Danae in 1937
In 1923 she was attached to the Special Service Squadron, a naval fleet created for propaganda purpose. The flotilla consisted of HMS Hood, Repulse and the cruisers HMS Delhi, Dragon, Dauntless and Dunedin, as well as 9 other ships (mostly destroyers), and was bound on a journey around the world. The Squadron left Devonport on 27 November and headed for Freetown in Sierra Leone. Then the task force visited Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, to where she arrived the last day of the year. The following day the Squadron left for Zanzibar, then visited Trincomalee, Singapore, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney, from where she left for Wellington in New Zealand. She left the port in May and on 16 May paid a short visit to Suva and Samara on Fiji, then to Honolulu (6 June), Victoria (25 June), Vancouver and then San Francisco (until 11 July. There the Squadron was split and the light cruisers headed for Great Britain through the Panama Canal and various ports in South America, including British Guyana, Antilles and Jamaica.
Transferred to the Mediterranean, between 1927 and 1929 Danae served as an escort of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, after which she was withdrawn to Great Britain for refurbishment and modernisation. In 1930 she returned to active service and was attached to the 8th Cruiser Squadron stationed in the British West Indies. In 1935, at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, she escorted various evacuation convoys from Shanghai to Hong Kong and was fired at by the Japanese Navy.

Second World War

After that in November she was again moved to Great Britain and preserved in reserve. Again mobilized in July 1939, she was attached to the 9th Cruiser Squadron, initially operating in Southern Atlantic and then Indian Ocean from October. On 23 March 1940 she was attached to the Malaya Force and took part in various patrols in the area of the Dutch East Indies and Singapore. On 20 January she was attached to the China Force and started to escort convoys in the Yellow Sea and between the Dutch Indies and Ceylon, together with HMS Durban, Dauntless, HMAS Canberra and HMS Cornwall. On 24 February she arrived in Batavia and then went on to Colombo, from where she was withdrawn to Cape Town for refurbishment.
She returned to active service in July 1943, after 11 months in the shipyard. In March 1944 she returned to Great Britain and was attached to the 1st Cruiser Squadron. Prior to the Invasion of Normandy she left for the Sword Beach area, where she carried over ground support missions, together with HMS Ramillies, Warspite, Mauritius, Frobisher, Arethusa and ORP Dragon, as well as 10 S class, V class and Hunt class destroyers. In July the squadron moved to the area of Port en Bessin and Ouistreham only to return to Great Britain in August. Withdrawn from active service, she was used as a hulk in the port of Plymouth.

Polish sailors raise the Polish flag on Danae's transfer to the Polish Navy
After the loss of ORP Dragon, on 4 October she was leased to the Polish Navy. A sister ship of ORP Dragon, she was manned mostly by the surviving part of her crew. Commanded by Cmdr. Stanisław Dzienisiewicz, she was being refurbished in Southampton and then Chatham until 23 January 1945. Initially the ship was to be renamed to either "ORP Wilno" or "ORP Lwów", after the cities of Wilno (Vilnius) and Lwów (Lviv). This was seen as controversial because the cities — although they were part of Poland until after the war — were at that time claimed by the Soviet Union. The British authorities did not wish to offend the Soviets. It was decided to use the politically neutral name of ORP Conrad, after Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, better known under his English pen name of Joseph Conrad. In February, the ship moved to Scapa Flow, on 2 April she was attached to the 10th Cruiser Squadron (HMS Birmingham, Bellona, Diadem and Dido), but was again withdrawn for repair of damaged turbine a week later. She left the shipyard only on 30 May, three weeks after war in Europe ended. Attached to the 29th Destroyer Flotilla (HMS Zodiac, Zephyr and Zest), she was briefly stationed in the port of Wilhelmshaven, the main base of the Kriegsmarine recently captured by the Polish 1st Armoured Division.
Until the end of 1945 she served as a transport ship, transporting Polish Red Cross help to Norway and Denmark. In January of the following year she returned to Rosyth for good, from where she carried over training tasks with the remaining ships of the Polish Navy: ORP Błyskawica, ORP Piorun and ORP Garland. On 8 March 1946 the ships were decommissioned from the Home Fleet and the Polish crews started preparations to hand them over to the British. By August the ship's crew was reduced to 50% and on 28 September she was returned to the Royal Navy. Renamed back to HMS Danae she was taken over by the Care & Maintenance Party and moved to Falmouth. On 22 January 1948 she was sold to T.W. Ward company and scrapped following 27 March 1948 in the Vickers Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.

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