British Forces

The end of a Cruiser

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Heavy Cruiser HMS 'York' being inspected by German troops after the battle of Crete. It had been deployed to Suda Bay were it was damaged on the 26th of March by one or two motor boats loaded with explosives launched from an Italian destroyer. Due to the damage suffered, the ship was beached to prevent it from sinking, after that it was used as a harbor AA defense platform. On the 18th of May it was hit during a bombing attack and was damaged beyond repair. On the 22nd of May 1941, after destroying the main armament with demolition charges, the crew abandoned ship. The wreck would lay in Suda Bay for the next 11 years until February 1952, when it was salvaged by an Italian shipbreaker and taken on a final voyage to be broken up at Bari where she arrived on the 3rd of March of that year.