HMS Cumberland, Kent Class cruiser of the Royal Navy. HMS Cumberland built at Vickers Armstrong at Barrow and launched 16th March 1926. Served in the South Atlantic 1939-1941, Home Fleet 1941-44, Eastern Fleet 1944-45 and East Indies in 1945. HMS Cumberland converted to a trials vessel in 1949 and finally scrapped in Newport on 3rd November 1959.

Displacement:  9,750 tons    Speed: 31.5kt    Complement: 679 increasing to 710 as Flagship.   Armament: Eight 8 inch guns in pairs. Eight 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs and eight 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs plus eight 0.5 machine guns in pairs.   Sixteen 21 inch torpedo tubes. 4 aircraft. Cumberland had to be cut down aft in order to balance the weight increase.

HMS Cumberland.

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HMS Cumberland at sunset    (sent by Brian Whitcombe)

Crew of HMS Cumberland photographed at the China Station during the 1930's

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HMS Cumberland pictured in August 1932.

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HMS Cumberland pictured entering Malta Grand Harbour in September 1936.

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HMS Cumberland.

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HMS Cumberland at Malta, September 1936.

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HMS Cumberland.

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HMS Cumberland at Wei-Hai-Wei.

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Crew of HMS Cumberland in the 1930's

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Painting HMS Cumberland, 1930's. 

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HMS Cumberland.

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A landing party from HMS Cumberland.

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Specifications of HMS Cumberland:

Displacement: 9,750 tons      Speed: 31.5kt    Complement: 679 increasing to 710 as Flagship.

Armament: Eight 8 inch guns in pairs. Eight 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs and eight 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs plus eight 0.5 machine guns in pairs.   Sixteen 21 inch torpedo tubes. 4 aircraft.

Extreme conditions during Russian Convoy escort work PQ17/distant cover PQ18 and QP14, taken circa 1942.

 (photographs sent by Brian Whitcombe whose father Alexander Albert Whitcombe served on HMS Cumberland)

The two photos above were sent in by Adam Nixon, with the following message : 

I seek more information regarding CERA John Collis Nixon of HMS Cumberland, who died, aged 31, aboard the ship as a result of shelling during the Dakar incident in September 1940. He was my grandfather, who I never met, as his own son, my father, was only nine at the time.  I attach a group photograph, with shipmates, (hopefully Cumberland
shipmates, which might also be of use to relatives of the other blokes in the picture) - John Nixon is third from left, with hand in pocket.  The other photo I attach, in dark civvy suit onboard ship, may also be of him, but I'm not sure, it may be of John's own father, Eugene Archer Nixon, also a naval man, as I believe was even his father before him. If someone can confirm from the superstructure if the ship pictured is the Cumberland, then that would seem to confirm the figure as John Nixon. But the pith-helmet shot is definitely John.  Any information you could share about John Nixon, his life in the Navy, chums, and the specifics of unfolding events on board Cumberland immediately prior to his demise would be much appreciated by both my father and myself. I've scoured the Internet and found a lot of good general stuff about Operation Menace, but very little specific info on the actual shelling of Cumberland. Another tidbit that may jog someone's memory is that John Nixon's subsequent brother-in-law was another sailor called 'Bim' Carter, who I think also served on The Cumberland, especially later in the war, on Cumberland or some other ship, minesweeping near the Arctic circle in the North Atlantic.  My father's Uncle Bim survived the war and settled in Derby. I do not know if he is still alive and have not seen him myself since I was four or five years old in the early 1960s. John Nixon's widow Joyce (nee Carter) remained in Grimsby until her death in 1972. I was interested (though of course saddened) to discover a query on the internet regarding PO Stoker Mayers or 'Myers' who also died on the Cumberland that day, so, because it was a single shell which hit Cumberland, it seems reasonable to assume that Stoker Mayers died simultaneously, and a few feet away from my grandfather, and that they knew each other.
Might it possible to also provide me with the email address of Brian Whitcombe? His father Alexander Albert Whitcombe served on HMS Cumberland and his name keeps cropping up on various websites, but never an email
address. Yours faithfully,  Adam Nixon  

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