With aircraft becoming more deadly it was felt the fleets needed better anti-aircraft protection so Dido class cruisers dedicated for the anti-aircraft role were designed. The ships had to provide a steady platform for the guns to work properly.
Production of the 5.25" turrets were being diverted to the King George V class battleships so the mid-production Dido class ships had only four turrets.
Structural Problems
The first four of the Dido class cruisers were used for patrolling in the Arctic and North Atlantic. It was found that they sustained structural damage from the heavy pitching in the weather that shouldn't have been occuring. All the ships had additional pillars installed to help stiffen the structure of the ships.
Ships
HMS Argonaut
1939 Program
Manufacturer: Cammell Laird
1939, November 21, 1939: Laid down.
September 6, 1941, 1941: Launched.
1942, August 8, 1942: Completed.
1942, August 1942: Home Fleet.
October 1942: Escorting Soviet Union bound convoys.
November 1942: Operation Torch. Invasion of North Africa.
November 1942: Member of Strike Force in Bone.
December 12, 1942, February 14, 1943: Badly damaged by two torpedoes. Bow and stern blown off.
December 1942 - November 1943, 1943, 1943 - 1944, March 1943 - November 1944: Repairs in Philadelphia. Q turret and four 20 mm guns removed. One 2 pdr quad mount and five 20 mm twin mounts added.
1944: Home Fleet.
June 1944: Supported Normandy landings off Gold Beach.
August 1944: Operation Dragoon. Invasion of Southern France.
September 1944: Aegean.
November 1944: East Indies.
December 1944: Supported raids on Sumatra and Arakan.
1945: Pacific Fleet.
January 1945: 5th Cruiser Squadron, Pacific Fleet.
August 1945: Participated in occupation of Shanghai.
HMS Bonaventure
1936 Program
Manufacturer: Scotts
August 30, 1937: Laid down.
April 19, 1939, 1939: Launched.
May 24, 1940: Completed.
1940, 1940 - 1941: Home Fleet. Convoy escort.
November 25 - December 17, 1940: Repairs from weather damage at Rosyth.
December 1940: Operation Excess. Member of Force F.
1941: Mediterranean Fleet.
January 10, 1941: Sank Italian torpedo boat Vega.
March 22, 1941: Damaged by near misses in Malta.
March 31, 1941: Sunk. Escorting convoy from Greece to Alexandria. Hit by torpedo from Italian submarine Ambra south of Crete.
HMS Charybdis
1938 Program
Manufacturer: Cammell Laird
November 9, 1939: Laid down.
September 17, 1940, 1940: Launched.
December 3, 1941: Completed.
1942, December 1941 - April 1942: Home Fleet. Force H.
April 1942: Force H in Gibraltar.
November 1942: Operation Torch. Force O, Eastern Task Force, North Africa landings.
1943: Home Fleet.
1943: Two 2 pdr guns removed. Two 20 mm twin mounts and two 20 mm guns added.
September 1943: Salerno invasion.
October 23, 1943: Sunk. Torpedoed by German torpedo boats T23 and T27 off Brittany.
HMS Cleopatra
1938 Program
Manufacturer: Hawthorne Leslie.
January 5, 1939: Laid down.
March 27, 1940, 1940: Launched.
November 20, 1941, December 5, 1941: Completed.
1942: Home Fleet. Gibraltar.
February 5, 1942, February 9, 1942: Off Malta damaged by near misses from bombs.
February 5 - March 6, 1942: Repairs in Malta.
March 1942: 15th Cruiser Squadron.
June 1942: Operation Harpoon. Operation Vigorous.
June 1942: Two 2 pdr guns removed. Five 20 mm guns added.
August 1942: Bombarded Rhodes.
1943 - 1944: Mediterranean Fleet.
January 1943: Force K.
June 1943: One 20 mm gun added.
July 1943: Supported landings at Sicily.
July 16, 1943: Torpedoed by Italian submarine Dandolo.
July - October 1943, July 18 - October 1943: Temporary repairs in Malta. One 20 mm gun added.
1943 - 1944, November 1943 - November 1944, November 24, 1943 - November 1944: Repairs in Philadelphia. Q turret, two 2 pdr quad mounts, and five 20 mm guns removed. Three 40 mm Bofors quad mounts, six 20 mm twin mounts, and four 20 mm guns added.
1944 - 1945: Home Fleet.
1945: East Indies.
September 1945: Singapore.
HMS Dido
1936 Program
Manufacturer: Cammell Laird.
October 20, 1937, October 26, 1937: Laid down.
July 18, 1939, 1939: Launched.
1940, September 30, 1940: Completed.
1940: 15th Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet.
1940 - 1941: Home Fleet.
December 20, 1940 - January 29, 1941: Refit at Tyne.
1941 - 1944: Mediterranean Fleet.
March 7 - 21, 1941: Repairs at Clyde for weather damage.
May 29, 1941: Bombed off Crete.
April 1941: Mediterranean Fleet.
June 25 - July 1941: Temporary repairs at Durban.
July 11 - 20, 1941: Temporary repairs at Simonstown.
August 10 - December 3, 1941, September 1941: Refit and repair at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Q turret, 4" gun, and two 0.5" machine guns removed. Five 20 mm guns added.
December 1941: Escorted Mediterranean convoys.
January 1943: Force Q at Bone.
April - June 1943, April 27 - June 14, 1943: Refit at Liverpool. Three 20 mm guns removed. Four 20 mm twin mounts added.
July 1943: Supported Sicily invasion.
1944 - 1945: Home Fleet.
August 1944: Supported Southern France invasion.
Late 1944 - May 1945: Patrolled off Norway and Arctic.
HMS Euryalus
1936 Program
Manufacturer: Chatham Dock Yard
October 21, 1937: Laid down.
June 6, 1939, 1939: Launched.
1940, June 30, 1941: Completed.
1941: Home Fleet.
1941 - 1943: Mediterranean Fleet.
September 1941: Two 0.5" machine gun quad mounts removed. Five 20 mm guns added.
September 1941: 15th Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet.
September 1942: Two 20 mm guns added.
1943 - 1944: Home Fleet.
January 1943: Force K bombarded enemy positions in Tunisia.
May - June 1943: Bombarded Pantelleria.
June 1943: Four 20 mm twin mounts and two 20 mm guns removed.
Two 20 mm guns removed. Four 20 mm twin mounts added.
July 1943: 12th Cruiser Squadron. Supported Sicily invasion.
October 20, 1942 - July 19, 1944, 1943 - 1944, October 1943 - July 1944: Refit at Clyde. Q turret removed. One 2 pdr quad mount and two 20 mm twin mounts added.
July 1944: Home Fleet.
July - November 1944: Raids off Norwegian coast.
1945: East Indies Fleet. Pacific Fleet.
January 16, 1945: Arrived in Trincomalee. 5th Cruiser Squadron, Pacific Fleet.
March - May 1945: Escort on carrier raids on Sakashima Gunto and Okinawa.
HMS Hermione
1937 Program
Manufacturer: Stephens
October 6, 1937: Laid down.
May 18, 1939, 1939: Launched.
March 25, 1941: Completed.
1941: Home Fleet.
1941 - 1942, June 1941 - March 1942: Force H in Gibraltar.
August 2, 1941: Sank the Italian submarine Tembien by ramming.
October - November 1941, October 26 - November 7, 1941: Repairs at Gibraltar. Two 0.5" machine gun quad mounts removed. Five 20 mm guns added.
1942: Mediterranean Fleet.
March 1942: Operation Ironclad escort.
May 1942: Occupation of Madagascar.
June 16, 1942: Sunk. Torpedoed by U205 south of Crete.
HMS Naiad
1936 Program
Manufacturer: Hawthorne Leslie
August 26, 1937: Laid down.
February 3, 1939, 1939: Launched.
July 24, 1940: Completed.
1940: 15th Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet.
1940 - 1941: Home Fleet.
December 1940 - January 1941: Escorted convoys to Freetown.
1941 - 1942: Mediterranean Fleet.
May 1941: Force H. Escort Malta convoys. Flagship of 15th Cruiser Squadron.
September 1941: Five 20 mm guns added.
March 11, 1942: Sunk. Hit by torpedo from U565 north of Mersa Matruh.
HMS Phoebe
1936 Program
Manufacturer: Fairfield
September 2, 1937: Laid down.
March 25, 1939, 1939: Launched.
1940, September 27, 1940, September 30, 1940: Completed.
1940: 15th Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet.
1940 - 1941: Home Fleet.
November 18 - December 14, 1940: Weather damage repairs at Clyde.
1941 - 1944: Mediterranean Fleet.
April 1941: Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandra.
June 1941: Operations against Syrian based Vichy French. Flagship.
July 3, 1941: Italian submarine Malachite attacked and missed.
August 27, 1941: Hit by aerial torpedo.
August 1941: Temporary repairs in Alexandria.
November 21, 1941 - April 21, 1942, 1942: Repair and refit in New York. 4" gun and two 0.5" machine gun quad mounts removed. Eleven 20 mm guns added. One 2 pdr pompom quad mount added.
May 7 - 30, 1942: Refit in Devonport.
May 1942: Mediterranean Fleet.
August 1942: Operation Pedestal.
September 1942: Cape Town. Hunted for blockade runners.
October 23, 1942: Hit by torpedo from U161 and heavily damaged off Pointe Noire.
October - December 1942: Temporary repairs in Pointe Noire. Turret A removed.
1943, January - June 1943, January 15 - June 14, 1943: Repairs in United States. Three 2 pdr pompom quad mounts and seven 20 mm guns removed. Three 40 mm Bofors quad mounts and six 20 mm guns added.
July 1943, July 8 - 29, 1943: Refit at Barrow. A turret added.
July 1943: Mediterranean.
January 1944: Supported Anzio landings.
1944: Eastern Fleet.
Late 1944: 5th Cruiser Squadron, Eastern Fleet.
1945: East Indies Fleet.
April - May 1945: Supported Burma and Rangoon invasions.
HMS Scylla
1938 Program
Manufacturer: Scotts
April 19, 1939: Laid down.
July 24, 1940, 1940: Launched.
1941, June 12, 1942: Completed.
1942, June 1942: Home Fleet. Arctic convoy escort.
October 28, 1942: Sailed to Gibraltar.
November 1942: Operation Torch. Supported North African invasion.
1943: Force H.
1943 - 1945: Home Fleet.
January 1, 1943: Captured German blockade runner Rhakotis near Cape Finisterre.
February 1943: Home Fleet. Arctic convoy escort.
June 1943: Bay of Biscay anti-submarine patrols.
September 1943: Salerno landing. Member of Support Carrier Force.
October 1943 - April 1944, October 16, 1943 - April 8, 1944, 1944: Refit at Chatham. Six 20 mm twin mounts added. One 2 pdr pompom added.
June 1944: Normandy invasion. Flagship of the Eastern Task Force.
June 23, 1944: Heavily damaged by mine. Declared Constructional Total Loss.
HMS Sirius
1936 Program, 1937 Program
Manufacturer: Portsmouth Dock Yard
April 6, 1938: Laid down.
September 18, 1940, 1940: Launched.
1942, May 6, 1942: Completed.
1942, May 1942: Home Fleet. Mediterranean Fleet.
August 1942: Mediterranean Fleet. Operation Pedestal.
November 1942: Supported North Africa invasion.
1943: Force H.
1943 - 1944: Mediterranean Fleet.
June 1943: Two 20 mm guns added.
July 1943: Supported Sicily invasion.
October 5, 1943: Helped to destroy German convoy in the Dodecanese.
October 17, 1943: Damaged by bombs off Scarpanto.
November 1943 - February 1944, November 5, 1943 - February 1944: Repairs in Massawa. One 20 mm gun removed. Two 40 mm Bofors Mk III added.
December 1943: One 20 mm gun removed. Two 40 mm Bofors Mk III guns added.
June 1944: Member of Eastern Task Force during Normandy invasion.
July 3 - 21, 1944: Refit at Chatham.
August 1944: Operation Dragoon. Supported invasion of southern France.
October 1944: Helped to reoccupy Athens.
April 1945: Two 20 mm guns removed. Two 40 mm Bofors Mk III guns added.