Below are some images of HMS Nigeria I found on the net (if anyone has
any objections to any of these shots being shown, just let me know). I
am attempting to work out some confusion regarding photographs of HMS Nigeria
with her bow missing. The damage done to HMS Nigeria on August 12, 1942
during the torpedo attack in Operation Pedestal had nothing to do with
her foremost bow. The damage during Operation Pedestal occurred much further
back on the ship. Part of the confusion is that Nigeria's sistership, HMS
Kenya, accompanying HMS Nigeria in Operation Pedestal, did have her bow
blown off by a torpedo. I suspect some photographs on the net reporting
to show damage to HMS Nigeria are, in fact, HMS Kenya.
It should be noted that HMS Nigeria did have her bow taken off with almost identical damage to that of Kenya, but a year earlier on September 8, 1941 in Norway. HMS Nigeria had taken a Norwegian trawler which provided information on displaying the green and red lights required for the German boom (net defense) to open at Porsangen Fjord (a huge fjord on the top of Norway). Displaying the the proper lights, the German boom defense opened and HMS Nigeria and HMS Aurora swept in. They immobilized the boom ship (so the boom would stay open), drove up the fjord and annihilated the Bremse (German gunnery training ship) and two German destroyers. A smoke screen
was raised during the fight by a German guard ship. In the smoke, HMS Nigeria
rammed a German troop ship. She cut the ship in half killing a large number
of German troops on their way to Russia. With a severely damaged bow, HMS
Nigeria steamed out of the fjord and back to Scapa Flow. HMS Nigeria was
repaired on the Tyne between September 17 and December 15, 1941.
|
 |
Post war shot of HMS Nigeria. |
 |
HMS Nigeria in 1942, seen prior to August of that year. |
|
| HMS Nigeria shortly after being struck by a torpedo during Operation Pedestal,
August 12, 1942. |
|
|
| This is a photograph of the damage done to HMS Nigeria during Operation
Pedestal. This photograph can be ordered from the Imperial War Museum which has a searchable photograph archive here (and contains several other viewable photographs regarding HMS Nigeria). |
|
|
| I have seen this photograph identified as HMS Nigeria after being torpedoed
during Operation Pedestal. I suspect it is really her sistership, HMS Kenya,
which lost her bow to a torpedo during the same campaign. |
|
|
| Another photograph showing bow damage. |
|
|
| This is a photograph of the damage to HMS Kenya after she had been brought
into dry-dock following Operation Pedestal. Note the similarity to the
photographs seen immediately above. |
|
|
| HMS Nigeria seen in 1943 after repairs at the US Naval shipyard in Charleston,
South Carolina. Nigeria was sent to the US to repair the torpedo damage
which occurred during Operation Pedestal in August of 1942. Although the
camouflage is very similar to its earlier pattern, it is not the same. |
|
|
Another photograph from Charleston, South Carolina. |
|
Another photograph from Charleston, South Carolina (some of the paint seems
to be flaking off). |
|
Geoff Darby © 2007- All Rights Reserved
HMS Nigeria - Januray 11, 1944. |
|
Photograph of HMS Nigeria - date unknown. |
|
Geoff Darby © 2007- All Rights Reserved
HMS Nigeria crew, sometime after March 3, 1944. |
|
HMS Nigeria seen during her East Indies tour 1944 -1945? Her opposite side
is painted in a similar manner. |
|
I believe this is a post war shot. |
|
For comparison purposes, this is a model of HMS Bermuda, Nigeria's sister. Click here for a larger view. |
