7013 POLISH LIGHT CRUISER CONRAD, WW2

ORP Conrad (original name: HMS Danae) was a British and later Polish light cruiser of the period, especially World War II. The keel for this unit was laid in 1916, and the launch took place in January 1918. The unit entered service with the Royal Navy in June 1918. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 146.5 meters and a width of 14.02 meters. Full displacement was around 5,600 tons, and the maximum speed was around 29 knots. At the time of the launch, the on-board armament consisted of: 5 152 mm guns, 1 100 mm gun or 8 40 mm guns, the so-called pom-pom. HMS Danae was one of the eight D-class light cruisers. They were built on the basis of the modernized C-class design, being longer and better armed. Initially, it was assumed that they would be used to fight enemy destroyers, but their maximum speed lower than that of the potential enemy significantly hindered such actions. On the other hand, the D-type units were well armored and well armed. In the last months of the war, HMS Danae took part in several regions in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and in 1923 she set out on a voyage around the world with other ships of the Royal Navy (including the battleship HMS Hood). In the years 1939-1940, the unit served in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. In 1942, HMS Danae was sent for renovation in Cape Town, which was extended until July 1943. The unit participated in the shelling of the Normandy beaches just before the Allied landing on June 6, 1944. In October 1944, HMS Danae was handed over to the Polish Navy (PMW) to replace the sunken ORP Dragon. Under the Polish flag, the ship patrolled the North-East Atlantic, and in June 1945 she was on duty in Wilhelmshaven. In 1946, the ship returned to the Royal Navy. In 1948, the ship - under the old name HMS Danae - was withdrawn from the fleet and later scrapped.