Flyhawk 1/700 HMS Naiad 1940 Deluxe Limited Edition

HMS Naiad was one of sixteen Dido Class light cruisers commissioned by the Royal Navy prior to and late into the Second World War. Of these sixteen light cruisers, five would not make it until the end of the war; the Naiad being one of these. One of the first three ships of the Dido Class commission, HMS Naiad displaced around 6800 tons fully loaded and topped out at 485 feet in length.

After commissioning in late July of 1940, the Naiad would set sail with the Home Fleet from Scapa Flow regulated to convoy support and patrols in the North Sea. HMS Naiad would go on to further convoy escort support in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In May of 1941, she would gain the status of flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron in Force H based in the Mediterranean. On the 11th of March, 1942 while assigned to Force B in the Mediterranean, the Naiad had responded for interception of an enemy convoy off Tripoli, she was sent searching for a damaged Italian cruiser. This would be the undoing of the HMS Naiad. Upon returning to Alexandria, the German U-565 submarine torpedoed the Naiad amidships. Capsizing almost immediately, HMS Naiad would surrendering to the damage within 35 minutes from the attack; losing between 77 and 86 (unclear accounting of casualties) of the 668 compliment of her crew.