At the beginning of World War 2 (1939-1945), HMS Dragon began her wartime career as part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron to be used to control German U-boat actions near the Shetlands. From there, she was part of the flotilla arranged to hunt down the Admiral Graf Spee in November of 1939, the enemy vessel eventually damaged, trapped and scuttled in Montevideo before Christmas. Having returned closer to British shores for 1940, she took on her first war prize in the form of the French destroyer "Touareg" in September and then came her participation in "Operation Menace" - the failed operation to take the French port city of Dakar in West Africa.
For most of 1941, Dragon made up a portion of the convoy defense for Allied shipping crossing the Atlantic with regularity. Before the end of the year, she was relocated to the Pacific/Asia Theater where she continued offering convoy defense. She was brought back home to Liverpool (by rounding South Africa) before the end of 1942. During the year her armament was once again revised: the 6" guns stayed but she lost one of her 102mm AA guns. 6 x 40mm Pom-Pom AA guns were now in play while her torpedo capability was left untouched.
On January 15th, 1943, the vessel was signed over to the Polish government where she now carried the name of ORP Dragon under the Polish Navy flag and a modernization program followed which updated her engines, radar and guns. This work was completed on August 23rd, 1943 and the vessel was sent to Scapa Flow to undertake more convoy defense sorties. Her 1943 armament consisted of 5 x 6" main guns, 1 x 102mm AA gun, 8 x 40mm Pom-Pom AA guns, 3 x Mark VII 2-pounder Mark VIII guns (quadruple mountings) and 12 x 20mm Oerlikon AA guns. Her torpedo tubes were removed and a depth charge launcher rail installed.
Her most prominent action in the war was in support of the Allied amphibious operation of Normandy, France on June 6th, 1944. Her guns came alive against German shore positions but close enemy fire eventually led to her withdrawal. Her guns then came into play against inland enemy positions at Caen as Allied ground forces moved in to secure the strategically important city. After resupplying at Portsmouth, she returned to the French coast to shell enemy positions and ended as an escort for the crippled HMS Nelson (28).
A German manned/human torpedo eventually knocked the ship out of action on July 7th, 1944 as she committed to unseat defenders in Caen once again. Over two dozen of her crew were killed in the surprise attack and her third magazine store went alight forcing a flooding. This brought about a list to port but the crew was able to right the ship for travel and she proceeded to shallower waters. From there the ship was written off, her useful equipment (including guns) stripped and her hulk towed to be scrapped. She formed a part of the artificial breakwater at Courseulles from the middle of July on.
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