on 23 July 1919. Hawkins was the flagship of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron on the China Station by September 1920 and continued in that role for the next eight years. She returned to Chatham on 12 November 1928 to undergo a refit that involved the removal of her four coal-fired boilers and the remaining eight oil-fired boilers modified to partially offset the loss of the other boilers. The ship's turbines were now rated at to give her a speed of . The coal-fired boiler room was converted into an oil tank which increased her storage capacity to and boosted her range by 20%. Her three-inch AA guns were replaced by an equal number of Mk V AA guns which were controlled by a Mk I HACS gunnery director. The ship was now equipped with the 15-inch rangefinder in the HACS director and three 12-inch rangefinders. Hawkins recommissioned on 31 December 1929 and became the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet until she reduced to the reserve on 5 May 1930. The ship was recommissioned again in September 1932 to become the flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the East Indies Station, but was again reduced to reserve in April 1935. The terms of the London Naval Treaty meant that Hawkins had to be demilitarised in 1937–1938 and she had all her 7.5-inch guns and the above-water torpedo tubes removed. In September of the latter year Hawkins became a cadet training ship. Wartime service When the Second World War began in September 1939, Hawkins had her guns and torpedo tubes reinstalled and her anti-aircraft armament was reinforced by the addition of four single two-pounder AA guns. The ship recommissioned as a heavy cruiser in January 1940 and was assigned to the South American Division of the North America and West Indies Station. She patrolled off the South American coast, searching for German commerce raiders for most of the next year. In January 1941 Hawkins began escorting convoys off the West African coast, rescuing nine survivors from the oil tanker on 3 January, which had been torpedoed off Freetown by the . The following month, she escorted the aircraft carrier as she sailed up the East African coast bound for the Suez Canal. En route, the carrier's aircraft bombed the port of Mogadishu in Italian Somaliland on 2 February. Shortly afterwards, Hawkins was transferred to Force