the cargo ship Olympus and seven Marinefährprahm, sinking all but one MFP. After bombarding Kos Harbour with HMS Aurora (12) on 17 October, Sirius came under sustained air attack off the island of Karpathos. She was hit on the quarterdeck by a 250 Kg bomb, starting fires aft and killing 14 sailors, forcing her to withdraw to Massawa for repairs. These were carried out between November 1943 and February 1944, when the ship returned to Britain for Operation Overlord, the Normandy landings, where she was part of the reserve of the Eastern Task Force. In August, she returned to Mediterranean waters for the landings in the south of France, Operation Dragoon. She then served again in the Aegean, where, in October 1944, she was present during the reoccupation of Athens. Sirius remained with the Mediterranean Fleet, 15th Cruiser Squadron, postwar until 1946. After a refit at Portsmouth in 1946, Sirius joined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron with the Home Fleet in March 1947. She was paid off in 1949 and was put up for disposal in 1956. On 15 October 1956 Sirius arrived at the Blyth yard of Hughes Bolckow for breaking up. References Bibliography External links WWII cruisers HMS Sirius at Uboat.net Dido-class cruisers Ships built on the River Clyde 1940 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom