fleet, Dorsetshire to resume an interrupted refit and Cornwall to escort convoy SU-4 (composed of the U.S. Army transport and Australian transport ) to Australia and the aircraft carrier to Trincomalee in Ceylon for repairs. On 4 April, the Japanese fleet was spotted and the two cruisers left harbour and, after a hurried refuelling at sea, set out for Addu Atoll shortly after midnight. The following day, the two cruisers were sighted by a spotter plane from the about 200 miles (370 km) south-west of Ceylon. As part of the engagement known as the Easter Sunday Raid, a wave of Aichi D3A dive bombers took off from three Japanese carriers to attack Cornwall and Dorsetshire, south-west of Ceylon, and sank the two ships. British losses were 424 men killed; 1,122 survivors spent thirty hours in the water before being rescued by the light cruiser and two destroyers. References Bibliography External links HMS Cornwall at U-boat.net IWM Interview with survivor Robert Crick IWM Interview with survivor John Maule IWM Interview with survivor Harold Farmer IWM Interview with survivor Roger Collett IWM Interview with survivor Patrick Fitz IWM Interview with survivor Edwin Drew IWM Interview with survivor Benjamin Fuller Kent-class cruisers County-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1926 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in April 1942 Cruisers sunk by aircraft Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft