HMS Cumberland was a heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw action during the Second World War. Career Cumberland was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness in 1926. According to the builders she was displacement, overall × × capable of with engines rated at . She served on the China Station with the 5th Cruiser Squadron from 1928 until 1938, returning to the UK in March 1935 for a refit. In 1938, she joined the 2nd cruiser squadron on the South American station. In the South Atlantic At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Cumberland was assigned to 2nd Cruiser Squadron Force G, the South American Division. At the start of December she was forced to self-refit in the Falkland Islands, thus depriving the force of their strongest unit. Without her, , and engaged the German raider in the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Cumberland received a garbled indication that a contact was being made and moved north to reinforce, arriving at the River Plate at 22:00 14 December, after steaming 1000 miles in 34 hours - . Admiral Graf Spee had put into neutral Montevideo and was trapped there, as Cumberland along with Ajax and Achilles (Exeter having been heavily damaged) patrolled the estuary, resulting in Admiral Graf Spee being scuttled by her crew on 17 December. South African service After this, she sailed to Simonstown, South Africa, spending between January and February undergoing a refit. She then escorted convoys along the African coast, bound for the Middle East. In July, she was tasked, along with her sister, , with hunting down the German commerce raider (known as Raider E to the Royal Navy). Whilst on patrol, she intercepted the Vichy French merchant Poitiers, which had been carrying ammunition to the Ivory Coast. Rather than see their ship fall into enemy hands, the crew promptly opened its seacocks and set fire to its cargo. Later that month, she attacked Dakar, suffering damage from a French coastal battery. In December, Cumberland was again hunting for the merchant raider Thor, but the search proved unsuccessful. Arctic convoys In October 1941, Cumberland joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron Home Fleet escorting the Arctic convoys until January 1944, winning the battle honour Arctic 1942-1943. In the Far East She was then transferred to the Far East, as part of 4th Cruiser Squadron Eastern Fleet. In September, she carried