HMS Edinburgh was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, which served during the Second World War. She was one of the last two Town class cruisers, which formed the Edinburgh sub-class. Edinburgh saw a great deal of combat service during the Second World War, especially in the North Sea and the Arctic Sea, where she was sunk by torpedoes in 1942. Construction and specifications Edinburgh was built in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, her keel laid down on 30 December 1936. She was a fast cruiser, with a full load displacement of , and an intended sea speed of . On trials in May 1940, she attained a speed of knots using 81,630 shp on a displacement of . . The ship was heavily armed for a light cruiser, with twelve 6 inch guns, twelve (later eight) 4 inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns (along with her sister ship, the heaviest 4-in battery among all the British cruisers), sixteen 2-pounder pom pom guns, in addition to sixteen Vickers .50 machine guns. Also, she carried six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes in a pair of triple racks, giving the ship extra firepower. Edinburgh was designed as a very modern vessel, equipped with an impressive radar array and fire-control systems, and the ability to carry up to three Supermarine Walrus seaplanes for reconnaissance, though she usually carried only two. Her armour thickness statistics were on the main belt, and at its thinnest, the heaviest of all the British light cruisers. As with battlecruisers, light cruisers were intended to be fast enough to avoid engagements with more heavily armed opponents, negating the need for immensely thick armour like that found on the battleships of the day. War service Edinburgh was launched on 31 March 1938, and after commissioning in July 1939 was immediately attached to the 18th Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, as part of the British Home Fleet. For a time, she was assigned to patrol between Iceland and the Faroe Islands, but in 1939, she was transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, serving with the Humber Force. However, Edinburgh was still in the Firth of Forth when the Luftwaffe made their first raid on the naval bases at Rosyth on 16 October 1939. She sustained minor damage from the attack, but no direct hits. Between the three ships damaged in the raid including Edinburgh, the cruiser , and