Sheerness and spent three months in dry dock. She remained with the Home Fleet (under refit, between October 1940 to January 1941) until May 1941, and was involved in hunting the . In July 1941 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet via the Red Sea, and by November was based at Malta with Force "K", operating against the Axis supply convoys to North Africa. Fate On 15 December 1941 before midnight Galatea was torpedoed and sunk by the off Alexandria, Egypt with the loss of 470 crew. Some 100 survivors were picked up by the destroyers and . Less than 48 hours later, U-557 was rammed by the and sank with all hands. In popular culture Author Ian Fleming named the character Gala Brand in his third James Bond novel Moonraker after the vessel, her Royal Navy father's ship. Notes Footnotes References External links HMS Galatea Memorial web page HMS Galatea at naval-history.net Casualty list HMS Galatea at Uboat.net Arethusa-class cruisers (1934) Ships built on the River Clyde 1934 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in Egypt Maritime incidents in December 1941