Overview
HMS Colombo was a member of the Carlisle class.
HMS Colombo is associated with United Kingdom and Royal Navy. It belonged to Carlisle class, so the class page provides the shared design history while this page concentrates on the individual ship.
Construction and identity
The available construction record identifies HMS Colombo as built by Fairfield, Govan, laid down on 1917-12-08, launched on 1918-12-18, and completed on 1919-07.
The ship's documented identity includes service with Royal Navy.
Service history
Laid down during World War I and completed after the Armistice; later converted to an anti-aircraft cruiser.
The ship's configuration should be interpreted through the documented class and the dates attached to this individual vessel; equipment should not be assumed to have remained unchanged throughout service.
Class context: Carlisle class
Carlisle class was one of the seven Royal Navy C-class light-cruiser subgroups built around the First World War.
As a member of Carlisle class, HMS Colombo shared the class's documented design framework and intended roles of Scouting and Fleet screening. Individual refits, transfers, and wartime changes belong to this ship only when separately documented.
Later service and disposition
sold for breaking up. The associated date is 1948-01-22.
HMS Colombo matters as an individual career within Carlisle class, allowing class-wide design history to be separated from this ship's own construction, identities, service, and fate.
Class relationship
This ship is recorded as a member of Carlisle class. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.
Sources and further reading
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921Conway Maritime Press
- British Warships 1914–1919 ↗Ian Allan / Naval-History.Net · accessed 2026-09-18
- British Cruisers: Two World Wars and AfterSeaforth Publishing
- C-class cruiser ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-18