The HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire sink near Colombo

The HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, steaming towards Colombo, were sunk on 5 April 1942 after receiving notification of an impending Japanese raid on Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). These two ships made up a unit called attack group A.  On  4 April, the Japanese carrier fleet was spotted while the cruisers steamed towards the Addo Atoll.  On 5 April 1942, at midday, a spotter plane from the Japanese cruiser Tone spotted the two cruisers while they were in the Bay of Bengal.  Shortly afterwards, the cruisers came under heavy attack by dive-bombers from the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Soryu, and Hiryu.  The HMS Cornwall was sunk within 12 minutes by nine bombs, while its sister ship, the Dorsetshire, was sunk approximately six minutes later.  On the 6 April 1942, the British light cruiser HMS Enterprise and the destroyers Paladin and Panther rescued 1 120 men from both ships.  Among the survivors were 86 South Africans. The HMS's cruiser badge is still displayed on the Selbourne dry dock wall at Simonstown.