BAP Coronel Bolognesi (CL-82)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Ceylon
Builder	Alexander Stephen and Sons, Govan
Laid down	27 April 1939
Launched	30 July 1942
Commissioned	13 July 1943
Out of service	Transferred to Peruvian Navy on 18 December 1959
Peru
Name	Coronel Bolognesi
Commissioned	9 February, 1960
Decommissioned	20 September 1982
Fate	Scrapped in Taiwan, August 1985
General characteristics
Class and type	Fiji-class light cruiser
Displacement	8,712 tonnes standard 11,024 tons full load
Length	169.3 m (555 ft 5 in)
Beam	18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
Draught	5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	Four oil fired three-drum Admiralty-type boilers four-shaft geared turbines four screws 54.1 megawatts (72,500 shp)
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	10,200 nmi (18,900 km; 11,700 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	730 (wartime) 650 (peacetime)
Sensors and processing systems	Type 281 air search Type 272 surface search Type 277 height finding Type 274 fire control (152 mm) Type 283 fire control (102 mm) Type 282 fire control (2 pdr)
Armament	3 triple Mk XXIII 152/50 mm guns 4 twin Mk XIX 102/45 mm guns 4 quadruple Mk VII 2 pdr (40 mm) pom-pom guns 10 twin Mk II 20/70 mm guns 2 triple 533 mm torpedo tubes
Armour	82.5-88.9 mm belt 25.4-50.8 mm turrets
Aircraft carried	Bell 47G helicopter (deck only)

BAP Coronel Bolognesi (CL-82) was a Fiji-class light cruiser in service with the Peruvian Navy. It was completed for the Royal Navy in 1943 as HMS Ceylon and, after being withdrawn from service, commissioned by the Marina de Guerra del Perú on February 9, 1960. Renamed BAP Coronel Bolognesi (CL-82), in honor of the Peruvian Colonel Francisco Bolognesi, it arrived to its new homeport of Callao on 19 March 1960.

In service, the ship has participated in several exercises, including the multinational UNITAS manoeuvres, as well as taking part in disaster relief operations after the 1970 Ancash earthquake. In 1963, after the creation of the Servicio de Aviación Naval (Naval Aviation Service), the Coronel Bolognesi started operating Bell 47G helicopters from its fantail. It was passed to a reserve status on June 9, 1981, renamed Pontón Perú (UAI-113) on 30 May 1982 and decommissioned on 20 September of the same year.

Sources[]

• Rodríguez Asti, John, Cruceros. Buques de la Marina de Guerra del Perú desde 1884. Dirección de Intereses Marítimos, 2000.