Rule 5 Warships – Exeter

Nothing terribly new and exciting going on in the world of Azur Lane right now, so let’s take a look at another underappreciated stalwart: HMS Exeter, the second and final York-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. (Yes, the Royal Navy somehow got to keep their same name. No other faction got that, which is a little weird, but okay. Moving on…)

As originally built, she was armed with three twin 8” gun turrets, plus four 4” AA guns, two 40mm AA guns, and two triple torpedo tubes firing the British 21” torpedo. She also carried two seaplanes for scouting and observation duties.

Launched in July 1929 and officially commissioned two years later in 1931, she would spend the majority of the interwar period assigned to either the Atlantic Fleet or the North America and West Indies Station. At the start of World War II, she was assigned to patrol South American waters against German commerce raiders.

During that time, she was one of three British cruisers that fought German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate. That battle deserves a non-Rule 5 blog all its own for being something I didn’t know about. There’s been a lot written about the various naval battles in the North Atlantic, but south of the equator? On the South American side of the Atlantic? That one was new to me.

At any rate, HMS Exeter would survive that battle, but be heavily damaged and laid up under repair for over a year. Fast forward to 1941, and the newly repaired ship is assigned to convoy escort duties before being transferred to the Far East after Japan kicks off the Pacific theatre. Her final battle would take place during the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, when a combined fleet of US, UK, Australia, Dutch East Indies, and Netherlands ships attempted to intercept Japanese invasion convoys heading for the Dutch East Indies.

In Azur Lane, York is a part of the Royal Family (the whole “Duke of York” thing, which is usually a title granted to the second son of the British monarch). She usually shows up as one of the more mature members of the royal family trying to keep Elizabeth in line. As might be expected from a second-born, she’s a bit more forward than her older sister, but still retains a fair amount of royal decorum. In short, don’t try any funny business with her.