Dates: 1927 - 1942

When commissioned in 1927 she became the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. In 1936 she was refitted and in 1937 joined the China station. In 1939 she was sent to Uruguay to join in the pursuit of Graf Spee, in December of that year whilst in transit from South Africa, the Graf Spee was scuttled before Dorsetshire could arrive.
In December 1940 she was dispatched to pursue the Admiral Scheer. January 1941 saw her capture the Vichy French freighter Mendoza.
In May 1941 she was ordered to torpedo the already crippled Bismarck, she later assisted in recovering 110 of Bismarck’s crew.
In 1942 after a period of operation in the North Atlantic fighting against German U-Boats she was deployed to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian ocean.
On 5 April 1942 she and her sister ship HMS Cornwall were attacked and sunk by Japanese dive-bombers. 234 crew were killed over 500 were recovered by HMS Enterprise, HMS Paladin and HMS Panther.

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