1:600 Fiji group. Note the pom-poms and directors on the hangar, the standard two sided twin 4" AA enclosing the torpedoes and the 0.5" AA MG's aft. Also, the director on "X" turret. © Andrew Arthur

1:600 HMS Gambia in 1944. Six 20mm AA have been added, as well as additional searchlights and barrage directors aft of the after HA/DCt and forward of the bridge. The aircraft has been removed, and the boats moved to the former runway. © Andrew Arthur

These were the first and only British cruisers designed within the 8000-ton limit specified by the London Naval Treaty. They were designed with the same armament as the heavier "Southampton" Class, weight being saved by a reduction in armour protection and machinery which allowed for a smaller hull, producing the greatest saving of 450 tons.
Although the ships proved of great value during the war, their restricted size resulted in their being cramped and overcrowded when additional wartime crew and equipment became necessary. The fitting of radar and additional close-range weapons produced a serious increase in topweight that necessitated the removal of the aircraft equipment from all ships in 1943-44 and the removal of X-turret from Bermuda, Jamaica, Kenya and Mauritius by 1945. Post-war Gambia and Nigeria also had X-turret removed.
The close-range outfit varied from ship to ship both during and after the war. On completion of a major modernisation in 1957 Bermuda carried a uniform close-range outfit of 7 twin 40mm.
All ships served initially with the Home Fleet, but eventually were represented in all theatres of the war. Jamaica fought in the Battle of the Barents Sea against the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper on 31 December 1942 and played a significant role in the destruction of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst in the Battle of North Cape on 26 December 1943.
In March 1942 Trinidad was struck by one of her own torpedoes (which failed to run true because its gyroscope had frozen) during an engagement with German destroyers while covering Russian convoy PQ-13. Temporary repairs were carried out at Murmansk, but during the return voyage she was attacked by German aircraft in the Barents Sea on 14 May and had to be abandoned.

Pictures of Crown Colony class Light Cruisers

HMS Trinidad, note transom stern

Trinidad in 1941. Note high angle of twin 4" AA to the far left

Nigeria, note the RDF fitted HA.DCTs on bridge, sheer to the bows and the bridgework itself

Maurtirius during D-Day, June 6 1944

HMS Mauritius in 1941, note transom stern

Jamaica

Gambia in 1942