Cumberland’s global wartime circuit

After the River Plate crisis, Cumberland served from South Africa and joined the hunt for the elusive German commerce raider Thor. She intercepted the Vichy merchant ship Poitiers carrying ammunition toward the Ivory Coast, although the crew scuttled and burned the cargo before seizure. A French coastal battery damaged Cumberland during the attack on Dakar. She later escorted Arctic convoys from late 1941 into early 1944. Transfer to the Eastern Fleet then took the cruiser back to the Far East, where she joined the Fourth Cruiser Squadron and participated in raids on Sumatra.