Career
Ordered:	1942
Laid down:	June 1942
Launched:	September 1945
Commissioned:	July 1960
Decommissioned:	December 1972
Fate:	Used as parts hulk for sister-ships from 1973. Sold for scrap April 1975
General Characteristics
Displacement:	11,700 tons
Length:	555.5 ft
Beam:	64 ft
Draught:	23 ft
Propulsion:	Steam turbines, 4 shafts, 4 boilers, 80,000 shp
Speed:	31.5 knots
Range:	8,000 nautical miles at 16 knots
Complement:	716
Armament:	4 x 6-in guns 6 x 3-in guns (4 later removed after conversion)

HMS Lion was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1942 and laid down that same year as Defence. The ship was launched in 1944 partially completed but work was suspended in 1946. In 1954, work recommenced on Defence and the two other ships to a revised Tiger class. In 1957, Defence was renamed Lion, and was finally commissioned in July 1960.

In 1964, Lion was present when Malta gained independence. The following year they were present when Gambia also gained its independence. That same year, Lion entered reserve at Devonport Dockyard, where she would remain there until 1972 when place on the disposal list, having not undergone conversion to the helicopter cruiser of Blake and Tiger, and thus effectively obsolescent.

In 1973 she was used as a parts hulk for her sister-ships Blake and Tiger. She had a very short service life with the RN, and in April 1975, that service truly came to an end, when, at Inverkeithing, Lion was sold for scrap.

See HMS Lion for other Navy ships of the name.