HMS Kent, pennant number 54, was a County-class heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the late 1920s.

Kent hunted the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the East Indies in late 1939 and then was reassigned to troop convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean in early 1940.

A few months later she was flagship of a force that intercepted a German convoy in Norwegian waters and sank two freighters and five escorts.

Kent carried a maximum of 3,425 long tons (3,480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 13,300 nautical miles (24,600 km; 15,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

[5] In January 1934, while serving as the flagship of Admiral Sir Frederick Dreyer, she attended the Far Eastern Naval Conference in Singapore together with Terror, Veteran, Wren and Eagle.

[6] At the conclusion of the conference, Dreyer transferred his flag to the Suffolk and Kent was dispatched to the United Kingdom for a refit.

Unlike her sister ships, no aircraft hangar was added because that would have pushed her over the Washington Naval Treaty limits, but her catapult was replaced with a more powerful one capable of handling the heavier Supermarine Walrus flying boat.

[8] In November 1939 she joined with the French heavy cruiser Suffren and the Australian destroyers Voyager and Vampire to hunt for the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the East Indies and then was reassigned to escort troop convoys in the Indian Ocean in January 1940.

[9] Following the declaration of war by Italy, she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, arriving at Alexandria in August 1940 with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron.

[10] On 17 August 1940, Kent, the battleships Warspite, Malaya, Ramillies and twelve destroyers bombarded Italian positions near Bardia and Fort Capuzzo.

[11] On 15 September 1940 the battleship Valiant, the aircraft carrier Illustrious, Kent, the anti-aircraft cruisers Calcutta and Coventry, and seven destroyers left Alexandria bound for Benghazi.

During this time six Oerlikon 20 mm light AA guns were added and the ship received a variety of radars.

On 8 December Kent sailed from Scapa Flow carrying the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, and the Soviet Ambassador to Great Britain, Ivan Maisky.

On the night of 13/14 November 1944, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor during Operation Counterblast, the ship, with the light cruiser Bellona and four destroyers, attacked Convoy KS.357 off Listerfjord, south-east of Egersund, Norway.

Opening fire at 2300 hrs, the cruisers and destroyers sank two of the freighters and all the escorts above except one unidentified vessel.

[18] With the Naval War in the Atlantic winding down, the ship's age and material condition, and a shortage of crews to man her; Kent was paid off in January 1945 and remained in reserve for several years until she was used as a target.