"Ajax" participated in the Battle of the River Plate. The town of Ajax, Ontario was named after the ship, with street names in the town named after members of the crew. "Ajax" also participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and took part in shelling the mainland of Normandy during the beach landings. Chile wanted to buy HMS "Ajax" in 1948-9, but the opposition leader in the UK, Winston Churchill thought the ship should be retained for the RN and it became a political issue. The Leander class cruisers were very well built in the early 1930s and in the case of "Achilles" proved capable of more than 40 years service. After the rest of the class, including HMS "Ajax," were scrapped, there was regret in the RN, because in many ways with their long 12,000-mile range and generous hull they were ideal for use as ocean radar pickets.