HMS Superb ( 25 ) HMS " Superb " was a " Minotaur " - class light cruiser of the Royal Navy . She was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson , of Wallsend , Tyne and Wear on 23 June 1942 , launched on 31 August 1943 and commissioned on 16 November 1945 . Construction and design . " Superb " was the last of the " Minotaurs " to be built , and was completed to a slightly different design to that of the previous members of the class , with a foot more beam than her immediate predecessor HMS Swiftsure , which had introduced Type 274 lock and follow radar directors for surface action . With Superb the first Type 275 sets , modified versions of the lock and follow radar , were introduced to also control anti aircraft fire of the twin four inch mounts . Unfortunately the versions of 275 fitted were the British glasshouse director version , which had higher tolerances and less reliability than the American versions of the set , which were reserved for the latter Battle class destroyers and carriers Eagle and Ark Royal under construction and in particular the last battleship , Vanguard for its secondary armamment . Construction on her unfinished sisters was halted after the end of the war and they were later scrapped , or converted into the new " Tiger " class automatic gun cruiser . Superb itself was planned to be converted to full automatic 6inch and 3 / 70 gun Tiger specifications and would have been much more suitable for such modernisation than the narrower beam Swifsure . It is unfortunate that Superb was not selected for modernisation before the Swiftsure , because the better physical condition of the later cruiser would have made the more limited update planned for Swiftsure in 1956 much more economical and viable to complete on Superb . The plans to modernise Superb at the time of the 1957 Defence Review was much more cost constricted and would have been similar to the limited modernisation of HMS Belfast , with new MRS8 multi channel directors for 4 twin 4 inch and 6 twin proximity fused L70 Bofors and new radar , fire control and AIO and a data link to the modernised carriers Victorious and Hermes . The Superbs , update was cancelled in April 1957 . Operational Service . " Superb " was involved in the Corfu Channel Incident in 1946 , but otherwise had an unremarkable career . In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . She spent some time as the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Herbert Packer , and was decommissioned in 1957 . She was sold three years later and arrived at the Dalmuir yards of Arnott Young on 8 August 1960 to be scrapped . Although " Superb " was the latest of the line of 6 - inch gun cruisers to be completed , ( the 1943 " Minotaur " class followed directly from the 1938 Colony and 1936 Town classes ) , she was also one of the first of this type to be broken up . Plans for her modernisation were abandoned after the Duncan Sandys 1957 defence review . No more cruiser modernisations were approved , with new guided missile ships to take precedence . Pre - war ships lasted longer , showing the difference between peacetime and wartime building standards . Models . Despite their short lives , HMS " Superb " and her sister ship HMS " Swiftsure " were made as 1 / 1200th scale models by Triang Minic Ships . These toys were mass - produced in large numbers between 1959 and 1965 , and remain sought after by collectors today .