Exeter was a York-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, pennant 68. Devonport Dockyard built her. Her keel was laid on 1 August 1928, she was launched on 18 July 1929, and she was commissioned on 27 July 1931. Captain Oliver Loudon Gordon took her on 11 March 1941.
Graf Spee damaged her in the River Plate on 13 December 1939 and did not sink her. She was repaired and sent east.
On the afternoon of 27 February 1942 she was in Doorman's cruiser line in the Java Sea. At about 1710 an 8-inch shell hit a boiler room. It cut out six of her eight boilers and dropped her speed to about 15 knots. The American narrative says 14 men were killed. One later account says 40. Japanese records credit Haguro. One English-language account credits Nachi. That hit is not settled. She left the line and went back to Surabaya. She was not sunk that day.
On 1 March she sailed again with Encounter and Pope. Japanese heavy cruisers and destroyers sank her. Gordon survived as a prisoner. The loss is not credited to one ship.