Blake Class Cruiser (1889)

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The two protected cruisers of the Blake Class were completed in 1892 and 1894.

Overview of 2 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Blake Chatham Royal Dockyard Jun, 1888 23 Nov, 1889 2 Feb, 1892 Sold 9 Jun, 1922
Blenheim Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Oct, 1888 5 Jul, 1890 1 Jan, 1891 Sold 13 Jul, 1926

Armament

Guns

  • two 9.2-in Mark VI guns
  • ten Q.F. 6-in guns
  • sixteen Q.F. 3-pdr guns

In late 1903, there was a lively consideration of altering the armament of the cruisers of the Blake and Edgar classes, sparked by unfavourable comparisons to French cruisers. The proposal was to upgrade the 9.2-in guns to Mark X weapons and eliminate the four main deck 6-in guns and to use the reduced displacement to provide 6-inch armour casemates for the remaining upper deck 6-in guns, which would be Mark VII. This was in reflection to the utility of guns mounted so low as to have negligible utility. However, it was decided in late December that no action was to be taken.[1]

Torpedoes

  • two submerged 14-in tubes, angled directly abeam and probably at 3 degrees depression as was the standard in cruisers.[2]

In 1896, Blenheim had a torpedo hang up on firing from a submerged tube. It eventually was fired from the bar, but broke up and sank. The issue was determined to be soft metal used in the construction of "stops", and harder metal was to replace these fittings.[3]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Principal Questions Dealt with by the Director of Naval Ordnance, 1904. pp. 206-211.
  2. Torpedo Manual, Vol. III, 1909. p. 262.
  3. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1896. p. 39.


Blake Class First Class Protected Cruiser
  Blake Blenheim  
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