H.M.S. Cleopatra (1915)

H.M.S. Cleopatra (1915)
Pendant Number:	1A (1914) 40 (Jan 1918) 88 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	Cammell Laird
Laid down:	26 Feb, 1914
Launched:	14 Jan, 1915
Commissioned:	Jun, 1915
Sold:	1931
Fate:	to Hughes Bolckow

H.M.S. Cleopatra was one of six Caroline class light cruisers completed for the Royal Navy early in the Great War.

Service

Upon her completion in mid-1915, Cleopatra joined the Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron, which was a component of the Harwich Force.

Cleopatra joined the Seventh Light Cruiser Squadron, which was supporting the Battle Fleet, around November 1918.

Cleopatra joined the First Light Cruiser Squadron around March 1919.

Cleopatra joined the Second Light Cruiser Squadron around May 1919. After about one month, she returned to the First Light Cruiser Squadron, where she became the flagship.

Cleopatra was recommissioned at Portsmouth on 25 October, 1920.

She recommissioned at Chatham on 16 October, 1923.

She recommissioned 3 January, 1925 for service with the Second Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet.

She paid off into Dockyard Control on 8 December, 1926.

Cleopatra was re-commissioned at Chatham on 31 December, 1928.

Alterations

Cleopatra was fitted with a director in July, 1917. This alteration required her pole mast to be replaced with a tripod mast for greater rigidity.

At some point likely after the end of the war, she received a Dreyer Turret Control Table in her T.S..

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain Frederick P. Loder-Symonds, 8 February, 1915 – 18 August, 1916
• Captain Argentine H. Alington, 10 July, 1918 – 6 August, 1918  (temporary, during Loder-Symonds's absence)
• Captain Frederick P. Loder-Symonds, 6 August, 1918 – 16 October, 1918
• Captain The Hon. Arthur C. Strutt, 16 October, 1918 – 29 November, 1918^{[Citation needed]}
• Captain Walter R. G. Petre, 29 November, 1918 – 4 March, 1919
• Captain Charles J. C. Little, 4 March, 1919 – 23 December, 1919
• Captain Arthur Stopford, 23 December, 1919 – September, 1921
• Commander Vernon S. Rashleigh, August, 1921 – 12 March, 1922
• Commander Hugh D. Colville, 12 March, 1922 – 29 August, 1922
• Commander Harold E. Denison, 29 August, 1922 – 16 October, 1923
• Captain Charles D. Burke, 4 October, 1923 – 27 June, 1924
• Commander Norman M. C. Thurstan, 27 June, 1924 – January, 1925
• Captain Ralph Eliot, 3 January, 1925 – 7 November, 1925
• Captain William F. Sells, 7 November, 1925 – 11 November, 1926
• Commander Oliver M. F. Stokes, 11 November, 1926 – 8 December, 1926
• Commander Gerald H. Brady, 25 November, 1927 – 9 March, 1928  (for trials)
• Captain Frank G. Bramble, 9 March, 1928 – late 1928
• Captain John F. B. Barrett, 31 December, 1928
• Captain Leonard S. Holbrook, ? – January, 1929  (and as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet Nore)
• Captain Edmond J. G. Mackinnon, 12 December, 1929 – 29 December, 1929  (and as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet Nore)
• Captain Cecil N. Reyne, 29 December, 1929 – 27 June, 1931  (and as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet Nore)

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
• Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
• Admiralty, Technical History Section (1919). The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in H.M. Ships. Vol. 3, Part 23. C.B. 1515 (23) now O.U. 6171/14. At The National Archives. ADM 275/19.