Blake Class Cruiser (1889)
The two protected cruisers of the Blake Class were completed in 1892 and 1894.
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]
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[4]
Fire Control Instruments
See Also
Footnotes
Bibliography
- 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.
| Blake Class First Class Protected Cruiser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake | Blenheim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | Orlando Class | Major Cruisers (UK) | Edgar Class | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
