H.M.S. Castor (1915)

H.M.S. Castor (1915)
Pendant Number:	C4 (1914) 33 (Jan 1918) 20 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	Cammell Laird
Laid down:	28 Oct, 1914
Launched:	28 Jul, 1915
Commissioned:	Nov, 1915
Sold:	Jul, 1936
Fate:	Broken up

H.M.S. Castor was the first of four Cambrian class light cruisers completed in 1915 and 1916.

Service

She fought at the Battle of Jutland as flag cruiser of the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla.

She recommissioned at Chatham on 18 April, 1920.

Castor re-commissioned with reduced complement on 23 September, 1924.

Re-commissioned with a reserve crew on 22 December, 296.

Re-commissioned at the Nore on 1 April, 1927.

Re-commissioned in reserve at Devonport on 22 July, 1928 for duty with the Third Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, but she wound up temporarily on the China Station.

Re-commissioned in reserve at Devonport on 22 July, 1930.

Reduced to extended notice at Devonport on 2 November, 1931.

Alterations

Castor was fitted with a director in January, 1918. This alteration required her pole mast to be replaced with a tripod mast for greater rigidity.

Equipment

In 1919, she was selected to receive one of the first five Renouf Torpedo Tactical Instrument Type As.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain Cyril S. Townsend, 13 October, 1915 – November, 1915
• Captain James R. P. Hawksley, November, 1915 – November, 1917  (in command at Battle of Jutland)
• Commodore, Second Class Hugh J. Tweedie, November, 1917 – 1 May, 1920
• Captain William R. Napier, 18 April, 1920 – 21 December, 1920
• Captain Alfred H. Norman, 1 May, 1920 – mid 1920
• Captain Leonard L. P. Willan, 21 December, 1920 – 5 May, 1922
• Captain Guy Hamilton, 5 May, 1922 – 8 August, 1922
• Captain Aubrey T. Tillard, 8 August, 1922 – 15 September, 1923  (left due to illness)
• Captain Richard A. A. Plowden, 15 September, 1923 – 28 April, 1924  (temporary, during Tillard illness)
• Captain Evelyn C. O. Thomson, 6 June, 1924 – 23 September, 1924
• Captain Dudley B. N. North, 23 September, 1924 – 20 October, 1924
• Captain Charles D. Burke, 20 October, 1924 – 7 May, 1925
• Commander The Hon. Guy Stopford, 7 June, 1926 – 18 September, 1926
• Captain Arthur J. Landon, 8 September, 1926 – 19 March, 1927
• Commander Christopher J. F. Wood, c. March 1927 – 1927  (on reducing to reserve)
• Captain Arthur L. Snagge, 1 April, 1927 – 15 August, 1927  (and as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet, The Nore)
• Captain Leonard S. Holbrook, 15 August, 1927 – 18 October, 1927  (and as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet Nore)
• Captain Alban T. B. Curteis, 18 October, 1927 – 21 June, 1928
• Captain Wilfred N. Custance, 22 June, 1928 – 17 May, 1929
• Captain W. Frederic Wake-Walker, 17 May, 1929 – 18 July, 1930
• Commander Henry J. Haynes, 16 July, 1930 – 20 August, 1930
• Captain Hubert G. D. Acland, 20 August, 1930 – 19 December, 1930  (temporary)
• Commander John G. Sutton, 19 December, 1930 – 12 July, 1931  (temporary)
• Commander Lancelot G. Ingham, 8 August, 1932 – 31 March, 1933
• Commander Eric J. Shelley, 8 November, 1933 – 9 February, 1934
• Commander Hamilton E. Snepp, 9 February, 1934 – 13 May, 1935
• Commander Victor C. Dorman-Smith, 13 May, 1935 – 7 July, 1935
• Commander Godfrey N. Brewer, 7 July, 1935

See Also

• Transcribed Ship Logs at naval-history.net
• Eleventh D.F. (Royal Navy) at the Battle of Jutland
• 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.