Diadem Class Cruiser (1896)

The eight protected cruisers of the Diadem Class were completed between 1898 and 1903.

[show]Overview of 8 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Amphitrite	Vickers, Barrow	8 Dec, 1896	5 Jan, 1898	17 Sep, 1901	Sold 12 Apr, 1920
Andromeda	Pembroke Dockyard	2 Dec, 1895	30 Apr, 1897	5 Sep, 1899	Sold Aug, 1956
Argonaut	Fairfield, Govan	23 Nov, 1896	24 Jan, 1898	19 Apr, 1900	Sold 18 May, 1920
Ariadne	Thomson, Clydebank	29 Oct, 1896	22 Apr, 1898	5 Jun, 1902	Torpedoed 26 Jul, 1917
Diadem	Fairfield, Govan	23 Jan, 1896	21 Oct, 1896	19 Jul, 1898	Sold 9 May, 1921
Europa	Thomson, Clydebank	10 Jan, 1896	20 Mar, 1897	23 Nov, 1899	Sold 15 Sep, 1920
Niobe	Vickers, Barrow	16 Dec, 1895	20 Feb, 1897	6 Dec, 1898	Broken up 1922
Spartiate	Pembroke Dockyard	10 May, 1897	27 Oct, 1898	17 Mar, 1903	Sold Jul, 1932

Binoculars

In September 1914, the ships were allowed four additional pairs of Pattern 343 Service Binoculars.

Armament

Main Battery

• sixteen 6-in Q.F. guns on P. II U.D. mountings
• fourteen 12-pdr Q.F. guns
• six 3-pdr Q.F. guns

In early 1905, it was approved that the 6-in guns should be equipped with "A" class cross connected sights.

Other Weapons

Prior to reductions in such provisions enacted in mid-1903, the ships had been allowed 202 cutlasses.

Torpedoes

• two 18-in submerged broadside tubes forward, depressed three degrees and bearing abeam; axis of tube was 6 foot 6 inches below load water line and 1 feet 6 inches above deck.

Fire Control

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.

Fire Control Instruments

The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment on this class as:

• Combined Range, Order, Deflection: 4 transmitters, 26 receivers
• Group Switches: 2
• Rate: 4 transmitters, 4 receivers
• Bearing: none
• Range: none

Additionally, this class had the following Siemens fire control equipment:

• Turret fire gongs: none
• Fire Gongs: 16 with 4 keys
• Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 18 with 1 key

None of the ships had Target Visible or Gun Ready signals.

See Also

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• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1914). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. G. 01627/14. C.B. 1030. Copy 1235 at The National Archives. ADM 186/191.
• Brooks, John (2005). Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland: The Question of Fire Control. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 0714657026. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1917). The Director Firing Handbook. O.U. 6125 (late C.B. 1259). Copy No. 322 at The National Archives. ADM 186/227.
• 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.
• Keith McBride. The Diadem Class Cruisers in Warship, Volume XI Issue 44.