Diadem Class Cruiser (1896)
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The eight protected cruisers of the Diadem Class were completed between 1898 and 1903.
Overview of 8 vessels | |||||
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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 Royal Dockyard | 2 Dec, 1895 | 30 Apr, 1897 | 5 Sep, 1899 | Sold Aug, 1956 |
Argonaut | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan | 23 Nov, 1896 | 24 Jan, 1898 | 19 Apr, 1900 | Sold 18 May, 1920 |
Ariadne | J. & G. Thomson, Clydebank | 29 Oct, 1896 | 22 Apr, 1898 | 5 Jun, 1902 | Torpedoed 26 Jul, 1917 |
Diadem | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan | 23 Jan, 1896 | 21 Oct, 1896 | 19 Jul, 1898 | Sold 9 May, 1921 |
Europa | J. & G. 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 Royal 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.[1]
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.[2]
Secondary Battery
Other Weapons
Prior to reductions in such provisions enacted in mid-1903, the ships had been allowed 202 cutlasses.[3]
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.[4]
Fire Control
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[5]
Fire Control Instruments
The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment on this class as:[6]
- 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:[7]
- 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.[8]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 331 of 8 Sep, 1914.
- ↑ Principal Questions Dealt with by the Director of Naval Ordnance, 1905. pp. 489-91.
- ↑ Principal Questions Dealt with by the Director of Naval Ordnance, 1904. pp. 249-253.
- ↑ Torpedo Manual, Vol. III, 1909. p. 265.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. p. 58.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. p. 58.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 11.
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.
Diadem Class First Class Protected Cruiser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amphitrite | Andromeda | Argonaut | Ariadne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diadem | Europa | Niobe | Spartiate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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