Difference between revisions of "Birkenhead Class Cruiser (1915)"

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(Torpedoes)
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==Armament==
 
==Armament==
  
==Guns==
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===Guns===
  
==Torpedoes==
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===Torpedoes===
2 Elswick 6.8m 21-in submerged broadside tubes forward depressed 2 degrees and bearing 90.  Impulse from Elswick H.P. air.<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915'', p. 36.</ref>
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Two Elswick 6.8m 21-in submerged broadside tubes forward depressed 2 degrees and bearing 90.  Impulse from Elswick H.P. air.<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915'', p. 36.</ref>
  
 
''Chester'' successfully fired torpedoes at 25 knots, but ''Birkenhead'' fired one at 22 knots which failed to run, having seemingly been bound up.  No conclusion was reached.<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', p. 75.</ref>
 
''Chester'' successfully fired torpedoes at 25 knots, but ''Birkenhead'' fired one at 22 knots which failed to run, having seemingly been bound up.  No conclusion was reached.<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', p. 75.</ref>
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The director was on a pedestal mounting in a tower on the foremast.  Likely, 'X' or 'Y' served as a [[Directing Gun|directing gun]].<ref>''Handbook of Captain F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918''., p. 142 and plate opposite.<br>I am inferring that the 2 light cruisers shown in the plate are meant to represent those with and without a tower.</ref>
 
The director was on a pedestal mounting in a tower on the foremast.  Likely, 'X' or 'Y' served as a [[Directing Gun|directing gun]].<ref>''Handbook of Captain F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918''., p. 142 and plate opposite.<br>I am inferring that the 2 light cruisers shown in the plate are meant to represent those with and without a tower.</ref>
 
===Torpedo Control===
 
  
 
===Transmitting Stations===
 
===Transmitting Stations===
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{{TBC}}
 
{{TBC}}
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==Torpedo Control==
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In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of ''Bristol'' class and later should have torpedo firing keys (Pattern 2333) fitted on the fore bridge, in parallel with those in the CT, and that a flexible voice pipe be fitted between these positions.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916'', p. 146.</ref>
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 12:51, 10 May 2011

The two light cruisers of the Birkenhead Class were completed in 1915 and 1916.

Armament

Guns

Torpedoes

Two Elswick 6.8m 21-in submerged broadside tubes forward depressed 2 degrees and bearing 90. Impulse from Elswick H.P. air.[1]

Chester successfully fired torpedoes at 25 knots, but Birkenhead fired one at 22 knots which failed to run, having seemingly been bound up. No conclusion was reached.[2]

Fire Control

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

The Centaur class were the first light cruisers fitted with Evershed gear for gun control, but it is not clear whether older light cruisers were ever fitted.[3]

Orders for Evershed installations for searchlight control from February 1917 first applied to the Danae class, but seem unlikely to have applied to earlier ships.[4]

Gunnery Control

Control Positions

Control Groups

Directors

Both were fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918.[5]

The director was on a pedestal mounting in a tower on the foremast. Likely, 'X' or 'Y' served as a directing gun.[6]

Transmitting Stations

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.[7]

Fire Control Instruments

[TO BE CONTINUED - TONE]

Torpedo Control

In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of Bristol class and later should have torpedo firing keys (Pattern 2333) fitted on the fore bridge, in parallel with those in the CT, and that a flexible voice pipe be fitted between these positions.[8]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915, p. 36.
  2. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 75.
  3. The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
  4. The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
  5. The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, pp. 11-12.
  6. Handbook of Captain F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918., p. 142 and plate opposite.
    I am inferring that the 2 light cruisers shown in the plate are meant to represent those with and without a tower.
  7. absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  8. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.

Bibliography

Template:CatClassUKLightCruiser

Template:Birkenhead Class (1915)