Difference between revisions of "Birkenhead Class Cruiser (1915)"
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==Torpedo Control== | ==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. Additionally, the ''Birkenhead'' class was to receive [[Chadburn Torpedo Telegraph]]s for to convey gyro angles and orders to the submerged torpedo flat.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916'' | + | 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. Additionally, the ''Birkenhead'' class was to receive [[Chadburn Torpedo Telegraph]]s for to convey gyro angles and orders to the submerged torpedo flat.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916'', p. 146.</ref> |
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==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
Revision as of 05:48, 11 August 2011
The two light cruisers of the Birkenhead Class were completed in 1915 and 1916.
Armament
The ships were armed as follows.[1]
Guns
- Ten 5.5-in 50cal BL Mark I
- One 3-in 20cwt Mark I on HA mounting
Torpedoes
- Two Elswick 6.8m 21-in submerged broadside tubes forward depressed 2 degrees and bearing 90. Impulse from Elswick H.P. air.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
Gunnery Control
Control Positions
Control Groups
Directors
Both were fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918.[6]
The director was on a pedestal mounting in a tower on the foremast. Likely, 'X' or 'Y' served as a directing gun.[7]
Transmitting Stations
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[8]
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. Additionally, the Birkenhead class was to receive Chadburn Torpedo Telegraphs for to convey gyro angles and orders to the submerged torpedo flat.[9]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, p. 58.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915, p. 36.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 75.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, pp. 11-12.
- ↑ 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. - ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
Bibliography
- Template:BibUKARTS1915
- Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917
- Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918
- Template:BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919
