Difference between revisions of "Birkenhead Class Cruiser (1915)"
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{ship | {ship | ||
name=Birkenhead | name=Birkenhead | ||
| − | pend=9A (1914)<br>15 (Jan 1918)<br>07 (Apr 1918) | + | pend=9A (1914)<br>15 (Jan 1918)<br>07 (Apr 1918){{DittColl|p. 47}} |
| − | builder=[[Cammell Laird]] | + | builder=[[Cammell Laird]]{{Conways1906|p. 59}} |
order= | order= | ||
| − | laid= | + | laid=27 3 14{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
| − | launch=18 Jan, 1915 | + | launch=18 Jan, 1915{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
| − | comm= | + | comm=5 15{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
fate=Sold | fate=Sold | ||
| − | fate2= | + | fate2=Broken up |
| − | fatedate= | + | fatedate=26 10 21{{DittColl|p. 47}} |
} | } | ||
{ship | {ship | ||
name=Chester | name=Chester | ||
| − | pend=C9 (1914)<br>39 (Jan 1918)<br>50 (Apr 1918) | + | pend=C9 (1914)<br>39 (Jan 1918)<br>50 (Apr 1918){{DittColl|p. 47}} |
| − | builder=[[Cammell Laird]] | + | builder=[[Cammell Laird]]{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
order= | order= | ||
| − | laid= | + | laid=7 10 14{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
| − | launch=8 Dec, 1915 | + | launch=8 Dec, 1915{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
| − | comm= | + | comm=5 16{{Conways1906|p. 58}} |
fate=Sold | fate=Sold | ||
| − | fate2= | + | fate2=to Rees, Llanelly{{DittColl|p. 47}} |
| − | fatedate=9 Nov, 1921 | + | fatedate=9 Nov, 1921{{DittColl|p. 47}} |
} | } | ||
Revision as of 13:28, 19 September 2012
The two light cruisers of the Birkenhead Class were completed in 1915 and 1916.
They were often regarded as the last sub-type of the encompassing "Town" class which also included the five Bristol, four Weymouth, six Chatham, and four Birmingham class cruisers.
Armament
The ships were armed as follows.[1]
Guns
- Ten 5.5-in 50cal B.L. Mark I
- One 3-in 20cwt Mark I on H.A. 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
Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter
By 1920, both ships were equipped with Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.[4] The installations generally consisted of placing one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from a gearbox on the director tower.[5]
Supplies of these devices began in June 1918.[6]
Range Dials
As of 1920, neither ship seems to have been equipped.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
Gunnery Control
Directors
Both were fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918.[10]
The director was on a pedestal mounting in a tower on the foremast. Likely, "X" or "Y" served as a directing gun.[11]
Transmitting Stations
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[12]
Fire Control Instruments
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.[13]
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.
- ↑ Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920, p. 35.
- ↑ Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920, p. 35, 37.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
- ↑ absent from Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920, p. 45.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 29.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 29.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. 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
- H.M.S. Vernon. (Jan 1916) Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. C.B. 1166. Copy 1025 at The National Archives. ADM 189/35.
- 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 (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- 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.
- Norman Friedman. The Chester Class Cruisers in Warship Issue 17.
| Birkenhead Class Light Cruiser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birkenhead | Chester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | Calliope Class | Minor Cruisers (UK) | Cambrian Class | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
