Difference between revisions of "Centaur Class Cruiser (1916)"

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===Fire Control Instruments===
 
===Fire Control Instruments===
 
[[File:ARTS1916Plate77.jpg|thumb|240px|'''Fire Control Circuits'''<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', Plate 77.</ref><br>Those in the following [[Caledon Class Cruiser (1916)|''Caledon'' class]] were noted as being similar. <ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', p. 150.</ref>]]
 
[[File:ARTS1916Plate77.jpg|thumb|240px|'''Fire Control Circuits'''<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', Plate 77.</ref><br>Those in the following [[Caledon Class Cruiser (1916)|''Caledon'' class]] were noted as being similar. <ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', p. 150.</ref>]]
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Each gun was equipped with a Barr and Stroud range and deflection receiver of unstated type, and a Captain's cease fire gong.  The CT contained the only cease fire push for the monolithic gong circuit.
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The fore and aft control positions were tied to Groups 1 and 3, respectively, offering a range receiver tied to the group COS in the TS.  Additionally, a portable combined range and deflection transmitter was provided at both stations, driving fixed repeats.  A pair of fire gong pushes were presumably fitted one to each broadside.<ref>''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', p. 150.</ref>
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The gun director tower had range and deflection receivers wired to the TS's COS for Group 1 (or 2?) with fire gong and cease fire gong clearly wired to Group 2's COS.<ref>The schematic seems to indicate Group 1 for the receivers, but the label seems to spell out Group 2 in ''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916'', Plate 77.</ref>
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The control top appears not to be a control position despite its name, as it features range and deflection repeat receivers from Group 1 and range receivers (only) for both the fore and aft control platform.
  
 
==Torpedo Control==
 
==Torpedo Control==

Revision as of 20:22, 20 January 2012

The two light cruisers of the Centaur Class were completed in 1916.

Machinery

Generators

In 1916, it was stated that ""C" and "D" class light cruisers" have three 52.5 kw dynamos at 105 volts.[1]

Armament

The ships were armed as follows.[2]

Guns

  • Five 6-in 45cal BL Mark XII guns on the centre-line with a maximum elevation of 30 degrees.[3] The guns had armoured shields of 1/4 inch on the face, 3/16 inch on sides and top, weighing 1.25 tons.[4]
  • Two 3-in 20cwt QF on HA mountings
  • One 13-pdr

Torpedoes

  • Two Service Bar 21-in submerged broadside tubes amidships depressed 4 degrees and bearing 90.[5]

These were to be the last Royal Navy light cruisers to feature submerged torpedo tubes.

Fire Control

Navyphones

Navyphones[6]

Each gun had a Pattern 3333 Navyphone and a set of Telaupads.

[TO BE CONTINUED - TONE] ARTS 1916, Plate 78.

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

This class was the first light cruiser class to feature Evershed installations, possibly upon their very completion. Such equipment became standard from here on out.[7]

Gunnery Control

Control Positions

There was a fore control position, an aft control position, and a control top.

Control Groups

There were three control groups:[8]

  1. No. 1 gun
  2. Guns Nos. 2 & 3
  3. Guns Nos. 4 & 5

Directors

Director Firing Circuitry[9]

Both were completed with gunnery directors in place.[10]

The director was in a tower on a pedestal mounting and was augmented by use of the #4 gun as a directing gun.[11]

The COS had 3 positions:

  1. director tower to all guns
  2. directing gun to all guns
  3. director tower to guns 1-3, directing gun to guns 4 & 5

Each gun had a COS to connect it to director or local firing circuits. The gun director tower had a 2-way switch to connect the night sights and such to either main or auxiliary power fed through a 5-way box.[12]

Transmitting Stations

The ships had a TS.[13]

Group 1 and Group 2 each had a two-position COS offering:

  1. TS control
  2. Fore control platform control

Group 3 had a three-position COS offering:

  1. TS control
  2. Fore control platform control
  3. After control platform control

Each group had a deflection and range transmitter with repeats and a fire gong key. The TS had a single Captain's cease fire gong. Everything worked off a 15 volt switchboard.

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.[14]

Fire Control Instruments

Fire Control Circuits[15]
Those in the following Caledon class were noted as being similar. [16]

Each gun was equipped with a Barr and Stroud range and deflection receiver of unstated type, and a Captain's cease fire gong. The CT contained the only cease fire push for the monolithic gong circuit.

The fore and aft control positions were tied to Groups 1 and 3, respectively, offering a range receiver tied to the group COS in the TS. Additionally, a portable combined range and deflection transmitter was provided at both stations, driving fixed repeats. A pair of fire gong pushes were presumably fitted one to each broadside.[17]

The gun director tower had range and deflection receivers wired to the TS's COS for Group 1 (or 2?) with fire gong and cease fire gong clearly wired to Group 2's COS.[18]

The control top appears not to be a control position despite its name, as it features range and deflection repeat receivers from Group 1 and range receivers (only) for both the fore and aft control platform.

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. [19]

Additionally, all light cruisers with submerged tubes were to receive torpedo order and gyro angle instruments between torpedo flats and both control positions. The C class (which may or may not encompass the Centaur class) was to receive Chadburn Torpedo Telegraphs to meet this need. Otherwise, Barr and Stroud would be a likely choice.[20]

Rangefinders

Sometime during or after 1917, an additional 9-foot rangefinder being handed down from a battleship or battlecruiser (likely an F.T. 24) was to be added specifically to augment torpedo control.[21]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School', 1916', p. 120.
  2. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, p. 60.
  3. ↑ Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918", p. 10.
  4. ↑ Technical History and Index, Vol 3, Part 28, p. 18. I presume the described ""C" class" pertains to these ships
  5. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915, p. 36.
  6. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 78.
  7. ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
  8. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 78.
  9. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 79.
  10. ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 11.
  11. ↑ Handbook of Captain F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918., p. 142 and plate opposite. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
  12. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
  13. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150, Plate 77.
  14. ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  15. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 77.
  16. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
  17. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
  18. ↑ The schematic seems to indicate Group 1 for the receivers, but the label seems to spell out Group 2 in Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 77.
  19. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
  20. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
  21. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917, p. 199. (possibly pertinent: C.I.O. 481/17)

Bibliography

Template:Centaur Class (1916)

Template:CatClassUKLightCruiser

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