Difference between revisions of "Birmingham Class Cruiser (1913)"

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[[File:ARTS1913Plate63.jpg|thumb|300px|'''Fire Control Systems'''{{ARTS1913|Plate 63}} ]]
 
[[File:ARTS1913Plate63.jpg|thumb|300px|'''Fire Control Systems'''{{ARTS1913|Plate 63}} ]]
  
[[File:HandbookFCInstruments1914Plate98.jpg|thumb|300px|'''Fire Control Navyphones'''<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', Plate 98.</ref> ]]
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[[File:HandbookFCInstruments1914Plate98.jpg|thumb|300px|'''Fire Control Navyphones'''{{HFCI1914|Plate 98}} ]]
  
 
===Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter===
 
===Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter===
By 1920, the two extant ships were equipped with [[Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*]]s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35.</ref> The installations generally consisted of placing one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from a gearbox on the director tower's Evershed rack.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35, 37.</ref>
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By 1920, the two extant ships were equipped with [[Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*]]s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.{{UKManGun1920III|p. 35}} The installations generally consisted of placing one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from a gearbox on the director tower's Evershed rack.{{UKManGun1920III|p. 35, 37}}
  
 
Supplies of these instruments began in June 1918.{{FCHMShips|pp. 25-6}}
 
Supplies of these instruments began in June 1918.{{FCHMShips|pp. 25-6}}
  
 
===Range Dials===
 
===Range Dials===
As of 1920, the two extant vessels ''Birmingham'' and ''Lowestoft'' were each equipped with two [[Range Dial Type C]]s, and ''Adelaide'' was intended to, also.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 45.</ref>
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As of 1920, the two extant vessels ''Birmingham'' and ''Lowestoft'' were each equipped with two [[Range Dial Type C]]s, and ''Adelaide'' was intended to, also.{{UKManGun1920III|p. 45}}
  
 
===Rangefinders===
 
===Rangefinders===
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====Control Positions====
 
====Control Positions====
There was a control top and a control platform aft with a navyphone connection between them.  Both positions enjoy voicepipe connection to the T.S..<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
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There was a control top and a control platform aft with a navyphone connection between them.  Both positions enjoy voicepipe connection to the T.S..{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
  
 
====Control Groups====
 
====Control Groups====
Each broadside was arranged in 2 groups of 2 guns each.  The CL gun aft was a separate group that can be operated independently or assigned to one of either aft broadside group by a C.O.S.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
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Each broadside was arranged in 2 groups of 2 guns each.  The CL gun aft was a separate group that can be operated independently or assigned to one of either aft broadside group by a C.O.S.{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
  
 
Three 2-way change-over switches in the T.S. route signals:
 
Three 2-way change-over switches in the T.S. route signals:
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When change-over switches 1 or 2 are in their first position, the forward group is worked by its own panel of transmitters in the TS.  In position 2, the forward group it is wired to is worked jointly with the aft group on the same broadside.  That is, the settings are "split the broadside" or "work the fore group with the aft group".
 
When change-over switches 1 or 2 are in their first position, the forward group is worked by its own panel of transmitters in the TS.  In position 2, the forward group it is wired to is worked jointly with the aft group on the same broadside.  That is, the settings are "split the broadside" or "work the fore group with the aft group".
  
Navyphones are also controlled by the same C.O.S. system, with telaupads at each gun.  Five navyphones are in the TS to address the guns.  A pair of navyphones were directly wired between the control top and the after control platform, and both platforms communicated to the T.S. by voicepipe.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', Plate 63.</ref>
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Navyphones are also controlled by the same C.O.S. system, with telaupads at each gun.  Five navyphones are in the TS to address the guns.  A pair of navyphones were directly wired between the control top and the after control platform, and both platforms communicated to the T.S. by voicepipe.{{HFCI1914|Plate 63}}
  
 
===Directors===
 
===Directors===
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===Transmitting Stations===
 
===Transmitting Stations===
There was a single T.S. with navyphones, 3 C.O.S. and 4 sets of transmitters with fire pushes.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
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There was a single T.S. with navyphones, 3 C.O.S. and 4 sets of transmitters with fire pushes.{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
  
 
===Dreyer Table===
 
===Dreyer Table===
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===Fire Control Instruments===
 
===Fire Control Instruments===
Vickers F.T.P. instruments, presumably [[Vickers F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments Mark III|Mark III]].<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>{{INF}}
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Vickers F.T.P. instruments, presumably [[Vickers F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments Mark III|Mark III]].{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}{{INF}}
  
 
==Torpedo Control==
 
==Torpedo Control==
In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of [[Bristol Class Cruiser (1909)|''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, those with submerged tubes were to be equipped with gyro angle and order instruments from fore bridge (and after control position, if present) to the tubes.  ''Birmingham'' class, if we infer it to be part of the ''Chatham'' class mentioned in the source, already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916'', p. 146.</ref>
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In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of [[Bristol Class Cruiser (1909)|''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, those with submerged tubes were to be equipped with gyro angle and order instruments from fore bridge (and after control position, if present) to the tubes.  ''Birmingham'' class, if we infer it to be part of the ''Chatham'' class mentioned in the source, already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.{{ARTS1916|p. 146}}
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 15:47, 26 September 2012

Three of the four light cruisers of the Birmingham Class were completed in 1914, but Adelaide was completed in 1922.

They were sometimes treated as the third sub-type of an encompassing "Town Class" which included the five earlier Bristol, four Weymouth, and six Chatham class as well as the following two Birkenhead class cruisers.

Overview of 4 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Birmingham Armstrong 10 Jun, 1912 7 May, 1913 Feb, 1914 Sold 5 Feb, 1931
Lowestoft Chatham Royal Dockyard 29 Jul, 1912 23 Apr, 1913 Apr, 1914 Sold 8 Jan, 1931
Nottingham Pembroke Royal Dockyard 13 Jun, 1912 18 Apr, 1913 Apr, 1914 Torpedoed 19 Aug, 1916
Adelaide Cockatoo Dockyard Jan, 1915 27 Jul, 1918 Aug, 1922 Sold Jan, 1949

Armament

The ships were armed as follows.[1]

Guns

  • Nine 6-in 45cal B.L. Mark XII guns; 4 on each broadside and 1 on CL aft.
  • Four 3-pdr

In 1915, all received a 3-in 20 cwt Mark I gun on H.A. mounting on a centreline platform abaft the funnel.

Torpedoes

  • Two 21-in submerged broadside tubes

Fire Control

Fire Control Systems[2]
Fire Control Navyphones[3]

Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter

By 1920, the two extant 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's Evershed rack.[5]

Supplies of these instruments began in June 1918.[6]

Range Dials

As of 1920, the two extant vessels Birmingham and Lowestoft were each equipped with two Range Dial Type Cs, and Adelaide was intended to, also.[7]

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

This equipment was unlikely to have been fitted for gun or searchlight control.[8]

Gunnery Control

Control Positions

There was a control top and a control platform aft with a navyphone connection between them. Both positions enjoy voicepipe connection to the T.S..[9]

Control Groups

Each broadside was arranged in 2 groups of 2 guns each. The CL gun aft was a separate group that can be operated independently or assigned to one of either aft broadside group by a C.O.S.[10]

Three 2-way change-over switches in the T.S. route signals:

  1. One is fitted in No. 1 group (forward) starboard guns circuit
  2. One is fitted in No. 1 group (forward) port guns circuit
  3. One assigns the aft CL gun to port or starboard after group's circuit

When change-over switches 1 or 2 are in their first position, the forward group is worked by its own panel of transmitters in the TS. In position 2, the forward group it is wired to is worked jointly with the aft group on the same broadside. That is, the settings are "split the broadside" or "work the fore group with the aft group".

Navyphones are also controlled by the same C.O.S. system, with telaupads at each gun. Five navyphones are in the TS to address the guns. A pair of navyphones were directly wired between the control top and the after control platform, and both platforms communicated to the T.S. by voicepipe.[11]

Directors

In 1916, it was approved that the ships of this class should be retrofitted with directors as time, resources and opportunity permitted.[12]

Birmingham and Lowestoft were probably fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918,[13] though Conway's indicates that Birmingham received hers in 1916-17 and Lowestoft received a new light pattern director in December, 1914.[14] It is almost certain that Adelaide completed with one in place, as she was completed in 1922.

Transmitting Stations

There was a single T.S. with navyphones, 3 C.O.S. and 4 sets of transmitters with fire pushes.[15]

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.[16]

Fire Control Instruments

Vickers F.T.P. instruments, presumably Mark III.[17][Inference]

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, those with submerged tubes were to be equipped with gyro angle and order instruments from fore bridge (and after control position, if present) to the tubes. Birmingham class, if we infer it to be part of the Chatham class mentioned in the source, already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.[18]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 54.
  2. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. Plate 63.
  3. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. Plate 98.
  4. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35.
  5. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35, 37.
  6. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
  7. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 45.
  8. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 29.
  9. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  10. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  11. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. Plate 63.
  12. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 175.
  13. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 11-12.
  14. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 54.
  15. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  16. absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  17. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  18. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 146.

Bibliography

  • H.M.S. Vernon. (Feb 1914) Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913, with Appendix (Wireless Telegraphy). Copy 42 at The National Archives. ADM 189/33.
  • 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.
  • 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.



Birmingham Class Light Cruiser
  Birmingham Lowestoft Nottingham Adelaide  
<– Chatham Class Minor Cruisers (UK) Arethusa Class –>