Caroline Class Cruiser (1914)

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The six light cruisers of the Caroline Class (sometimes called the Comus Class) were completed in 1914 and 1915. This class is sometimes considered part of either the Cambrian or Calliope classes (it is never easy to tell).[1]

Overview of 6 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Caroline Cammell Laird 28 Jan, 1914 29 Sep, 1914 Dec, 1914 Preserved
Carysfort Hawthorn Leslie 25 Feb, 1914 14 Nov, 1914 Jun, 1915 Sold 1931
Cleopatra Cammell Laird 26 Feb, 1914 14 Jan, 1915 Jun, 1915 Sold 1931
Comus Swan Hunter 3 Nov, 1913 16 Dec, 1914 Jan, 1915 Sold 28 Jul, 1934
Conquest Chatham Royal Dockyard 3 Mar, 1914 20 Jan, 1915 Jun, 1915 Sold 29 Aug, 1930
Cordelia Pembroke Royal Dockyard 21 Jul, 1913 23 Feb, 1914 Jan, 1915 Sold 31 Jul, 1923

Design

The Arethusa class had a 6-in gun forward and another aft, but this class moved the forward one aft as well in order to ensure it could be operable in any sea state and also to facilitate control of the 6-in guns by placing them close together.[2]

Machinery

Generators

In 1916, it was stated that ""C" and "D" class light cruisers" have three 52.5 kw dynamos at 105 volts.[3] It is possible that this description encompasses this class.

Armament

Guns

The ships of Caroline, Calliope and Cambrian classes had their gun armament increased as the war went on.[4]

Original:

  • Two 6-in 45cal B.L. Mark XII guns aft on P VII mountings, able to elevate 15 degrees.[5]
  • Eight semi-automatic 4-in 45cal Q.F. Mark V guns; 2 in tandem forward, 3 on each beam

This configuration drew criticism and it was proposed in 1915 to place a third gun forward in lieu of the pair of 4-in guns originally situated there as:[6]

  • the 6-in guns had superior range and hitting power
  • the German 4.1-in gun on the opposing light cruisers was found to outrange the British 4-in Q.F. Mark V guns
  • intelligence indicated that the next German light cruisers might move to 5.9-in guns and the older ships may also get larger weapons
  • it was desired to augment the firepower in closing actions

This resulted in the configuration, decided upon in June 1916 to effect the alteration (all completed by summer 1917) for 12 ships described as the "Calliope class", but by the number 12 almost certainly indicating Calliope, Cambrian and Caroline classes:[7]

  • Two tandem 4-in guns forward replaced by third 6-in gun.
  • one 4-in H.A. gun on an ad hoc "H.A. I" or "H.A. II" mounting to replace 3-pdr Vickers H.A. gun, with a second to appear when guns and proper H.A. III mountings became available.

The 6-in mountings were modified to a 20 degree elevation limit, increased from the original limit of 15 degrees, as the ships were refitted for director firing in late 1917-1918.[8][9]

In October 1916, Commodore, Harwich Force recommended removing all 4-in guns but the forward-most pair which would be converted to H.A. mountings. By removing five 4-in guns, a fourth 6-in gun could be mounted abaft the funnel. A variation on this was to be applied in 1918, though logistics slowed the work:[10]

  • all 4-in guns removed except the single H.A. mounting (presumably, H.A. III. There is no solid evidence that the second one was ever shipped)
  • Fourth 6-in gun on elevated CL platform abaft funnels (on P VII* mountings, as the P VII supplies were nil)

A final 1918 rearmament was to provide two 3-in H.A. guns in the positions where 4-in H.A. guns had previously been discussed. This plan was never was put into effect.

By the end of 1918, all the Carolines but Comus had four 6-in P VII 20 degree mountings and one 4-in H.A. gun. Comus had merely had her three 6-in mountings modified for 20 degree elevation, but was brought up to spec after the Armistice and prior to 1921.[11]

Torpedoes

Original:

  • Four 21-in tubes in two twin mountings (abreast?)

Later:

  • additional twin tubes mounted abaft originals

More data on alterations in Conway's.

Fire Control

Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter

By 1920, these ships were equipped with Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.[12] The installations generally consisted of placing one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from a gearbox on the director tower.[13]

Supplies of these devices began in June 1918.[14]

Range Dials

As of 1920, none of the ships seem to have been equipped.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18]

Gunnery Control

Directors

All six ships were fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918.[19]

The director was on a pedestal mounting without a tower. Likely, there was no directing gun.[20]

The elevation limits of their weapons may have increased in late 1917 or early 1918, resulting in orders for adapting their director systems issued 13 November, 1917. It is not clear whether these alterations were for the entire class or just Caroline herself, or when they were effected.[21]

Transmitting Stations

Dreyer Table

Most of these ships had no fire control tables during the war, but by June 1918, Comus and Carysfort are listed as having Dreyer Turret Control Tables in their T.S.es, and by 1930 all but Caroline were so equipped (Cordelia had been scrapped in 1923).[22]

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 C.T., and that a flexible voice pipe be fitted between these positions.[23]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 4.
  2. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 4.
  3. Annual Report of the Torpedo School', 1916', p. 120.
  4. Technical History and Index indicates on page 4 that "12 ships of the "Cambrian" and "Calliope" Class" were so modified. That the Caroline ships are part of this total of 12 ships is made clear on page 7.
  5. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. pp. 5-6.
  6. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. pp. 4-5.
  7. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 5.
  8. Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918", p. 10.
  9. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 6.
  10. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. pp. 5-7.
  11. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 7.
  12. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35.
  13. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35, 37.
  14. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
  15. absent from Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920, p. 45.
  16. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 199. (possibly pertinent: C.I.O. 481/17).
  17. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 29.
  18. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 29.
  19. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 11-12.
  20. 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.
  21. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 14.
  22. Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. p. 3, Pamphlet on the Turret Dreyer Table as fitted in the turrets of H.M. battleships and in the transmitting stations of certain cruisers, 1930, p. 4.
  23. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 146.

Bibliography

  • Admiralty, Technical History Section (1920). The Technical History and Index: Alteration in Armaments of H.M. Ships during the War. Vol. 4, Part 34. C.B. 1515 (34) now O.U. 6171/20. At The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.
  • 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 (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.
  • Admiralty, Gunnery and Torpedo Division (July, 1919). Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918. C.B. 902. The National Archives. ADM 186/238.


Caroline Class Light Cruiser
  Caroline Carysfort Cleopatra  
  Comus Conquest Cordelia  
<– Arethusa Class Minor Cruisers (UK) Calliope Class –>