Difference between revisions of "Chatham Class Cruiser (1911)"

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==Armament==
 
==Armament==
 
===Guns===
 
===Guns===
The ships carried eight 6-in B.L. guns at the outset of war.<ref>''Technical History and Index'' Vol. 4, Part 36, p. 4.</ref>
+
The ships carried eight 6-in B.L. guns at the outset of war.{{UKTHVol4Part36|p. 4}}
  
 
===Torpedoes===
 
===Torpedoes===
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===Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter===
 
===Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter===
By 1920, these 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, these 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 devices began in June 1918.{{FCHMShips|pp. 25-6}}
 
Supplies of these devices began in June 1918.{{FCHMShips|pp. 25-6}}
  
 
===Range Dials===
 
===Range Dials===
As of 1920, ''Brisbane'' had two [[Range Dial Type C]]s, ''Melbourne'' had one [[Range Dial Type B]] and a [[Range Dial Type BR]].  The remaining ships each a [[Range Dial Type B]] and a [[Range Dial Type C|Type C]].<ref>''Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 45.</ref>
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As of 1920, ''Brisbane'' had two [[Range Dial Type C]]s, ''Melbourne'' had one [[Range Dial Type B]] and a [[Range Dial Type BR]].  The remaining ships each a [[Range Dial Type B]] and a [[Range Dial Type C|Type C]].{{UKManGun1920III|p. 45}}
  
 
===Rangefinders===
 
===Rangefinders===
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For some reason, this class is not listed in Appendix I of ''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', but I would suppose that the next paragraph applies to ''Chatham'' as it did to the ''Weymouth'' class that preceded it, but that the Mark III supposition is more plausible.
 
For some reason, this class is not listed in Appendix I of ''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', but I would suppose that the next paragraph applies to ''Chatham'' as it did to the ''Weymouth'' class that preceded it, but that the Mark III supposition is more plausible.
  
The four ships in this class were likely completed with the latest [[Vickers F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments Mark III]]{{ARTS1910|p. 148}} in the manner of the ''Weymouth'' as follows:<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909'', pp. 57, 60.</ref><ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
+
The four ships in this class were likely completed with the latest [[Vickers F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments Mark III]]{{ARTS1910|p. 148}} in the manner of the ''Weymouth'' as follows:{{HFCI1909|pp. 57, 60}}{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
 
* Range Transmitters:  2 (P & S)
 
* Range Transmitters:  2 (P & S)
 
* Deflection Transmitters:  2 (P & S)
 
* Deflection Transmitters:  2 (P & S)
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* Vickers Fire Gongs: 8 with 2 keys
 
* Vickers Fire Gongs: 8 with 2 keys
  
By 1915, a 4-way {{COS}} had been added to permit some freedom in assigning the CL guns to either broadside group:<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
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By 1915, a 4-way {{COS}} had been added to permit some freedom in assigning the CL guns to either broadside group:{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
 
# both on port
 
# both on port
 
# both on starboard
 
# both on starboard
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In addition, navyphones addressing telaupads at the guns supported a finer control by breaking each broadside down into 2 groups, fore and aft.  3-way change-over (fore, after, separate) switches dictated which navyphones addressed which guns.  The aft navyphones were in the aft control platform.  The fore navyphones could be either in the fore control platform or plugged in in the TS.<ref>I'm not 1000% sure I understand this description, either.</ref>
 
In addition, navyphones addressing telaupads at the guns supported a finer control by breaking each broadside down into 2 groups, fore and aft.  3-way change-over (fore, after, separate) switches dictated which navyphones addressed which guns.  The aft navyphones were in the aft control platform.  The fore navyphones could be either in the fore control platform or plugged in in the TS.<ref>I'm not 1000% sure I understand this description, either.</ref>
  
The CL guns can be joined to either broadside battery by 2-way switches located in the TS and the control platforms (when the control platform switches are used, the TS switches are left "off".  In the other case, plugs were removed at the control platform switches).<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914'', p. 65.</ref>
+
The CL guns can be joined to either broadside battery by 2-way switches located in the TS and the control platforms (when the control platform switches are used, the TS switches are left "off".  In the other case, plugs were removed at the control platform switches).{{HFCI1914|p. 65}}
  
 
==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 C.T., 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.  ''Chatham'' class already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.<ref>''Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916'', p. 146.</ref>
+
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 C.T., 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.  ''Chatham'' class already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.{{ARTS1916|p. 146}}
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 16:08, 26 September 2012

The six light cruisers of the Chatham Class were completed between 1912 and 1916.

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

Overview of 6 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Chatham Chatham Royal Dockyard 3 Jan, 1911 19 Nov, 1911 Dec, 1912 Sold 13 Jul, 1926
Dublin Beardmore 3 Jan, 1911 30 Apr, 1912 11 Mar, 1913 Sold Jul, 1926
Southampton John Brown 6 Apr, 1911 16 May, 1912 Nov, 1912 Sold
Brisbane Cockatoo Dockyard 25 Jan, 1913 30 Sep, 1915 Nov, 1916 Sold
Melbourne Cammell Laird 14 Apr, 1911 30 May, 1912 Jan, 1913 Sold 8 Dec, 1928
Sydney London & Glasgow 11 Feb, 1911 29 Aug, 1912 Jun, 1913 Broken up 1846

Armament

Guns

The ships carried eight 6-in B.L. guns at the outset of war.[1]

Torpedoes

Two 21-in submerged broadside tubes forward depressed 2 degrees with the axis of the tube 1 foot 5.25 inches above the deck.[2]

Fire Control

Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter

By 1920, these ships were equipped with Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.[3] 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.[4]

Supplies of these devices began in June 1918.[5]

Range Dials

As of 1920, Brisbane had two Range Dial Type Cs, Melbourne had one Range Dial Type B and a Range Dial Type BR. The remaining ships each a Range Dial Type B and a Type C.[6]

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

As of 1919, this equipment was unlikely to have been fitted for gun or searchlight control, but it may have been present by 1920 to support the Aids-to-Spotters.[7]

Gunnery Control

Directors

In 1916, it was approved that the ships of this class should be retrofitted with directors as time, resources and opportunity permitted.[8]

All ships except Brisbane (owing to her service in the Pacific) were fitted with directors in 1917 and 1918.[9]

Transmitting Stations

Dreyer Table

These ships had no fire control tables.[10]

Fire Control Instruments

For some reason, this class is not listed in Appendix I of Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, but I would suppose that the next paragraph applies to Chatham as it did to the Weymouth class that preceded it, but that the Mark III supposition is more plausible.

The four ships in this class were likely completed with the latest Vickers F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments Mark III[11] in the manner of the Weymouth as follows:[12][13]

  • Range Transmitters: 2 (P & S)
  • Deflection Transmitters: 2 (P & S)
  • Range Receivers: 8
  • Deflection Receivers: 8
  • C.O.S.: none
  • Vickers Fire Gongs: 8 with 2 keys

By 1915, a 4-way C.O.S. had been added to permit some freedom in assigning the CL guns to either broadside group:[14]

  1. both on port
  2. both on starboard
  3. fore on port, aft on starboard
  4. aft on port, fore on starboard

In addition, navyphones addressing telaupads at the guns supported a finer control by breaking each broadside down into 2 groups, fore and aft. 3-way change-over (fore, after, separate) switches dictated which navyphones addressed which guns. The aft navyphones were in the aft control platform. The fore navyphones could be either in the fore control platform or plugged in in the TS.[15]

The CL guns can be joined to either broadside battery by 2-way switches located in the TS and the control platforms (when the control platform switches are used, the TS switches are left "off". In the other case, plugs were removed at the control platform switches).[16]

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. 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. Chatham class already has (or will have) Barr and Stroud for this purpose.[17]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 36. p. 4.
  2. Addenda (1911) to Torpedo Manual, Vol. III., 1909, p. 155.
  3. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35.
  4. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35, 37.
  5. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
  6. Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 45.
  7. see The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29. and above section
  8. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 175.
  9. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 11-12.
  10. absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  11. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1910. p. 148.
  12. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. pp. 57, 60.
  13. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  14. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  15. I'm not 1000% sure I understand this description, either.
  16. Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 65.
  17. 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 (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.



Chatham Class Light Cruiser
  Chatham Dublin Southampton  
  Brisbane Melbourne Sydney  
<– Weymouth Class Minor Cruisers (UK) Birmingham Class –>