Hawkins class cruiser
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 Raleigh grounded on Point Amour in 1922 |
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| Hawkins-class |  |
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| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9750 tons standard / 12,190 tons full load |
| Length: | 565 feet (p/p) / 605 feet (o/a) |
| Beam: | 58 feet / 65 feet across bulges |
| Draught: | 17¼ feet / 20½ feet full load |
| Propulsion: | 10 Yarrow-type oil-fired water-tube boilers (8 oil, 2 coal-fired in Hawkins until 1929), Parsons (Brown-Curtis in Frobisher, Effingham) geared steam turbines, 4 shafts, 70,000 shp (60,000 shp Hawkins) |
| Speed: | 31 kts (30 kts Hawkins) |
| Range: | 5,400 nm at 14 kts |
| Complement: | 712 / 750 flag |
| Armament: (design) |
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| Armament: (as completed, except Vindictive) |
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| Armour: |
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The Hawkins class was a class of five heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy designed in 1915 and constructed throughout the First World War. The class was initially known after the lead ship, as the Cavendish class, but that ship was completed as the aircraft carrier Vindictive and the first completed as a cruiser was Hawkins. All ships were named after Elizabethan sea captains, hence they are sometimes unofficially described as the Elizabethan class. The three ships remaining as cruisers in 1939 served in World War II, with Effingham being an early war loss; this was unusual since Raleigh was lost in a similar shipwreck on uncharted rocks in 1922. This class formed the basis for the definition of the heavy cruiser type under the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.
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[edit] Design
The ships were improved versions of the Birmingham sub-class of the Town-class cruisers, thus they were initially known as the "Improved Birmingham" type. Their lineage descended through an intermediate sketch design of 1912 known as the "Atlantic Cruiser", armed with a combination of 7.5 and 6 inch (190 and 152 mm) guns, designed to counter reported large German cruisers armed with 170 mm (6.8 inch) guns.
In 1915, a new design of cruiser was prepared for trade protection on distant waters, for which a heavy armament, long range and high speed was required; meaning a large ship. Previous large cruisers had been of the armoured cruiser or protected cruiser type. These ships had been made obsolete by the adoption of oil-firing and the steam turbine engine and had been superseded by the battlecruiser and the light cruiser. The Cavendish design was basically a light cruiser enlarged sufficiently to increase their range and armament as required. A mixed armament of 9.2 and 6 inch was rejected after wartime experience illustrated the difficulty of controlling a mixed battery as shell splashes could not be differentiated. Thus, a uniform battery of 7.5 inch calibre was adopted, controlled by the innovation of director firing.
The boilers were initially a combination of coal and oil firing to ensure a supply of fuel on distant stations; coal being more available and the ships could cruise on coal firing alone. The installed power was 60,000 shp for 30 knots. However, only Hawkins and Vindictive were completed as such. The other ships were not constructed with much haste and were completed post-war with oil-firing only, increasing power to 70,000 shp for 31 knots.
[edit] Vindictive
Cavendish was altered to an aircraft carrier, Vindictive, while building, and her construction was rushed to bring her into service. She had a 100 foot flying-off platform forwards and a 215 foot landing deck aft and a hangar for up to eight aircraft. She was armed with four 7.5 inch and six 12 pounder guns. In 1923 she reverted back to a cruiser, but retained the hangar forwards thus did not ship 'B' gun, a crane and catapult being carried instead for seaplanes.
[edit] Modifications
No ships were completed with the original design secondary armament. Hawkins carried only the 12 pounder anti-aircraft (A/A) guns, her sisters having two (Raleigh) or three (Frobisher, Effingham) QF 4 inch Mark V guns on mountings HA Mark III. In 1929, Hawkins had her 12 pounder guns replaced by an equal number of the same model of 4 inch guns as her sisters. Frobisher was partially disarmed as a training ship in 1932, but reverted to a cruiser in 1937 when Vindictive was specially demilitarised for this role.
The ships were scheduled for disposal in 1936, but rising international tensions caused their retention. In 1937, Effingham was rebuilt as a light cruiser with nine BL 6 Mark XII guns on single mountings CP Mark XIV. These were shipped superfiring forwards in 'A', 'B' and 'C' positions, on either wing, triple aft in 'W', 'X' and 'Y' positions with the ninth gun being on the quarterdeck in position 'Z'. The after boiler rooms were removed and the remaining uptakes trunked into a single large funnel. Secondary armament was eight QF 4 inch Mark XVI on twin mountings HA/LA Mark XIX, eight QF 2 pounder Mark VIII guns on two quadruple mountings Mark VII and twelve 0.5 inch Vickers machine guns on three quadruple mountings Mark I. The submerged torpedo tubes were removed. She had a new bridge and spotting top and carried a crane amiships, the catapult and aircraft were never fitted.
It had been planned to rebuild Hawkins and Frobisher on similar lines, but other priorities prevented this. They were re-armed for war with all their 7.5 inch guns, except in Frobisher which had the wing guns removed so that the 4 inch gun deck could be extended out to the ship's sides. In 1940, they received two (Hawkins) or four (Frobisher) quadruple 2 pounder "multiple pom-pom" mountings and seven (Frobisher) or eight (Hawkins) 20 mm Oerlikon guns on single mountings P Mark III. They received an outfit of centimetric Radar Type 273 target indication on the bridge, Type 286 air warning at the mastheads, Type 275 on the HACS 4 inch gun director for ranging and bearing and, in Frobisher only, a pair of Type 282 sets on the pom-pom directors on the bridge. Further wartime additions increased the number of 20 mm guns.
[edit] Service
Effingham was an early war loss, during the Norwegian Campaign, grounding on an uncharted shoal, she had to be destroyed by friendly forces. Hawkins served in World War II as a convoy escort in the Indian Ocean, also provided gunfire support during Normandy landings. Frobisher Served in World War II as a convoy escort and a depot ship for the Normandy landings. They were relegated to training roles by 1945, with a corresponding reduction in armament.
[edit] Ships
- Hawkins, named after John Hawkins, built by HM Dockyard Chatham, laid down June 3, 1916, launched October 1, 1917, completed 19 July 1919, sold for scrapping 1947
- Raleigh, named after Walter Raleigh, built by William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir, laid down December 9, 1915, launched 28 August 1919, completed July 1921, wrecked Point Amour, Forteau Bay, Labrador August 8, 1922, stripped & wreck demolished September 1926
- Frobisher, named after Martin Frobisher, built by HM Dockyard Devonport, laid down 2 August 1916, launched 20 March 1920, completed October 3, 1924, sold for scrapping 1949
- Effingham, named after Charles Howard, Lord Effingham, built by HM Dockyard Portsmouth, laid down 2 April 1917, launched 8 June 1921, completed 9 July 1925, rebuilt as light cruiser 1937, wrecked Faksen Shoal, Bodø, Norway 18 May 1940, destroyed by gunfire & torpedoes by HMS Matabele 21 May 1940
- Cavendish, named after Thomas Cavendish, built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, laid down July 1916, launched 17 January 1918 completed as aircraft carrier Vindictive 21 September 1918, redesigned as an aircraft carrier, launched on 17 January 1918, converted to cruiser 1923–1925, training ship 1937, repair ship 1944, sold for scrapping 1945
[edit] References
- The Grand Fleet, Warship Design and Development 1906-1922, D. K. Brown, Chatham Publishing, ISBN 1-86176-099-X
- Cruisers of World War Two; An International Encyclopedia, M. J. Whitley, Caxton Editions, ISBN 1-86019-874-0
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946, Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
- British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H. T. Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
| Hawkins-class cruiser |
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Effingham | Frobisher | Hawkins | Raleigh | Vindictive |
| List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |
