HMS Caroline (1914)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | C-class light cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Caroline |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird |
| Laid down: | 28 January 1914 |
| Launched: | 29 September 1914 |
| Commissioned: | 4 December 1914 |
| Status: | Active as headquarters and training ship for Royal Naval Reserve |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | Nominal:3,750 tons Loaded: 4,219 tons Deep: 4,733 tons |
| Length: | 420 ft (130 m) (446 ft (136 m) overall) |
| Beam: | 41.5 ft (12.6 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (5 m) maximum. |
| Propulsion: | 4 shaft Parsons turbines Power: 40,000 shp |
| Speed: | 28.5 knots (53 km/h) |
| Range: | carried 405 tons (772 tons maximum) of fuel oil |
| Complement: | 325 |
| Armament: | As built:
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| Armour: | Belt: 3 to 1 in Decks: 1 inch |
| Motto: | Tennax Proposti |
| Honours and awards: | Jutland 1916 |
HMS Caroline is a C-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy (RN). Caroline was launched and commissioned in 1914, making her the second-oldest ship in RN service, after HMS Victory. She acts as a static headquarters and training ship for the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), based in Alexandra Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is the last remaining British World War I light cruiser in service, and the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland still afloat.
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[edit] Construction and service
HMS Caroline was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead. She was launched in 1914 and commissioned on 4 December 1914.
[edit] Early service
She served in the North Sea throughout the First World War. She spent much of the war with the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron: Caroline fought with the squadron in 1916 in the Battle of Jutland, under the command of Captain H. R. Crooke.
Caroline later served on the East Indies Station before being placed in Reserve and converted to a headquarters and training ship for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve's (RNVR) Ulster Division in 1924.
[edit] World War II
During World War II Caroline served as the Royal Navy's headquarters in Belfast Harbour which was used as a home base by many of the warships escorting Atlantic and Russian convoys including Captain-class frigates of the 3rd Escort Group.
As Belfast developed into a major naval base during World War II, it outgrew the confines of HMS Caroline herself and occupied different establishments in various parts of the city. Eventually several thousand ratings were wearing Caroline cap tallies. The first such establishment was set up in the Belfast Custom House. Later, Belfast Castle was taken over and included a radio station. There were depth charge pistol and Hedgehog repair workshops associated with HMS Caroline some of which would have been on the quays beside her berth in Milewater Basin.
During the early part of World War II when RAF Belfast occupied Sydenham (Belfast harbour) airfield, Fleet Air Arm personnel based there were lodged under HMS Caroline. In 1943 the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty and commissioned as HMS Gadwell.
[edit] Post War
Caroline is the last afloat training establishment in the RNR and is expected to be decommissioned by 2011, to be replaced by a "stone frigate" onshore training establishment. When she is decommissioned, Caroline may be moved to Portsmouth as a museum ship.
Although no longer capable of making way under her own steam, she remains afloat and in excellent condition. Several years ago, she tore out her moorings after being buffeted by a manoeuvring hydrofoil ferry, and left her quay before some auxiliary moorings arrested her bid for freedom. She does still try to escape during particularly high winds - in 2005, during a storm, she ripped several huge bollards out of the jetty concrete, but failed to break free entirely. Entrance can be gained every year during Titanic celebrations, on application to the Belfast City Council tourist office.
[edit] Records
As well as being the second-oldest ship in RN service, the last British World War I light cruiser in service, and the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland still afloat, HMS Caroline is also the third oldest commissioned warship in the world — behind HMS Victory (launched in 1765 and commissioned in 1778) and USS Constitution (launched and commissioned in 1797) — and the second oldest commissioned warship afloat, as Victory has been in drydock since 1922.
Caroline retains the record of having the fastest build time of any significant warship - nine months from her keel being laid till her launch. Her Parsons steam turbines are the last surviving examples of the kind introduced after the notable event of Parson's Turbinia cutting up the fleet at the Spithead review in 1897. Harland & Wolff of Belfast removed her weaponry and boilers on arrival in Belfast around 1924.
[edit] References
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
- Ships of the Caroline class
- Royal Navy - HMS Caroline
- Jane's Fighting Ships for 1919 - Caroline-class (webarchive)
- Warships1.com - Caroline-class (webarchive)
[edit] Further reading
- Allison, R.S. (1974). HMS Caroline: a brief account of some warships bearing the name, and in particular of HMS Caroline (1914-1974), and of her part in the development of the Ulster Division, RNVR, and later RNR. Belfast: The Blackstaff Press. ISBN 085640 056 4.
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| List of ship names of the Royal Navy | |||
