HMS Cressy (1899)
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 HMS Cressy |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Cressy-class armoured cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Cressy |
| Builder: | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan |
| Laid down: | October 1898 |
| Launched: | December 4, 1899 |
| Fate: | Sunk by U-9 on September 22, 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 12,000 tons |
| Length: | 472 ft (144 m) |
| Beam: | 69.5 ft (21.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | triple expansion engines twin screws |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
| Armament: | 2 × 9.2 inch guns 12 × 6 inch guns 13 × 12 pdr guns |
HMS Cressy was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser in the Royal Navy. Cressy was sunk by the German U-boat U-9 in September 1914.
Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Aboukir and her sister ships Bacchante, Euryalus, Hogue and Cressy were assigned to patrol the Broad Fourteens of the North Sea, in support of a force of destroyers and submarines based at Harwich which blocked the Eastern end of the English Channel from German warships attempting to attack the supply route between England and France. Because the smaller vessels were unable to operate in rough seas, the cruisers often formed the front line.[1] As the cruisers were obsolescent, this was referred to as the "Live Bait Squadron".
At around 6 am on 22 September the three cruisers were steaming at 10 knots (19 km/h) in line ahead and they were spotted by the U-9, commanded by Lt. Otto Weddigen. Although they were not zigzagging, all of the ships had lookouts posted to search for periscopes and one gun on each side of each ship was manned.
Weddigen ordered his submarine to submerge and closed the range to the unsuspecting British ships. At close range, he fired a single torpedo at the Aboukir. The torpedo broke the back of the Aboukir and she sank within 20 minutes with the loss of 527 men.
The captains of the Cressy and Hogue thought the Aboukir had struck a floating mine and came forward to assist her. They stood by and began to pick up survivors. At this point, Weddigen fired two torpedoes into the Hogue, mortally wounding that ship. As the Hogue sank, the captain of the Cressy realised that the squadron was being attacked by a submarine, and tried to flee. However, Weddigen fired two more torpedoes into the Cressy, and sank her as well.
[edit] References
- ^ Robert K. Massie (2004). Castles of Steel. Jonathan Cape, 128-131. ISBN 0-224-04092-8.
- 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.
[edit] See also
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