York class cruiser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS York |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by: | County class |
| Succeeded by: | Leander class |
| Planned: | 7 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Cancelled: | 5 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics York, as per Lenton[1] | |
| Type: | York heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: | 8,250 tons standard / 10,350 tons full load |
| Length: | 540 ft (164.6 m) p/p 575 ft (175.25 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 57 ft (17.58 m) |
| Draught: | 17 ft (6.17 m) |
| Propulsion: | Eight Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers Parsons geared steam turbines 80,000 shp (59700 kW) on four shafts |
| Speed: | 32.25 kt (30.25 knots full load) |
| Range: | 1,900 tons oil fuel; 10,000 nmi (20,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 623 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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| Aircraft carried: | One x Fairey Seafox |
| Aviation facilities: | rotating catapult |
| General characteristics (Exeter, as per Lenton[1]) | |
| Displacement: | 8,390 tons standard / 10,410 tons full load |
| Beam: | 58 ft (17.67 m) |
| Complement: | 630 |
| Armour: | as Exeter, except;
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| Aircraft carried: | Two x Fairey Seafox, later Supermarine Walrus |
| Aviation facilities: | Two fixed catapults |
| Notes: | Other characteristics as per York |
The York class was the second and last class of 8-inch (203 mm) gunned (heavy) cruisers built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. The were essentially a reduced version of the preceding County class, scaled down in an effort to extract more, smaller ships from the treaty limits. They can be described as "treaty cruisers", the term "heavy cruiser" not being defined until the London Naval Conference of 1930[2] [1]. Two ships were constructed (HMS York and Exeter), although three more were at one stage planned before the 8-inch gunned cruiser fell out of favour with the Royal Navy.
[edit] Design
The Royal Navy had a need for smaller cruisers than the County class, the largest design possible under the Washington limits, in order that more could be built under the strict defence economies of post-war, depression-era Britain. The only way to afford such savings was to reduce either armament, armour or speed. As the latter two options were unnaceptable, the former was chosen, and as a result the Yorks suppressed 'X' turret to ship six 8-inch (203 mm) guns, judged to be the minimum number required to allow fall of shot to be accurately spotted. The economies in size allowed for a 50 feet (15 m) reduction in length and 9 feet (3 m) in beam over the Counties, although installed power was unchanged to maintain speed. The Yorks saved 1,750 tons in net weight, but the reductions in cost of £250,000 and manpower of 50 was something of an uneconomical saving.
Compared to the County class, protection was much improved, with a 3 inch thick, 8 feet (2 m) deep main belt and an armoured lower deck joining at its top edge. To shorten the belt length, the amidship magazine found on the Counties was removed (reduced armament required less magazine space anyway). The magazines were proteced by fore and aft "box citadels" extending beyond the belt. As the amdiships magazine had been removed, the secondary 4-inch (102 mm) guns were moved forwards to keep them closer to the supply of charge and shell provided from the forward magazine. It is believed that this additional armour was what saved the Exeter at the Battle of the River Plate.
Armament was as per the Counties, excepting the suppression of 'X' turret, and owing to insufficient training space on the narrower beam, only triple torpedo tubes were carried. There was no provision in the original design for the then new QF 2 pdr "multiple pom-pom", leaving an inadequate anti-aircraft armament of only two quadruple 0.5 in Vickers machine guns (fitted eventually in 1935, single 2 pdrs being carried in lieu).
As a result of the magazine changes, and to keep the funnels distant from the bridge, only two funnels were required; the forward boiler room uptakes trunked up into a large fore-funnel. This was raked in York to clear the flue gasses from the bridge, but was straight in Exeter owing to an altered bridge design and more extensive trunking. To maintain homogeneity of appearance, York stepped raked masts and Exeter vertical ones. York had a tall "platform" style bridge as seen in the Counties, which was somewhat distant from 'B' turret. This was because it had been intended to fit a catapult and floatplane to the roof of the turret, which needed clearance distance and required a tall bridge to provide forward view. The roof of the turret, however, was not sufficiently strong to carry this catapult and it was never fitted. Exeter was ordered two years later and the bridge was redesigned in light of this, being lower, further forward and fully enclosed, as later seen in the Leander and Arethusa classes.
York eventually received a rotating catapult amidships behind the funnels, and Exeter had a fixed pair in the same location, firing forwards and angled out from the centreline. A crane for recovery was located to starboard and one aircraft could be carried, initially a Fairey Seafox and later, in Exeter, a Supermarine Walrus.
[edit] Ships
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| York | 90 | Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company, Jarrow | 1927-05-16 | 1928-02-17 | 1930-05-06 | Rammed and damaged by Italian explosive motor boat Suda Bay 1941-03-06, beached and bombed by German aircraft, abandoned 1941-05-22, salvaged and scrapped 1952 |
| Exeter | 68 | HM Dockyard, Devonport | 1928-08-01 | 1929-07-13 | 1931-07-31 | Sunk by gunfire from Japanese cruisers Haguro and Nachi in Java Sea 1942-02-28 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H. T. Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- ^ Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition, Leo Marriot, 2005, Leo Cooper Ltd., ISBN 1-8441-5188-3
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
- 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.
- York class at Uboat.net
- WWII cruisers
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