Town-class cruiser (1936)

HMS Belfast
Class overview
Name:	Town-class cruiser
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Arethusa-class
Succeeded by:	Dido class
Subclasses:	Southampton Gloucester Edinburgh
Completed:	10
Lost:	4
Preserved:	1
General characteristics
Class & type:	Light cruiser
Displacement:	Southampton class: 11,540 long tons (11,730 t) Gloucester class: 11,930 long tons (12,120 t) Edinburgh class: 13,175 long tons (13,386 t)
Length:	Southampton and Gloucester classes: 591 ft 7.2 in (180.3 m) Edinburgh class: 613 ft 7.2 in (187.0 m)
Beam:	Southampton class: 62 ft 3.6 in (19.0 m) Gloucester and Edinburgh classes: 64 ft 10.8 in (19.8 m)
Draught:	Southampton class: 20 ft (6.10 m) Gloucester class: 20 ft 7.2 in (6.28 m) Edinburgh class: 22 ft 7.2 in (6.89 m)
Installed power:	Southampton class: 75,000 shp (55,900 kW) Gloucester and Edinburgh classes: 82,500 shp (61,500 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons steam turbines 4 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	Southampton class:32 kn (36.8 mph; 59.3 km/h) Gloucester and Edinburgh classes:32.25 kn (37.1 mph; 59.7 km/h)
Range:	5,300 nmi (6,100 mi; 9,800 km) at 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Capacity:	1,325 short tons (1,202 t) fuel oil
Complement:	750
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar
Armament:	Southampton and Gloucester classes, as designed: 12 × BL 6 in (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (4x3) 8 × QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark XVI guns (4x2) 8 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) Mark VIII pom-pom guns (2x4) 8 × .5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3) Edinburgh class, as designed: 12 × BL 6 in (152 mm) Mark XXIII guns (4x3) 12 × QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark XVI guns (6x2) 16 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) Mark VIII pom-pom guns (2x8) 8 × .5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x3)
Aircraft carried:	2 × Supermarine Walrus flying boats (removed in the latter part of WWII)
Aviation facilities:	1 × catapult

The Town class was a 10-ship class of light cruisers of the Royal Navy. The Towns were designed to the constraints imposed by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The ships were built in three distinct sub-classes, the Southampton, Gloucester and Edinburgh classes respectively, each sub-class adding on further weaponry.

Armament

Mk XXII turret with rounded contours mounted on Southampton and Gloucester sub-classes

Mk XXIII turret with squared-off contours mounted on the Edinburgh sub-class

Like their US and Japanese counterparts of that era, the Town-class cruisers were "light cruisers" in the strict terms of the Treaty. The London Treaty defined a "light cruiser" as one having a main armament no greater than 6.1 in (155 mm) calibre, all three major naval powers sought to circumvent the limitations on heavy cruiser numbers by building "light cruisers" that were equal in size and effective power to heavy cruisers. These ships made up for their smaller calibre guns by carrying larger numbers of them.

All of these ships carried BL 6-inch Mk XXIII guns in triple turrets, with the centre gun mounted 30 in (76 cm) behind the two outer guns to prevent interference between the shells in flight and to give the gunners more room to work in.^[1] The turret roofs had cutouts at the front to allow extreme elevation, originally intended to give the guns an anti-aircraft capability, although the guns could not be trained or manually loaded quickly enough in practice for continuous anti-aircraft fire so the Royal Navy designed the ABU, which allowed the guns to be preloaded with time fuzed shells, and then fired when the target aircraft reached the preset range. These ships were equipped with the HACS AA fire control system for the secondary armament and the Admiralty Fire Control Table for surface fire control of the main armament.

Southampton class

The Southampton class was the first and the subsequent two sub-classes were also known as modified or improved Southamptons. They had originally been built in response to the US Brooklyn-class and Japanese Mogami-class light-cruisers.

Gloucester class

The subsequent Gloucesters had a redesigned deck and received thicker armour on the gun turrets.

Edinburgh class

The Edinburgh class were longer at 614 ft (187 m) compared to 592 ft (180 m), initially to allow an increase in the main armament from twelve 6 in (152 mm) guns in four triple turrets as in the two previous sub-classes, to sixteen 6 in guns in four quadruple turrets. The idea was soon shelved however, due to the difficulties in actually manufacturing an effective quadruple 6 in turret, and so the class reverted to the original main armament design, although improved through a "long trunk" Mk XXIII turret design, which reduced the crew requirements and increased the speed of the ammunition hoists.^[2] Four extra 4 in (102 mm) "High Angle Low Angle" guns and eight extra 2-pounder (40 mm) guns and further armour protection were added instead.

Later improvements

All were heavily modified during the Second World War and after the Korean War; Glasgow, Sheffield and Newcastle had one aft turret replaced by two quad 40 mm Bofors guns during the Second World War, since there was insufficient space to fit the needed extra anti-aircraft guns and retain the turret. This was not a problem in the Edinburghs, because they were longer and had more room. They still had substantial modifications to their weaponry, including addition of 40 mm Bofors guns. The addition of radar equipment during the Second World War, aided the ships' combat effectiveness.

Service

The first Town-class ship was launched in 1936 and commissioned in 1937, just two years before the outbreak of war. The Town class saw much service during the Second World War and took in many famous actions, such as the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst. Four were sunk during the war, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Manchester, and Southampton. Many of the surviving ships saw successful service during the Korean War and continued in active service to the end of the 1950s. The last Town-class ship to be scrapped was Sheffield in 1967. One Town-class warship — Belfast — remains, moored on the River Thames in London as a museum-ship of the Imperial War Museum, a role she has performed since 1971.

Ships

See also

• Crown Colony-class cruiser

Notes

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Tony DiGiulian, Britain 6"/50 (15.2 cm) BL Mark XXIII

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Town class cruiser (1936).