HMS Chatham (1911)
 | |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Chatham |
| Namesake: | Chatham, Kent |
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 3 January 1911 |
| Launched: | 9 November 1911 |
| Commissioned: | December 1912 |
| Out of service: | lent to Royal New Zealand Navy in 1920 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping 13 July 1926 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Town-class light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 5,400 tons |
| Length: | 457 ft (139.3 m) Overall |
| Beam: | 50 ft (15.2 m) |
| Draught: | 15.75 ft (4.80 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons turbines Four screws Yarrow boilers 25,000 hp |
| Speed: | 25.5 knots (47 km/h) |
| Range: | carried 750 tons (1240 tons maximum) coal 260 tons fuel oil |
| Complement: | 429-440 |
| Armament: | 8 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk XI guns 1 × QF 3 inch AA gun |
| Armour: | 2 inch deck on slopes 3 inch side amidships |
HMS Chatham was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 9 November 1911 from Chatham Dockyard. She was the lead ship of the Chatham subgroup.
She was initially assigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, where she participated in the pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau, but in 1914 was detached to operated in the Red Sea. In November that year Chatham (Captain Sidney R. Drury-Lowe) was involved in operations against the German commerce raider SMS Königsberg. In May 1915 she returned to the Mediterranean to operate in the Dardanelles to support the allied landings at Gallipoli. She oversaw the landings at Suvla Bay, where she was the flagship of Rear-Admiral John de Robeck who commanded the landing fleet. In 1916 she returned to home waters and joined the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. On 26 May 1916, Chatham struck a mine and had to be repaired.
After the war, Chatham was lent to the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1920 to 1924, and was sold for scrapping on 13 July 1926 to Ward, of Pembroke Dock.
In 1922, the crew of Chatham donated a cup to the New Zealand Football Association. This became the Chatham Cup, New Zealand's local equivalent of the FA Cup, and its premier knockout football trophy.
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.
- Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
- Ships of the Chatham group
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