HMS Southampton (1912)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Southampton.
Southampton in 1916
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Southampton
Namesake: Southampton
Builder: Vickers Maxim, Barrow
Laid down: 6 April 1911
Launched: 16 May 1912
Fate: Sold 13 July 1926
General characteristics
Class and type:Town-class light cruiser
Displacement:5,400 tons
Length:430 ft (130 m)
457 ft (139 m) overall
Beam:49 ft 10 in (15.19 m)
Draught:17 ft 8 in (5.38 m) (maximum)
Propulsion:Yarrow boilers
Curtis turbines
coal and oil fuels
Speed:25,000 shp = 25.5&n knots
Trials:26,006 shp = 26.5 knots
Complement:429 to 440 men
Armament:8 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk XI guns

1 × QF 3 inch AA gun
4 × QF 3 pdr guns

Torpedo tubes: 2 × 21 in submerged

HMS Southampton was a light cruiser in the Royal Navy that served in the First World War.

Southampton was one of the third batch of Town-class light cruisers; her sister ships were Dublin and Chatham. The first three Town ships of the Royal Australian Navy were virtually identical.

Southampton differed from her sisters in that she had different machinery. Chatham had two screws. The sister ships, with Parsons turbines, had four screws.

The ship had an extremely active wartime career. As flagship of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, and later in the Battle of Dogger Bank.

In 1916, Southampton fought in the Battle of Jutland as flagship of 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron where she torpedoed the German light cruiser SMS Frauenlob, which subsequently sank. In 1917, she had been moved to the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron.

Southampton was sold for scrapping on 13 July 1926 to Ward, of Pembroke Dock.

References