Boadicea-class cruiser
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Sentinel class |
| Succeeded by | Blonde class |
| Built | 1907–10 |
| In commission | 1909–26 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Scout cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,350 long tons (3,400 t) (normal) |
| Length | 405 ft (123.4 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 41 ft 6 in (12.6 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Installed power | list error: <br /> list (help) 18,000 shp (13,000 kW) 12 × Yarrow boilers |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 4 × shafts 2 × Parsons steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Complement | 317 |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 6 × single BL 4-inch (102 mm) guns 4 × single QF 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns 2 × single 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Armour | list error: mixed text and list (help)
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The Boadicea-class cruiser was a pair of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first class of the types to be fitted with steam turbine machinery.
Design
Like the earlier scout cruisers, the Boadicea class was designed to provide destroyer flotillas with a command ship, theoretically offering the ability to scout ahead of the group and locate targets for the smaller ships to attack. They were enlarged and more powerfully armed versions of the earlier ships, fitted with steam turbines. Curiously, they were no faster than the older ships and equally unsuccessful in their intended role as they lacked the speed of the destroyers they were supposed to escort.[1]
Displacing 3,350 long tons (3,400 t), the ships had an overall length of 405 feet (123.4 m), a beam of 41 feet 6 inches (12.6 m) and a deep draught of 14 feet (4.3 m). They were powered by two sets of Parsons steam turbines, each driving two shafts. The turbines produced a total of 18,000 indicated horsepower (13,000 kW), using steam produced by 12 Yarrow boilers that burned both fuel oil and coal, and gave a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). They carried a maximum of 780 long tons (790 t) of coal and 189 long tons (192 t) of fuel oil.[2] Her crew consisted of 317 officers and enlisted men.[3][3]
The ships sported a four inch (102 mm) main armament, two guns in front of the bridge, two port and starboard just behind it and two more on the centre line towards the stern. HMS Boadicea was refitted during 1916 with four more 4-inch (102 mm) guns added to the waist of the ship and a three inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun to counter the new threats from the air. This was later replaced with a 4 inch A/A gun.
Career
HMS Bellona was attached to the 2nd Flotilla from 1909 to 1912 but her top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) was sluggish compared to the 27 knots (50 km/h) of the Acorn class destroyers she was supposedly scouting for. HMS Boadicea lagged even further behind her Acheron class destroyers, capable of up to 32 knots (59 km/h).
Both ships served during the First World War, fighting in the Battle of Jutland. Both were later converted to minelayers. The class was followed by the two ships of the Blonde class of 1909 to 1911 - which proved to be even slower.
Ships
- Bellona - launched on 20 March 1909, converted to minelayer in June 1917 and sold on 9 May 1921.
- Boadicea - launched on 14 May 1908, converted to minelayer in December 1917, on harbour service from January 1921, and sold on 13 July 1926.
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Corbett, Julian. Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol. I (2nd, reprint of the 1938 ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum and Battery Press. ISBN 0-89839-256-X.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
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External links
