H.M.S. Cardiff (1917)

H.M.S. Cardiff (1917)
Pendant Number:	29 (Jan 1918) 39 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Ordered:	Mar/Apr 1916
Laid down:	22 Jul, 1916
Launched:	12 Apr, 1917
Commissioned:	Jun, 1917
Sold:	23 Jan, 1946
Fate:	Broken up at Troon

Service

She recommissioned at Gibraltar on 15 December, 1920.

Cardiff re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 20 January, 1923.

Re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 24 October, 1925 for service as flagship of the Third Cruiser Squadron on the Mediterranean Station.

She was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 29 May, 1928 for continued service as flagship of the Third Cruiser Squadron on the Mediterranean Station.

Cardiff was re-commissioned at Chatham 1 April, 1931 for duty with the Sixth Cruiser Squadron on the Africa Station.

Cardiff was re-commissioned on 14 July, 1933.

The ship was commissioned at Chatham on 19 July, 1938 under the command of Captain Arthur Robert Halfhide.

When she was withdrawn from the China Station at the end of April 1939, Cardiff was the oldest British cruiser in seagoing commission and the only "C" class cruiser from the war still active.

Alterations

Cardiff was fitted with a director system in July 1917.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain Ernest K. Loring, 20 June, 1917
• Captain Claud H. Sinclair, 7 July, 1917 – 19 February, 1919  (and as Flag Captain from 11 July, 1917)
• Captain Arthur Bromley, 18 February, 1919 – August, 1919
• Captain Thomas N. James, 5 August, 1919 – 12 January, 1921
• Captain Colin K. MacLean, 11 January, 1921 – 3 June, 1921  (and as Flag Captain to R/A Tyrwhitt)
• Captain Lionel F. Maitland-Kirwan, 3 June, 1921 – January, 1923  (and as Flag Captain to R/A Tyrwhitt)
• Captain Thomas H. Binney, January, 1923 – January, 1925
• Captain St. A. B. Wake, 27 December, 1924 – January, 1927
• Captain Vernon S. Butler, 1 January, 1927 – January, 1929  (and as Flag Captain and Chief of Staff to R/A Preston)
• Captain H. Evelyn C. Blagrove, 8 January, 1929 – April, 1931
• Captain Harold G. C. Franklin, c. September, 1929 – c. late September, 1929  (for passage to Devonport)
• Commander Frederic A. H. Russel, September, 1929 – 22 October, 1929
• Commander Angus E. M. B. Cunninghame Graham, 19 January, 1931 – 26 January, 1931  (remained in ship as exec)
• Captain John H. K. Clegg, 26 January, 1931 – March, 1933  (and as Chief of Staff)
• Captain William T. Makeig-Jones, 6 March, 1933 – 25 July, 1933
• Captain Claude C. Dobson, 14 July, 1933 – 17 October, 1933  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, Nore)
• Captain Richard M. King, 17 October, 1933 – 16 January, 1935  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, Nore)
• Captain Hamilton C. Allen, 16 January, 1935 – 1 July, 1935  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, Nore)
• Captain Charles E. Hotham, 1 July, 1935  (and as Flag Captain and Chief Staff Officer to R/A Commanding Tenth Cruiser Squadron)
• Captain Hamilton C. Allen, 24 July, 1935 – 1 October, 1935  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, Nore)
• Captain John H. Young, 1 October, 1935 – 1 September, 1936  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, Nore)
• Captain Geoffrey R. S. Watkins, 1 September, 1936 – 6 May, 1938  (and as Senior Officer Reserve Fleet, The Nore)
• Captain Frederick R. M. Johnson, 9 April, 1938 – 1 July, 1938
• Commander Percy F. P. Wood, 1 July, 1938 – 14 July, 1938  (vice Johnson)
• Captain Arthur R. Halfhide, 14 July, 1938 – 27 June, 1939  (took command upon her commissioning)
• Acting Commander John A. Garland, 27 June, 1939 – 1 August, 1939
• Captain Philip K. Enright, 31 July, 1939 – 27 August, 1941
• Captain St. John A. Micklethwait, 27 August, 1941 – 2 February, 1942
• Captain George F. Stevens-Guille, 2 February, 1942 – 24 September, 1942
• Commander (retired) James Graham, 24 September, 1942 – 22 October, 1942
• Acting Captain Alastair G. Davidson, 22 October, 1942 – 26 June, 1944
• Acting Captain (retired) Gerald William Hoare-Smith, 26 June, 1944 – 14 December, 1944
• Acting Captain Alan MacG. Sheffield, 14 December, 1944 – September, 1945

See Also

• Transcribed Ship Logs at naval-history.net
• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
• Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Admiralty, Technical History Section (1919). The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in H.M. Ships. Vol. 3, Part 23. C.B. 1515 (23) now O.U. 6171/14. At The National Archives. ADM 275/19.
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.