H.M.S. Ceres (1917)

H.M.S. Ceres (1917)
Pendant Number:	66 (1914) 36 (Jan 1918) 58 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	John Brown & Company
Ordered:	Mar/Apr 1916
Laid down:	11 Jul, 1916
Launched:	24 Mar, 1917
Commissioned:	Jun, 1917
Sold:	5 Apr, 1946
Fate:	Broken up Hughes Bolckow

Service

Ceres was fitted with a director in June, 1917. This alteration required her pole mast to be replaced with a tripod mast for greater rigidity.

Ceres was one of just six light cruisers listed as having a Turret Control Table in her TS in June 1918. If and when this was provided is uncertain.

She recommissioned on 1 November, 1920.

Ceres re-commissioned on 18 September, 1922.

Following a refit, she was re-commissioned on 11 June, 1925. On 20 July, she left Chatham to join the Third Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Ceres re-commissioned at Chatham on 8 December, 1927 for duty with the Third Cruiser Squadron on the Mediterranean Station.

She re-commissioned in Reserve at Devonport on 6 May, 1931.

Ceres was refitted in 1930-31 at a cost of £120,000, and commissioned at Chatham in May 1932 to replace the Calypso. She duly commissioned at Chatham on 12 May, 1932 for duty with the Third Cruiser Squadron on the Mediterranean Station under the command of Captain George Arthur Scott.

She paid off into Reserve at Chatham on 27 November, 1933.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain George N. Tomlin, 30 May, 1917 – 13 June, 1917  (temporarily)
• Captain Herbert Meade, 13 June, 1917 – April, 1918
• Captain Henry G. E. Lane, April, 1918 – July, 1919
• Captain Harold O. Reinold, July, 1919 – 18 July, 1921
• Captain John K. im Thurn, 21 June, 1921 – 15 March, 1923
• Captain Arthur L. Snagge, 15 March, 1923 – 10 February, 1924
• Acting Captain H. Evelyn C. Blagrove, 10 February, 1924 – 21 February, 1924
• Captain Nicholas E. Archdale, 21 February, 1924 – 26 February, 1925
• Captain Wellwood G. C. Maxwell, 26 February, 1925 – April, 1927
• Captain Arthur J. L. Murray, 10 September, 1926 – 5 May, 1927^{[Fact Check]}  (temporary, during Maxwell's absence)
• Captain Arthur J. Landon, 19 March, 1927 – January, 1929
• Captain Norman A. Wodehouse, 17 December, 1928 – 5 November, 1929
• Captain Frederick A. Sommerville, 10 February, 1931 – 1 April, 1931  (for trials)
• Commander Claud A. Merriman, 1 April, 1931 – 26 April, 1931
• Commander James R. C. Cavendish, 6 April, 1931 – 10 July, 1931  (ship winding up in Devonport Reserve)
• Commander Guy O. Lydekker, 10 July, 1931 – 12 May, 1932
• Captain George A. Scott, 12 May, 1932 – 17 November, 1933
• Captain William B. Hynes, 27 November, 1933 – 8 October, 1934
• Commander Edward P. Thomas, 8 October, 1934 – 9 May, 1935
• Commander John A. Giffard, 9 May, 1935 – 7 July, 1935  (vice "Thomas")
• Commander Patrick W. B. Brooking, 7 July, 1935
• Commander Godfrey N. Brewer, 17 July, 1935
• Commander Arthur H. S. Casswell, 8 October, 1935 – 5 May, 1936  (temporary)
• Commander Philip H. Calderon, 5 May, 1936 – 20 December, 1936
• Commander Arthur H. S. Casswell, 3 January, 1937 – 10 April, 1937
• Lieutenant-Commander Cecil C. F. Grey, 10 April, 1937 – 4 August, 1937  (vice Casswell)
• Commander John Harding, 9 August, 1937 – 2 May, 1938  (vice some name like "Carnaugh")
• Commander Gerald E. A. Jackson, 25 May, 1938
• Commander John D. A. Musters, 21 September, 1938 – 30 September, 1938
• Acting Commander John A. Garland, 14 October, 1938  (temporary, vice "Brooke")
• Commander John D. A. Musters, 17 October, 1938 – 4 April, 1939
• Acting Commander John A. Garland, 4 April, 1939 – 19 April, 1939  (temporary, vice Musters)
• Acting Commander John A. Garland, 24 April, 1939 – 27 June, 1939  (temporary, vice Graham)
• Commander Alfred O'Leary, 27 June, 1939 – 31 July, 1939^[Inference]
• Captain Edmund G. Abbott, 31 July, 1939 – 20 September, 1941
• Captain Henry H. McWilliam, 20 September, 1941 – 5 December, 1941
• Lieutenant-Commander (retired) Harry W. V. Stephenson, 5 December, 1941 – 30 December, 1941
• Captain Henry H. McWilliam, 30 December, 1941 – 3 January, 1942
• Lieutenant-Commander (retired) Harry W. V. Stephenson, 3 January, 1942 – 5 April, 1942
• Captain William P. Carne, 5 April, 1942 – 21 April, 1942
• Captain Cecil C. A. Allen, 21 April, 1942 – 11 June, 1943
• Captain Roy C. Harry, 11 June, 1943 – 4 November, 1943  (vice Allen)
• Lieutenant-Commander (retired) Wilmot P. Bennitt, 4 November, 1943 – 14 April, 1944
• Acting Captain Roland C. Allen, 14 April, 1944 – late 1944
• Commander (retired) Charles R. Garrett, 4 December, 1944 – mid 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.