Difference between revisions of "Centaur Class Cruiser (1916)"
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===Guns=== | ===Guns=== | ||
− | * Five 6-in 45cal BL Mark XII guns on the centre-line with a maximum elevation of 30 degrees.<ref>''Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918", p. 10.</ref> | + | * Five 6-in 45cal BL Mark XII guns on the centre-line with a maximum elevation of 30 degrees.<ref>''Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918", p. 10.</ref> The guns had armoured shields of 1/4 inch on the face, 3/16 inch on sides and top, weighing 1.25 tons.<ref>''Technical History and Index'', Vol 3, Part 28, p. 18. I presume the described ""C" class" pertains to these ships</ref> |
* Two 3-in 20cwt QF on HA mountings | * Two 3-in 20cwt QF on HA mountings | ||
* One 13-pdr | * One 13-pdr |
Revision as of 21:02, 9 August 2011
The two light cruisers of the Centaur Class were completed in 1916.
Armament
The ships were armed as follows.[1]
Guns
- Five 6-in 45cal BL Mark XII guns on the centre-line with a maximum elevation of 30 degrees.[2] The guns had armoured shields of 1/4 inch on the face, 3/16 inch on sides and top, weighing 1.25 tons.[3]
- Two 3-in 20cwt QF on HA mountings
- One 13-pdr
Torpedoes
- Two Service Bar 21-in submerged broadside tubes amidships depressed 4 degrees and bearing 90.[4]
These were to be the last Royal Navy light cruisers to feature submerged torpedo tubes.
Fire Control
![](/tfs/images/thumb/f/f8/ARTS1916Plate78.jpg/240px-ARTS1916Plate78.jpg)
Each gun had a Pattern 3333 Navyphone and a set of Telaupads.
[TO BE CONTINUED - TONE] ARTS 1916, Plate 78.
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
This class was the first light cruiser class to feature Evershed installations, possibly upon their very completion. Such equipment became standard from here on out.[6]
Gunnery Control
Control Positions
There was a fore control position, an aft control position, and a control top.
Control Groups
There were three control groups:[7]
- No. 1 gun
- Guns Nos. 2 & 3
- Guns Nos. 4 & 5
Directors
![](/tfs/images/thumb/b/b3/ARTS1916Plate79.jpg/240px-ARTS1916Plate79.jpg)
Both were completed with gunnery directors in place.[9]
The director was in a tower on a pedestal mounting and was augmented by use of the #4 gun as a directing gun.[10]
The COS had 3 positions:
- director tower to all guns
- directing gun to all guns
- director tower to guns 1-3, directing gun to guns 4 & 5
Each gun had a COS to connect it to director or local firing circuits. The gun director tower had a 2-way switch to connect the night sights and such to either main or auxiliary power fed through a 5-way box.[11]
Transmitting Stations
The ships had a TS.[12]
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[13]
Fire Control Instruments
Torpedo Control
In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of Bristol class and later should have torpedo firing keys (Pattern 2333) fitted on the fore bridge, in parallel with those in the CT, and that a flexible voice pipe be fitted between these positions. [14]
Additionally, all light cruisers with submerged tubes were to receive torpedo order and gyro angle instruments between torpedo flats and both control positions. The C class (which may or may not encompass the Centaur class) was to receive Chadburn Torpedo Telegraphs to meet this need. Otherwise, Barr and Stroud would be a likely choice.[15]
Rangefinders
Sometime during or after 1917, an additional 9-foot rangefinder being handed down from a battleship or battlecruiser (likely an F.T. 24) was to be added specifically to augment torpedo control.[16]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, p. 60.
- ↑ Progress in Naval Gunnery, 1914-1918", p. 10.
- ↑ Technical History and Index, Vol 3, Part 28, p. 18. I presume the described ""C" class" pertains to these ships
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915, p. 36.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 78.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 78.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, Plate 79.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 11.
- ↑ Handbook of Captain F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918., p. 142 and plate opposite. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916, p. 150.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917, p. 199. (possibly pertinent: C.I.O. 481/17)
Bibliography
- Template:BibUKARTS1915
- Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917
- Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918
- Template:BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919