Crown Colony class

Crown Colony class

The Fiji , first ship in its class

Ship data country  United Kingdom New Zealand Canada India Peru         Ship type Light cruiser Shipyard 6 shipyards Construction period 1938 to 1943 Launch of the type ship May 31, 1939 HMS Fiji Units built 11 and 6 replicas period of service May 17, 1940 ( Fiji ) to 1968 Royal Navy to 1982 Peru to 1985 India

Ship dimensions and crew length 169.3 m ( Lüa ) 164.0 m ( Lpp ) width 18.9 m Draft Max. 6.3 m displacement Standard displacement: 8,661 tn.l. Max. Fiji group: 10,725 tn.l. Max. Ceylon group: 10,840 tn.l.   crew 730 to 920 men

Machine system machine 4 oil-fired boiler (Admiralty 3-drum type) 4 Parsons - steam turbines with reduction gear Machine performance 72,500 hp (53,324 kW) Top speed 32 kn (59 km / h) propeller ⌀ m

Armament Fiji group: 12 × Sk 15.2 cm L / 50 Mk XXIII (4 triple towers Mk XXI) 8 × Flak 102 mm L / 45 Mk XVI (4 double mounts Mk XIX) 8 × Flak 40 mm Mk VIII (2 quadruple mounts Mk VII) 6 × torpedo tube Mk IX ⌀ 533 mm (2 sets of triple) 2 × Supermarine Walrus (until 1944) Ceylon Group: 9 × Sk 152 mm L / 50 Mk-XXIII (3 triple towers Mk XXI) 8 × Flak 102 mm L / 45 (4 double mounts Mk XIX) 12 × Flak 40 mm Mk VIII (3 quadruple mounts Mk VII) 6 × torpedo tube Mk IX ⌀ 533 mm (2 sets of triple) 2 × Supermarine Walrus (until 1944) Armor Belt: 82 mm Deck: 51 mm Towers: 51 mm

The Crown Colony class was a class of eleven light cruisers named after Crown Colonies of the British Empire . The first eight are counted to the Fiji sub-class, the last three in a slightly modified design to the Ceylon sub-class.

The ships were built according to the restrictions imposed by the Washington Fleet Agreement and thus complied with the limit of 10,000 tons. They were designed as a smaller version of the Town-class ships .

description

The ships of the Crown Colony class were built, with 8,600 tn.l. up to a maximum of 11,000 tn.l. Displacement and a length of 169 m (= 555 ft ), still under the limits of the fleet conferences on arms restriction in the 1920s and 1930s. This resulted in a concept which was based on the ships of the Town class . However, with the main difference that in order to comply with the weight restrictions, continuous belt armor for the waterline was dispensed with in the design. Instead, the magazines and engine rooms were individually armored with 51 to 89 mm steel.

According to the naval agreement, the caliber of the main artillery was also limited to 6 inches (152 mm). Twelve manually loaded guns of the type BL 6 "MK XXIII in four triple turrets of the type Mark XXI were used. Two turrets each in front and behind the superstructure . These were supplemented by eight 4" (102 mm) multi-purpose guns of the type QF 4 "Mk XVI against sea and air targets and several four-barreled 40-mm QF-2-pounder rapid-fire cannons against aircraft , as well as small-caliber anti- aircraft armaments that differ from ship to ship. Torpedo launchers that were rotatable, one on each side, positioned amidships , as well as two seaplanes of the type Supermarine Walrus , which were launched from a catapult, were on board for reconnaissance and recovery .

The drive was provided by four Parsons steam turbines , which were supplied with superheated steam at 2.0 MPa and 316 ° C from four Admiralty steam boilers , each with three drums . A total of 80,000 hp (60,000 kW) were available on the four screws driven in this way. Enough to reach a maximum speed of 32.25 kn (60 km / h). At a speed reduced to 13 kn (24 km / h), the up to 1,700 tons of heavy fuel oil in the bunkers of the ships allowed a range of 12,000 km .

In peacetime, around 730 crew members were scheduled to operate the ships. In wartime, the number increased to 930 men.

Use and whereabouts

They were in service during World War II and in the post-war years. Fiji and Trinidad were sunk in the war, while Gambia and Uganda were ceded to New Zealand and Canada , respectively. Nigeria was sold to India in 1954 , Ceylon and Newfoundland to Peru in 1959 . The remaining ships were decommissioned during the 1960s, most recently the Gambia , which was returned to Great Britain from New Zealand in 1968.

With the cruisers Swiftsure , Ontario and Superb , three very similar cruisers came into service with the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy in 1944/45 . Three other hulls for ships of the Superb class that were launched by 1945 were later turned into the three cruisers of the Tiger class , which were put into service between 1959 and 1961.

Colony- class ships

• HMS Fiji (C58) , in service May 1940, sunk by the Air Force off Crete on May 22, 1941 ,
• HMS Nigeria (C60) , in service in September 1940, given to India in Mysore in 1954 , abandoned in 1986
• HMS Kenya (C14) , in service September 1940, out of service 1958
• HMS Mauritius (C80) , in service January 1941, sold for demolition in 1965
• HMS Trinidad (C46) , in service in October 1941, sunk on May 15, 1942 after severe damage from attacks by the Air Force in the Arctic Ocean itself
• HMS Gambia (C48) , in service in February 1942, at the RNZN from February 1944 to March 1946 , sold for demolition in December 1968
• HMS Jamaica (C44) , in service June 1942, sold for demolition in 1960
• HMS Bermuda (C52) , in service August 1942, sold for demolition in 1965

2nd group

• HMS Uganda (C66) , in service January 1943, transferred to RCN in October 1944 , renamed Quebec , scrapped in 1956
• HMS Newfoundland (C59) , in service in January 1943, sold to Peru in 1959, Almirante Grau , Capitán Quiñones from May 1973 , deleted in 1980
• HMS Ceylon (C30) , in service July 1943, sold to Peru in 1959, Coronel Bolognesi , deleted in 1982

Web links

Commons : Crown-Colony class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Alan Raven, John Roberts: British Cruisers of World War Two, page 201, 422f, . Naval Institute Press, 1980, ISBN 0-87021-922-7 .
2. ↑ MJ Whitley: Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, p 120, 124f . London: Cassell, 1995, ISBN 1-86019-874-0 .