HMS Dublin (1912)

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HMS Dublin
HMS Dublin
Overview
Type Light cruiser
units 6/21
Shipyard

Wm. Beardmore & Co. , Dalmuir , BauNr. 503

Keel laying April 11, 1911
Launch April 30, 1912
delivery . March 1913
Namesake irish city dublin
period of service

1913-1924

Decommissioning 1924
Whereabouts July 1926 Sale for demolition
Technical specifications
displacement

Standard : 5400  ts (5489 t)
Maximum: 6000 ts (6096 t)

length

overall: 458 ft (139.6 m)

width

49 ft (14.9 m)

Draft

15 ft 9 in (4.8 m)

crew

429-475 men

drive
speed

25.5 kn (47.2 km / h)
(26.041 kn (48.228 km / h) upon acceptance)

Range

4500 nm (8334 km) at 16 kn (29.6 km / h)

Armament
  • 8 × 6 "/ 50 BL Mk XI
    (15.2 cm L / 50)
  • 4 × 3 Pdr 1.85 "/ 50 QF
    (4.7 cm L / 50)
  • 4 machine guns
  • 2 × torpedo tubes 21 "(53.3 cm)
Fuel supply

1240 ts (1260 t) coal maximum
(750 ts (762 t) normal) and
260 ts (264 t) heating oil

Armor
deck

2–3 in (50–76 mm)

Embankments

3/4 in (20 mm)

Command tower

4 in (102 mm)

The HMS Dublin was a Town-class light cruiser that was laid down at the William Beardmore and Company shipyard in Dalmuir, Scotland in 1911 and launched in 1911. She was the fourth ship in the Royal Navy to be named HMS Dublin . Sister ships were HMS Chatham (lead ship of the third subgroup), HMS Southampton and the Australian cruisers HMAS Sydney , HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Brisbane .

Technical specifications

A total of 21 Town- class cruisers were completed by 1922 for the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy in five subgroups.

The Dublin belonged to the third subgroup, the Chatham class. These ships displaced about 5,400 tons and ran over 25 knots with their Parsons turbines and four propellers (except Southampton with Brown Curtis turbines and two propellers). They were 139.6 m long and 14.9 m wide and had a draft of 4.9 m. The armament consisted of eight 15.2-cm guns and four three-pounders and two 53.3-cm underwater torpedo tubes. The crew numbered 411 to 475 men.

She was the third Town- class cruiser after HMS Gloucester (construction no. 495) and HMS Falmouth (construction no. 498) that was built at Beardmore. During this time the shipyard only carried out public contracts with a lighthouse tender , a floating dredger , the battleship HMS Conqueror and the destroyer HMS Goshawk .

history

Peace time

When commissioned in 1913, the Dublin was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet . In July 1913 she was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, and from September 1913 she belonged to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron operating in the Mediterranean . In 1914 she was still there with the sister ship Chatham and the similar cruisers HMS Weymouth and HMS Gloucester and was in Alexandria at the end of July on a demonstration trip of the British Mediterranean Fleet through the station area. The Commander-in-Chief, Archibald Berkeley Milne , had assembled two of his three battlecruisers , two of his four armored cruisers , the entire second light cruiser squadron and thirteen destroyers. Because of the threatened outbreak of war, the fleet was moved to Malta .

War effort

Pursuit of the German Mediterranean division

SMS Goeben

The first use of the fleet and thus also of Dublin was the pursuit of the German Mediterranean division under Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon , which consisted of the battle cruiser SMS Goeben and the small cruiser SMS Breslau . The two ships had come from the Adriatic to Messina in accordance with the Triple Alliance agreements and from there had attacked two Algerian ports when the war broke out. On their way back on August 4, at 10:32 a.m. north of Bone, they encountered two of the British battlecruisers that were marching to Gibraltar to prevent the Germans from breaking out of the Mediterranean. Since war had not yet been declared between Germany and Great Britain, the battle cruisers HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable turned and took up the chase. The Dublin stationed in Bizerta as a liaison ship to the French left immediately and joined in as a further pursuer from noon. Goeben and Breslau kept running away from the British battlecruisers and from 4:45 p.m. only the Dublin was in contact with the Germans. In fog and falling darkness, she too lost it at 7:37 p.m. off Cape San Vito on the north coast of Sicily. The Germans had proven they had the faster ships and convinced the British of it. They returned to Messina on the morning of August 5th.

SMS Wroclaw

On the evening of August 6th, the Germans left again at around 5 p.m. The Gloucester under Captain William A. Howard Kelly , left by Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge in front of the east entrance of the Strait of Messina , immediately took up the chase and informed the British command via radio. The Germans tried to disrupt radio traffic, which they occasionally succeeded in and at times led to incomplete information. They ran northeast along the Italian coast, apparently towards the Adriatic. The remaining British battlecruisers west of Sicily ran to Malta to replenish coal; Troubridges Association of four armored cruisers and eight destroyers off the Greek coast to the north.

At 11 p.m. Souchon changed course and the two German ships were now heading southeast towards the Aegean Sea. They continued to interfere with the Gloucester radio communications, but only partially succeeded. At 12:10 a.m. on August 7, Troubridge turned around with his 1st Cruiser Squadron and ran south with the armored cruisers to intercept Breslau and Goeben during the night. Its destroyers had insufficient coal stocks to be used effectively.

Destroyer of Beagle class

The sharpest weapon of the British seemed to be the Dublin under Captain John D. Kelly , the younger brother of the commandant of the Gloucester , who went to Malta on August 4 to replenish its coal stocks after the persecution of the Germans on August 6 around 1.30 p.m. with the destroyers HMS Beagle and HMS Bulldog to reinforce Troubridge's formation. You should now stop the Goeben with a torpedo night attack. At top speed they ran to a calculated intersection, which, however, was wrong due to the mutilated radio messages of the Gloucester and the excessive speed it transmitted. Nevertheless, they sighted the Wroclaw and went into pursuit because they had not been able to get in front of them. At 2:42 a.m. they broke off the pursuit of the faster Breslau , since the Goeben was further north and also further west according to the Gloucester reports . The commandant of the Dublin , John Kelly, continued the search with his ships until 3.30 a.m. All they saw was columns of steam, which presumably belonged to Gloucester . At 3:30 a.m. he had to break off the search because the coal stocks on his ships were greatly reduced and their operational readiness was endangered. He continues his drive to the Troubridge Association. His formation broke off the march to the south at 3.47 a.m. near the Greek coast and far to the north, as a night battle was hardly possible and he saw no chance against the Goebes during the day .

So the Gloucester remained under Howard Kelly the only pursuer of the Mediterranean division. Kelly had since been ordered by Milne to break off the pursuit at Cape Matapan . After an attempt to involve the Germans in a battle, and even a hit on the Breslau , the Gloucester broke off the pursuit shortly afterwards, as ordered, with little coal and with no possibility of maintaining the speed of the Breslau . Goeben and Breslau reached their destination unmolested on August 10 and were a strong argument for Turkey's entry into the war on the side of the Central Powers .

Another service in the Mediterranean

HMS Dublin in World War I

While the majority of the British ships then moved to the Dardanelles , the Dublin remained in the western Mediterranean under French command with Malta as its base. It was supposed to secure the route between Malta and Suez , but it was not threatened. At the end of August it was parked in Jaffa to protect Russian citizens . In September she joined the British ships commanded by Troubridge off the Dardanelles. When these were replaced by French ships after Turkey joined the war, the Dublin with the Indefatigable and three submarines remained in front of the Dardanelles. When the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts began, she served as an advanced observer for the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth from February 25, 1915 and was taken under fire by the Turkish artillery. She stayed in front of the Dardanelles and on April 25th supported the landing on the so-called "X-Beach" near Cape Helles on Gallipoli .

She was then transferred to Brindisi in May to support the new ally Italy. On June 5, 1915, four allied combat groups attacked the Austrian Adriatic coast, including Dublin , which, secured by five Italian destroyers, bombarded Donzella . While exploring the Albanian coast with French and Italian destroyers, she was torpedoed off San Giovanni de Medua on June 9, 1915 by the Austrian submarine SM U-4 under Lieutenant Rudolf Singule . Twelve men died in the torpedo attack. Although she shot through from port to starboard, the Dublin remained ready to sail so that she could march back to Brindisi at up to 17 knots. The damage was so severe that a thorough repair was necessary in the UK and she had to be relocated home.

Service in the Home Fleet

In 1916 the refurbished cruiser of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet with Southampton , HMS Birmingham and HMS Nottingham and took part in the Skagerrak Battle on May 31 and June 1, 1916 in their association, which was assigned to the battle cruisers . Now under the command of Captain Albert Charles Scott , the Dublin fired 117 15.2 cm projectiles during the night battle with the IV reconnaissance group of Commodore Ludwig von Reuter and sank the torpedo boat SMS S 35 together with the Southampton . Both cruisers were severely damaged. The Dublin received five 15-cm-hits from the SMS Elbing and eight 10.5-cm-hits from SMS Stuttgart , SMS Frauenlobstraße or SMS Hamburg . There were three dead and 27 wounded. On June 17th, the Dublin was operational again.

On May 3, 1917, the Dublin ran from Rosyth with the Sydney and the four destroyers HMS Nepean , HMS Obdurate , HMS Pelican and HMS Pylades for reconnaissance between the Firth of Forth and the Humber . At 10.25 a.m., the Dublin observed the Zeppelin L 43 about 17 miles east, towards which both cruisers were approaching and opened fire from a great distance. At 10:54 a.m. the Dublin saw a torpedo orbit in front of her and discovered a submarine at 11:12 a.m. and a second one at 11:15 a.m., which launched two torpedoes at her. At 11:20 a.m. she discovered a third one, which she set under fire and attacked with a depth charge. The zeppelin then attacked the Dublin from the stern in order to bomb her, which prevented it by a quick turn.

Whereabouts

The Dublin survived the World War and moved in 1920 to the African station for the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron , briefly interrupted in March 1920 by a brief assignment with the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean. In 1924 she returned home and was decommissioned. In July 1926 it was sold to JJ King in Troon for demolition . The Dublin ran aground on the way there . In July 1927 it was removed again and canceled by the end of the year.

literature

  • Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
  • Anthony Preston, Randal Gray (ed.): Conway's All the World Fighting Ships 1906-1921 , Conway Maritime Press Ltd, London 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5 .
  • Hans H. Hildebrand / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships: Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford,

Web links