HMS Manchester (C15)


HMS Manchester 1942
Ship data
Keel laying :	March 28, 1936
Launching ( ship christening ):	April 12, 1937
Commissioning:	4th August 1938
Builder:	Hawthorn, Leslie & Company , Hebburn
Crew:	750 men
Technical specifications
Displacement :	Type displacement: 9,544 t Application displacement: 11,930 t Maximum displacement: 12,121 t
Length between perpendiculars: length of waterline: length over all:	170.4 m 178.3 m 180.31 m
Width:	19.78 m
Draft :	6.28 m
Machinery:	4 Admirality three-drum boilers 4 Parsons turbines totaling 82,500 HPw (61.5 MW) with reduction gears on 4 propellers
Top speed:	32 kn
Driving range:	7000 nm at 16 kn
Fuel supply:	2000 t of heating oil
Armament
artillery	12 × 6- in cannons in triplet turrets 8 × 4-in-Flak (4 * 2) 4 × 40 mm flak 8 × 0.5-in machine guns 6 × 21-in torpedo tubes (removed later)
Planes	2 Supermarine Walrus planes (later removed)
Armor
Sides (belt)	76-102 mm
deck	51 mm
Towers	25-51 mm
Whereabouts
Sunk by her team on August 13, 1942 off Tunisia (after a torpedo hit)

The HMS Manchester was a light cruiser of the Town class of the Royal Navy during the Second World War . The Manchester belonged to the Gloucester subclass.

construction

Construction began on March 28, 1936, by Hawthorn, Leslie & Company in Hebburn . After the ship was launched on April 12, 1937, it was put into service on August 4, 1938.

The newly designed triple turrets were an outstanding design feature. The middle gun was built back from the other two in the turret. This gave the visual impression that the central gun had a shorter barrel; but in fact all three guns were of the same model. This measure was introduced because the barrel mouths had a greater distance from one another, which meant that the muzzle pressure should be reduced when firing at the same time.

In addition, the ship was equipped with a radar that was highly modern for the time .

Operations in World War II

The HMS Manchester had its first war mission during the Norwegian enterprise in 1940 and fought together with other warships of the Royal Navy in the sea battle at Cape Teulada south of Sardinia in 1941 . In 1942 the Manchester took part in Operation Pedestal in support of the besieged island of Malta , in the run-up to which several Allied warships were destroyed during Operations Vigorous and Harpoon .

On August 13, 1942, during Operation Pedestal , the Manchester was hit by a torpedo from one of the two Italian speedboats MS 16 and MS 22 , which killed several crew members and severely damaged the ship. The captain , Captain Harold Drew , saw no chance of saving the ship and had it sunk by its crew. Many of the crew members were rescued by Allied ships, but many were also captured by the Vichy regime in Tunisia .

The Admiralty accused the commander of abandoning the ship as a mistake, as it was assumed that the ship could have reached a safe harbor. Ultimately, however, a court martial came to the conclusion that the Manchester was so badly hit that the commander feared that the ship would fall into the hands of the enemy.

Remarks

↑ L _pp = length between perpendiculars or length between perpendiculars: distance between the axis of the rudder stock and the trailing edge of the leading edge in the construction waterline.

Web links

Commons : HMS Manchester (C15) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] L _pp = length between perpendiculars or length between perpendiculars: distance between the axis of the rudder stock and the trailing edge of the leading edge in the construction waterline.