The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) of the first half of the 20th Century. These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire. These ships, initially rated as second class cruisers, were built to a series of designs, known as the Bristol, Weymouth, Chatham, Birmingham and Birkenhead classes – all having the names of British towns except for the RAN ships, which were named after Australian cities.
HMS Jupiter was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Commissioned in 1897, she was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1905. After a refit, she was temporarily put in reserve before returning to service with the Channel Fleet in September 1905. In 1908 and rendered obsolete by the emergence of the dreadnought type of battleships, she once again returned to the reserve, this time with the Home Fleet. After another refit, she had a spell as a gunnery training ship in 1912.
HMS Britannia was a King Edward VII-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was named after Britannia, the Latin name of Great Britain under Roman rule. The ship was built by Portsmouth Dockyard between 1904 and 1906. Armed with a battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) and four 9.2 in (234 mm) guns, she and her sister ships marked a significant advance in offensive power compared to earlier British battleship designs that did not carry the 9.2 in guns.
USS William B. Preston (DD-344/AVP-20/AVD-7) was a United States Navy Clemson-class destroyer in commission from 1920 to 1934. After conversion into a seaplane tender, she again was in commission from 1939 to 1945, seeing action during World War II. She was named for United States Secretary of the Navy and United States Senator William B. Preston.
Six ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Preston for Samuel W. Preston.
HMS Kingfisher was a Doterel-class screw sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built at Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 16 December 1879. She conducted anti-slavery work in the East Indies in the late 1880s before being re-roled as a training cruiser, being renamed HMS Lark on 10 November 1892, and then HMS Cruizer on 18 May 1893. She was sold in 1919.
HMSGannet is a Royal Navy Doterel-class screw sloop-of-war launched on 31 August 1878. It became a training ship in the Thames in 1903, and was then loaned as a training ship for boys in the Hamble from 1913. It was restored in 1987 and is now part of the UK's National Historic Fleet.
The Boadicea-class cruiser was a pair of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first class of this type to be fitted with steam turbine machinery. Upon completion in 1909–10, the sister ships served as flotilla leaders for destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet until 1913 when they were assigned to battleship squadrons. When the First World War began in August 1914, they remained with their squadrons as the First Fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet, although they changed squadrons over the course of the war. Both ships were present during the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916, but neither fired a shot. They were converted into minelayers the following year and both ships laid minefields in early 1918 in addition to other missions. The sisters were reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1921 and 1926.
HMS Russell was a Duncan-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy commissioned in 1903. Built to counter a group of fast Russian battleships, Russell and her sister ships were capable of steaming at 19 knots, making them the fastest battleships in the world. The Duncan-class battleships were armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and they were broadly similar to the London-class battleships, though of a slightly reduced displacement and thinner armour layout. As such, they reflected a development of the lighter second-class ships of the Canopus-class battleship. Russell was built between her keel laying in March 1899 and her completion in February 1903.
HMS Champion was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. She was part of the Calliope group of the C class.
HMS Conquest was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. She was part of the Caroline group of the C class.
HMS Cordelia was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was one of six ships of the Caroline sub-class and was completed at the beginning of 1915. The ship was assigned to the 1st and 4th Light Cruiser Squadrons (LCS) of the Grand Fleet for the entire war and played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Cordelia spent most of her time on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. She served as a training ship for most of 1919 before she was recommissioned for service with the Atlantic Fleet in 1920. The ship was placed in reserve at the end of 1922 and was sold for scrap in mid-1923.
HMS Amphion was an Active-class scout cruiser built for the Royal Navy before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she was initially assigned to the First Fleet and became a destroyer flotilla leader in mid-1914. When the war began, her flotilla was assigned to the Harwich Force. While patrolling on the first full day of the war, Amphion and her destroyers encountered and sank a German minelayer, SMS Königin Luise, but not before she had laid many of her mines. While returning from patrolling the following morning, Amphion struck a mine on 6 August 1914 off the Thames Estuary and sank with the loss of 132 crewmen killed. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the First World War. The wreck site is protected and may not be dived upon without permission from the Ministry of Defence.
HMS Skirmisher was one of two Sentinel-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1905 the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1907 as part of the Home Fleet. She then spent the next seven years moving on and off of active service in British waters. Skirmisher was assigned to coastal defence duties when the First World War began in 1914, although she was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1915 and then to the Aegean two years later. The ship returned home in mid-1919 and was sold for scrap in 1920.
HMS Phaeton was a second class cruiser of the Leander class which served with the Royal Navy. Paid off in 1903, she then did harbour service until 1913 at Devonport, where she was used for training stokers and seamen. Sold in 1913 to a charitable institution that ran a training ship for boys based at Liverpool, she was renamed TS Indefatigable until repurchased by the Admiralty in 1941 and renamed Carrick II, whereupon she served as an accommodation hulk at Gourock throughout World War II. In 1946 she was sold to shipbreakers Thos. W. Ward in Preston and broken up in 1947.
Empire Cedric was the first ro-ro ferry. She was built for the Royal Navy as the Landing Ship, Tank, HMS LST 3534. She was commissioned in 1945 and converted for civilian use as a ferry in 1948. She was used in the Irish Sea on routes between Preston and Larne, and Preston and Belfast. In 1956, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for a few months during the Suez Crisis as HMS Empire Cedric. She served until 1960 when she was scrapped.
The First Fleet was a formation of the Royal Navy that briefly existed before the First World War from 1912 to 1914.
HMS Laurel was a Laforey-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy. Launched on 6 May 1913 as HMS Redgauntlet, the ship was renamed on 30 September under an Admiralty order to become one of the first alphabetical class destroyers. On commissioning, the vessel joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force during the First World War. During Battle of Heligoland Bight, Laurel led a flotilla that pursued German torpedo boats, engaging with G194 and G196, and was damaged in action with the cruiser Mainz. The vessel also played a minor role in the Battles of Dogger Bank, Dover Strait and Jutland. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve and scrapped on 1 November 1921.
HMS Linnet was a Laforey-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. Launched on 16 August 1913 as HMS Havock, the ship was renamed on 30 September under an Admiralty order to become one of the first destroyers in a class named alphabetically. This convention subsequently became the norm. On commissioning, the vessel joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force. The destroyer was first commanded by Commander Loftus Jones who named his daughter Linnette after the ship. During the War, the destroyer took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914, and escorted minelayers on missions to lay mines. It was during one the latter missions that the ship was nearly hit by a gun hurled from the stricken minelayer Amphion. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve and sold to be broken up on 4 November 1921.
Royal Netherlands Navy 
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United States Navy 
Imperial German Navy 
Royal Navy 
Royal Australian Navy 
Austro-Hungarian Navy 
French Navy