HMS Champion (1915)

Last updated

Light cruiser HMS Champion - IWM Q 75355.jpg
HMS Champion during World War I.
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Champion
Builder Hawthorn Leslie and Company
Laid down9 March 1914
Launched29 May 1915
CompletedDecember 1915
Commissioned20 December 1915
DecommissionedOctober 1924
RecommissionedMay 1925
DecommissionedDecember 1933
FateSold 28 July 1934 for scrapping
General characteristics
Class and type C-class light cruiser
Displacement3,750 tons
Length446 ft (136 m)
Beam41.5 ft (12.6 m)
Draught14.5 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion
  • Two Parsons turbines
  • Eight Yarrow boilers
  • Two propellers
  • 40,000 shp
Speed28.5 knots (53 km/h)
Rangecarried 405 tons (772 tons maximum) of fuel oil
Complement324
Armament
Armour
  • 4 inch side (amidships)
  • 2¼-1½ inch side (bows)
  • 2½ - 2 inch side (stern)
  • 1 inch upper decks (amidships)
  • 1 inch deck over rudder

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.

Contents

Construction

Eight light cruisers were ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1913 budget. The six ships of the Caroline class used conventional direct-drive steam turbines but two, Champion and Calliope, had experimental engine designs using geared reduction to match optimum working speeds of turbines and propellers. This followed experimental designs ordered in 1911 using geared high-pressure turbines for the destroyers Badger and Beaver and in 1912 using gearing for both high-pressure and low-pressure turbines in the destroyers Leonidas and Lucifer. Champion and Calliope tested different designs. [1]

Built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Tyneside, England, Champion was laid down on 9 March 1914, launched on 29 May 1915, and completed in December 1915. [2]

Champion had two propeller shafts, the port one being driven from the sternmost engine room and the starboard one from forward. Gearing increased overall engine efficiency, allowing a reduction in boiler and turbine size for a given force provided by the propellers, so the initial design reduced the boiler room size and dropped the nominal developed power from 40,000 shaft horsepower (shp) (29.8 megawatts/MW) to 37,500 shp (28 MW). However, during construction modifications were made to again increase boiler capacity and add cruising turbines which returned to the nominal power output of the Caroline class ungeared ships. Maximum propeller speed was a nominal 340 revolutions per minute. Trials comparing Champion to Caroline showed that at actual developed power of 41,000 shp (30.6 MW) in both ships, Champion achieved a speed of 29.5 knots using 470 tons of fuel per day, while Caroline achieved 29 knots using 550 tons of fuel per day. The ship could achieve 28 knots operating at the lower power of 31,000 shp (23 MW). [1]

Service history

World War I

Photograph taken from HMS Champion on 31 May 1916 at the beginning of the Battle of Jutland. ViewfromChampionatJutlandhiressmall.jpg
Photograph taken from HMS Champion on 31 May 1916 at the beginning of the Battle of Jutland.

Champion was commissioned into service in the Royal Navy on 20 December 1915. She was assigned to the Grand Fleet upon completion, serving as the leader of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla through the end of World War I and until early 1919. She fought in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May-1 June 1916, during which she also was the flagship of Commodore (D), the senior commander of the fleet's destroyers. [3]

Postwar

Champion briefly served in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron during 1919. She then was attached to the Royal Navy Torpedo School, HMS Vernon, from 1919 to 1924, undergoing a refit in 1923. She was decommissioned and placed under dockyard control at Portsmouth in October 1924. [3]

In May 1925, Champion was recommissioned to serve as Gunnery Firing Ship. She was attached to the Signal School in 1928, [3] and was used as a testbed for the Royal Navy's first remote-power-control (RPC) gunnery systems that year. [4] She was decommissioned in December 1933 and placed under dockyard control. [3]

Disposal

Champion was sold on 28 July 1934 to Metal Industries of Rosyth, Scotland, for scrapping.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Brown, pp. 24–25
  2. ↑ Preston, p. 57
  3. 1 2 3 4 Preston, p. 58
  4. ↑ Rippon, Peter, 1988. Evolution of Engineering in the Royal Navy: 1927–1939, Volume one, p. 258

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Queen Mary</i> Last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before World War I

HMS Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before the First World War. The sole member of her class, Queen Mary shared many features with the Lion-class battlecruisers, including her eight 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns. She was completed in 1913 and participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of the Grand Fleet in 1914. Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, the ship never left the North Sea during the war. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, Queen Mary attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. The ship was refitting in early 1915 and missed the Battle of Dogger Bank in January, but participated in the largest fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser Derfflinger during the early part of the battle and her magazines exploded shortly afterwards, sinking her with the loss of more than 98 percent of the ship’s complement.

HMS <i>Colossus</i> (1910) 1911 Colossus-class battleship of the United Kingdom

HMS Colossus was the lead ship of her class of two dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, often serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Colossus was the only dreadnought from the main body of the Grand Fleet to be hit during the Battle of Jutland, although she suffered only minor damage. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war and was reduced to reserve and then became a training ship. Colossus was hulked in 1923 and sold for scrap in 1928.

<i>Arethusa</i>-class cruiser (1913) Class of Royal Navy light cruisers

The Arethusa-class cruisers were a class of eight oil-fired light cruisers of the Royal Navy all ordered in September 1912, primarily for service in the North Sea. They had three funnels with the middle one somewhat larger in diameter than the others. All served in the First World War. They were found to be very cramped internally.

HMS <i>Castor</i> (1915) Royal Navy C-class light cruiser

HMS Castor was one of the Cambrian subclass of the C class of light cruisers. She saw service during the First World War and the Russian Civil War.

HMS <i>Calliope</i> (1914) Royal Navy C-class light cruiser

HMS Calliope was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy under construction at the outbreak of the First World War. Both Calliope and her sister ship Champion were based on the earlier cruiser Caroline. They were effectively test ships for the use of geared turbines which resulted in the one less funnel. They also received slightly thicker armour. They led into the first of the Cambrian subclass.

HMS <i>Caroline</i> (1914) Royal Navy C-class light cruiser

HMS Caroline is a decommissioned C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw combat service in the First World War and served as an administrative centre in the Second World War. Caroline was launched and commissioned in 1914. At the time of her decommissioning in 2011 she was the second-oldest ship in Royal Navy service, after HMS Victory. She served as a static headquarters and training ship for the Royal Naval Reserve, based in Alexandra Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the later stages of her career. She was converted into a museum ship. From October 2016 she underwent inspection and repairs to her hull at Harland and Wolff and opened to the public on 1 July 2017 at Alexandra Dock in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.

HMS <i>Swift</i> (1907) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Swift was a unique destroyer leader designed and built for the Royal Navy prior to World War I, another product of Admiral "Jackie" Fisher's relentless quest for speed. The class was envisioned as a large ocean-going destroyer, capable of both the usual destroyer requirements and of high-speed scouting duties for a major fleet.

HMS <i>Fortune</i> (1913) Acasta-class destroyer

HMS Fortune was an Acasta-class destroyer, and the twenty-first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was launched in 1913 and was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

HMS <i>Hydra</i> (1912) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Hydra was one of 20 Acheron-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1912, the ship participated in World War I and was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS <i>Nottingham</i> (1913) British Birmingham-class light cruiser

HMS Nottingham was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy just before World War I. She was one of three ships of the Birmingham sub-class and was completed in early 1914. The ship was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the Home and Grand Fleets for her entire career. Nottingham participated in most of the early fleet actions, including the battles of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland, helping to sink several German ships during the battles. The ship was sunk by the German submarine U-52 during the Action of 19 August 1916.

HMS <i>Cordelia</i> (1914) C-class light cruiser in the Royal Navy

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 <i>Inconstant</i> (1914) Royal Navy Arethusa-class light cruiser

HMS Inconstant was one of eight Arethusa-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She fought in the First World War, participating in the Battle of Jutland. Following the war, she was scrapped.

HMS <i>Phaeton</i> (1914) Royal Navy Arethusa-class light cruiser

HMS Phaeton was one of eight Arethusa-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She fought in the First World War, participating in the Battle of Jutland. Following the war, she was scrapped.

HMS <i>Royalist</i> (1915) Royal Navy Arethusa-class light cruiser

HMS Royalist was one of eight Arethusa-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She fought in the First World War, participating in the Battle of Jutland. Following the war, she was scrapped.

HMS <i>Falmouth</i> (1910) Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Falmouth was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. She was one of four ships of the Weymouth sub-class. The ship was initially assigned to the Atlantic Fleet upon completion in 1911, but was reduced to reserve in mid-1913. When the First World War began in 1914, Falmouth was transferred to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the Grand Fleet and then the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron at the end of the year. The ship participated in most of the early fleet actions, including the Battles of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland, but was only seriously engaged in the latter. She was torpedoed and sunk off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire by German submarines during the action of 19 August 1916.

HMS <i>Druid</i> (1911) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Druid was one of 20 Acheron-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. Completed in 1912 the ship served during World War I and was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS Onslow was an Admiralty M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS <i>Lynx</i> (1913) Acasta-class destroyer

HMS Lynx was one of 20 Acasta-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1914 she saw active service in the First World War.

French destroyer <i>Tramontane</i> Destroyer of the French Navy

Tramontane was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

French destroyer <i>Tornade</i> Destroyer of the French Navy

Tornade was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.