Leander-class cruiser (1931)
HMS Apollo in 1938 at Miami, Florida prior to transfer to Royal Australian Navy
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Class overview | |
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Name | Leander class |
Operators | |
Preceded by | Emerald class |
Succeeded by | Arethusa class |
Subclasses |
|
Completed | 8 |
Lost | 3 |
General characteristics (as-built) | |
Type | Light cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | 554.9 ft (169.1 m) |
Beam | 56 ft (17.1 m) |
Draught | 19.1 ft (5.8 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines |
Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
Range | 5,730 nmi (10,610 km; 6,590 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement | 570 |
Armament |
|
Armour |
|
Aircraft carried | 1 × seaplane |
Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult & crane |
The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936. The three ships of the second group were sold to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) before World War II and renamed after Australian cities.
Design
The Leander class was influenced by the
Speed was 32 knots (59.3 km/h; 36.8 mph), and 845 tons of armour was provided. During trials in December 1932 Leander made 32.45 knots (60.1 km/h; 37.3 mph) with 72,430
The main engines of the Achilles, it was recorded, ‘were manoeuvred with far greater rapidity than would have been attempted under any conditions but those of emergency. All demands on the machinery were met more than adequately, all material standing up to the strain in such a manner that nothing but confidence was felt during the action. … The behaviour of both men and machinery left nothing to be desired. When all the machinery of the Achilles had worked up to full power, readings gave a total of almost exactly 82,000 horse-power, with the four propellers turning at an average of 283 revolutions a minute.’ This tribute to the soundness of design and the excellence of British shipyard workmanship is underlined by the statement of Captain Woodhouse of the Ajax that steam had been shut off the main engines of his ship for only five days since 26 August 1939.[2]
Wartime modifications
During the war, significant modifications were made to the vessels. Various additional anti-aircraft armament was added, and the two New Zealand vessels removed a turret to carry heavier 20 mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns in its place. Changes to the aircraft launching capability were reported, although use is unclear.
Ships in class
Name | Pennant | Namesake | Builder | Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leander | 75 | Leander of Abydos | HM Dockyard, Devonport | 18 February 1930 | 8 September 1930 | 24 September 1931 | 24 March 1933 | Transferred to Royal New Zealand Navy as HMNZS Leander, 1941–1945; Broken up at Blyth, 1950 |
Orion | 85 | Orion the Hunter | 24 March 1931 | 26 September 1931 | 24 November 1932 | 18 January 1934 | Broken up at Dalmuir, 1949 | |
Neptune | 20 | Neptune, God of the Sea | HM Dockyard, Portsmouth | 2 March 1931 | 24 September 1931 | 31 January 1933 | 23 February 1934 | Sunk in minefield off Tripoli , 19 December 1941
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Ajax | 22 | Ajax the Great | Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
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1 October 1932 | 7 February 1933 | 1 March 1934 | 12 April 1935 | Broken up at Newport, 1949 |
Achilles | 70 | Achilles | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead | 16 February 1931 | 11 June 1931 | 1 September 1932 | 10 October 1933 | Transferred to Royal New Zealand Navy as HMNZS Achilles, 1941-1946; Sold to HIMS Delhi , 1948
|
Name | Pennant | Namesake | Builder | Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Perth (ex-Amphion) |
29 | Amphion of Thebes | HM Dockyard, Portsmouth | 1 December 1932 | 22 June 1933 | 27 July 1934 | 15 June 1936 | Sold to Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Perth, 1939; Sunk in torpedo attack, 1 March 1942 |
Hobart (ex-Apollo) |
63 | Apollo, God of Light | HM Dockyard, Devonport | 1 March 1933 | 15 August 1933 | 9 October 1934 | 13 January 1936 | Sold to Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Hobart, 1938; Broken up at Osaka, 1962 |
Sydney (ex-Phaeton) |
48 | City of Sydney Phaeton, son of Helios |
Swan Hunter, Wallsend | 10 February 1933 | 8 July 1933 | 22 September 1934 | 24 September 1935 | Sunk in surface action, 19 November 1941 |
Leander group
Loaned to New Zealand, commissioned as HMNZS Leander in September 1941. At the
- HMIS/INS Delhi.
Achilles was the second vessel loaned to New Zealand, commissioned as HMNZS Achilles in September 1941. She had earlier participated in the Battle of the River Plate. Achilles was sold to India in 1948, and was known as HMIS Delhi for a few years, then served as INS Delhi, until 1978.
Ajax participated in the
Manned by New Zealand crew, although not part of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Neptune was sunk by an Italian mine off the coast of Tripoli.
Orion spent much of the early war in the Mediterranean providing escort to convoys and was also at the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. She participated in the evacuation of Crete in 1941 and was heavily damaged. Orion's repairs were completed in March 1942, after which she was widely employed, in home waters and on convoy escort duties to Africa and the Indian Ocean. Orion returned to the Mediterranean in October 1942 and was involved in convoy escort duties and supported the army in the invasion of Sicily. She also took part in the Normandy Landings in June 1944, where she fired the first shell. Orion received 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by HMS Warspite and matched by two others.
Modified Leander group
The last three ships of the class, referred to as the "Modified Leander", "Amphion", or "Perth" class, had their machinery and propulsion equipment organised in two self-contained units (separated fore and aft), allowing the ship to continue operating if one set was damaged.[5] The two exhaust funnels, one for each machinery space, gave the modified ships a different profile from the early Leanders, which had a single funnel.[5] To cover the separate machinery spaces, the side armour was extended from 84 to 141 feet (26 to 43 m), negating the weight reduction created by the separation.[6] During design, it was planned to modify the forward-most and aft-most 6-inch turrets to be fitted with three guns instead of two, but the plan was cancelled when it was determined that the required alterations would cause several negative side effects, including reducing the ship's top speed and causing problems with effective fire control.[7] All three ships were sold to the RAN, Sydney while under construction and Perth and Hobart after a few years of British service.
- Perth (ex-Amphion)
Completed 1936 as HMS Amphion and transferred to the RAN as HMAS Perth in 1939. She operated with British ships in the Battle of the Mediterranean, participating in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. Lost in the Battle of Sunda Strait in early 1942.
- Hobart (ex-Apollo)
Completed 1936 as HMS Apollo and transferred to the RAN in 1938 as HMAS Hobart, she took part in the
- Sydney (ex-Phaeton)
Laid down as HMS Phaeton, the ship was acquired by the RAN, launched as HMAS Sydney and was commissioned in 1935. Also involved in the Mediterranean campaign. Sydney sank the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni at the Battle of Cape Spada in 1940. Later that year, Sydney took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan and Battle of Calabria, sinking two Italian destroyers, the Espero and Zeffiro. In 1941, off Western Australia, Sydney encountered the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran; the two ships destroyed each other and Sydney was lost with all hands; the wrecks of both ships were located in 2008.
In fiction
Warren Tute's novel The Cruiser features HMS Antigone, a Leander-class cruiser with a striking similarity to Ajax.
Footnotes
- ^ Raven and Roberts, p. 154
- ^ Waters, p. 53
- ^ J. Wise. Securing the Ripest Plum. Britain and the South American Naval Export Market 1945-75 in "Warship 2013". Conway, UK(2013)p121
- ^ N. Freidman. British Cruisers. World War Two and After. Seaforth. Uk (2010)
- ^ a b Frame, HMAS Sydney, p. 15
- ^ Frame, HMAS Sydney, pp. 15–16
- ^ Frame, HMAS Sydney, p. 16
References
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Frame, Tom (1993). HMAS Sydney: Loss and Controversy. Rydalmere, NSW: Hodder & Stoughton. OCLC 32234178.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-922-7.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Waters, S. D. (1956). The Royal New Zealand Navy. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 800613100.
- ISBN 1-86019-874-0.