Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Light cruiser D43

HMS Coventry (D43)

C-class cruiser light cruiser

HMS Coventry (D43)
Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph FL 5186 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — D43 British light cruiser HMS COVENTRY underway in coastal waters.

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Coventry21 February 1918 — 14 September 19421,109 days of the war
C-class cruiser light cruiser Particulars
Name
HMS Coventry
Pennant / hull number
D43
Builder
Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne
Laid down
4 August 1916
Launched
6 July 1917
Commissioned
21 February 1918
Fate
Damaged and scuttled 14 September 1942 (1942)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
4,190 long tons (4,257 t)
Length
137.16 m (450 ft)
Beam
13.29 m (43.6 ft)
Draught
4.27 m (14 ft)
Speed
29 knots (53.7 km/h, 33.4 mph)
Complement
327
Main gun
152 mm (6 in)

HMS Coventry was a C-class cruiser light cruiser in service with the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number D43. Her keel was laid at Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne on 4 August 1916. She entered service on 21 February 1918, having been launched on 6 July 1917.

She was one of 40 ships of her class. The class followed the W and Z-class destroyer and was succeeded by the Weapon-class destroyer.

Displacement was 4,190 long tons. She measured 137.2 m (450 ft) long with a beam of 13.3 m (44 ft). Her designed speed was 29 knots, and she carried a complement of 327.

Her main battery was five 152 mm (6 in) guns.

She was in commission for 1,109 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 14 September 1942, at 32°48′N 28°17′E. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Two Brown-Curtis geared turbines
  • Six Yarrow boilers
  • Two propellers
  • 40,000 shp
Armament
  • (as built):
  • 5 × 6 in (152 mm) guns
  • 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns
  • 2 × 2-pounder (40 mm) guns
  • 8 × 21 in torpedo tubes
  • (At outbreak of World War 2):
  • 10 × 4 in (102 mm) guns on high-angle mounts
  • 1 × octuple QF 2-pdr (40 mm) AA guns
  • 8 × 12.7mm machine guns on two quad mounts
Armour
  • 3 inch side (amidships)
  • 2¼-1½ inch side (bows)
  • 2 inch side (stern)
  • 1 inch upper decks (amidships)
  • 1 inch deck over rudder

Sister ships

15 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Coventry (D43) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph FL 5186 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons