HMS Exeter (68)
Service
- as Exeter27 July 1931 — 1 March 1942912 days of the war
- Name
- HMS Exeter
- Pennant / hull number
- 68
- Namesake
- Exeter
- Builder
- Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth
- Ordered
- 15 March 1928
- Laid down
- 1 August 1928
- Launched
- 18 July 1929
- Commissioned
- 27 July 1931
- Fate
- Sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942, wreck destroyed by illegal salvagers 2014–2016 (1942)
- Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 8,390 long tons (8,525 t)
- Length
- 175.26 m (575 ft) OA
- Beam
- 17.68 m (58 ft)
- Draught
- 6.1 m (20 ft)
- Speed
- 32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
- Range
- 10,000 nmi (18,520 km)
- Complement
- 628
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
HMS Exeter was a York-class cruiser heavy cruiser in service with the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number 68. The ship was named after Exeter. Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth laid her keel on 1 August 1928. She entered service on 27 July 1931, having been launched on 18 July 1929.
Four ships of the class were built. The class followed the Wyoming-class battleship and was succeeded by the Nevada-class battleship.
She displaced 8,390 long tons. She measured 175.3 m (575 ft) long with a beam of 17.7 m (58 ft). Her designed speed was 32 knots, and she carried a complement of 628.
Her main battery was six 203 mm (8 in) guns in three twin mountings. She carried two aircraft. Her machinery developed 80,000 shp.
She was in commission for 912 days of the Second World War.
She was sunk on 1 March 1942, at 5°00′S 111°00′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
- 4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbine sets
- Power
- 8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
- 80000 shp
- Armament
- 3 × twin 8 in guns
- 4 × single 4 in AA guns
- 2 × single 2 pdr (40 mm) AA guns
- 2 × triple 21 in torpedo tubes
- Armour
- Waterline belt: 3 in
- Deck: 1.5 in
- Barbettes: 1 in
- Gun turrets: 1 in
- Magazines: 3 - 5.5 in
- Bulkheads: 4.375 in
- Aircraft
- 2 × seaplanes
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Exeter (68) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 60814 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons