Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Light cruiser 83

HMS Southampton (83)

Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser

HMS Southampton (83)
Unknown author — http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//11/media-11846/large.jpg This photograph HU 69048 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — 83 The Royal Navy Between the Wars, 1919-1939 The Southampton class cruiser HMS SOUTHAMPTON on completion in 1937.

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Southampton6 March 1937 — 11 January 1941498 days of the war
Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser Particulars
Name
HMS Southampton
Pennant / hull number
83
Builder
John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Laid down
21 November 1934
Launched
10 March 1936
Commissioned
6 March 1937
Fate
Scuttled off Malta, 11 January 1941 (1941)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
9,100 long tons (9,246 t)
Displacement, full load
11,350 long tons (11,532 t)
Length
180.14 m (591 ft) OA
Beam
18.59 m (61 ft)
Draught
6.4 m (21 ft)
Speed
32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
Complement
748
Main gun
152 mm (6 in)

HMS Southampton was a Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser, operated by the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number 83. Her keel was laid at John Brown & Company, Clydebank on 21 November 1934. Launched on 10 March 1936, she entered service on 6 March 1937.

Displacement was 9,100 long tons standard and 11,350 long tons at full load. She measured 180.1 m (591 ft) long with a beam of 18.6 m (61 ft). Her designed speed was 32 knots, and she carried a complement of 748. Her main battery was of 152 mm (6.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 498 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 11 January 1941, at 34°54′N 18°24′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
  • Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines
  • Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 75,000 shp
Armament
  • 12 × BL 6 in guns [triple mounts]
  • 8 × QF 4 in guns [double mounts]
  • 4 × 3-pounder
  • 8 x QF 2-pounder (40 mm) AA guns [quadruple mounts]
  • 6 × 21 in torpedo tubes

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Southampton (83) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//11/media-11846/large.jpg This photograph HU 69048 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons