Royal Navy — Cruiser class
County-class cruiser
County class
The class in numbers
- 16 Planned
- 13 Completed
- 3 Cancelled
- 3 Lost
Design and service
- Type
- Cruiser
- Navies
- Royal Navy 11
Royal Australian Navy 2 - In commission
- 1928–1959
- Preceded by
- Hawkins-class cruiser
- Succeeded by
- York-class cruiser
- Builders
- Chatham Dockyard (1)
- Devonport Dockyard (2)
- Fairfields (2)
- John Brown (2)
- Portsmouth Dockyard (3)
- Hawthorn Leslie (1)
- Vickers Armstrongs (1)
- William Beardmore (1)
- Subclasses
- Kent, London, Norfolk
Class specifications
Figures for the class as designed. Individual vessels varied, sometimes considerably — each vessel page carries its own configurations.
Kent class
- Displacement, standard
- 10,400 long tons (10,567 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 14,150 long tons (14,377 t)
- Length
- 192.02 m (630 ft) OA
- Speed
- 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h, 36.2 mph)
- Complement
- 685
- Main gun
- 406 mm (16 in)
- Armament
- 8 × BL 8-inch (203 mm L/50) Mk.VIII guns in twin mounts Mk.I
- 4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) L/45 Mk.V guns in single mounts HA Mk.III
- 8 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) L/39 Mk.VIII guns in quad mounts HA Mk.VII (from 1925–)
- except Berwick; 16 in oct mounts Mk.VIII
- 8 × 0.5-inch (12.7 mm L/50) Mk.III machine guns in quad mounts Mk.I (from 1924–)
- 8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes in quad mounts (removed from 1935–)
London class
- Displacement, standard
- 9,840 long tons (9,998 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 13,315 long tons (13,529 t)
- Length
- 192.63 m (632 ft) OA
- Speed
- 32.3 knots (59.7 km/h, 37.1 mph)
- Complement
- 700
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
- Armament
- 8 × BL 8-inch (203 mm) L/50 Mk.VIII guns in twin mounts Mk.I*
- 4–8 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) L/45 Mk.V guns in single mounts HA Mk.III
- 4 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) L/39 Mk.II guns in single mounts HA Mk.I
- 8 × 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) L/50 Mk.III machine guns in quad mounts Mk.I
- 8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes in quad mounts
Norfolk class
- Displacement, standard
- 10,400 long tons (10,567 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 13,775 long tons (13,996 t)
- Length
- 192.63 m (632 ft) OA
- Complement
- 710
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
- Armament
- 8 × BL 8-inch (203 mm L/50) Mk.VIII guns in twin mounts Mk.II
- 8 × QF 4-inch (102 mm L/45) Mk.XVI guns in twin mounts HA/LA Mk.XIX (from 1937–)
- 16 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm L/39) Mk.VIII guns in oct mounts HA Mk.VIII
Roster
| Vessel | Pennant | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMAS Australia (D84) | D84 | 1928 | Scrapped 1955 |
| HMAS Canberra (D33) | D33 | 1928 | Scuttled 1942 |
| HMS Berwick (65) | 65 | 1927 | 1948 |
| HMS Cornwall (56) | 56 | 1926 | Sunk 1942 |
| HMS Cumberland (57) | 57 | 1928 | Scrapped 1959 |
| HMS Devonshire (39) | 39 | 1929 | Scrapped 1954 |
| HMS Dorsetshire (40) | 40 | 1930 | Sunk 1942 |
| HMS Kent (54) | 54 | 1928 | Scrapped 1948 |
| HMS London (69) | 69 | 1929 | Scrapped 1950 |
| HMS Norfolk (78) | 78 | 1930 | Scrapped 1950 |
| HMS Shropshire | 1929 | Scrapped 1954 | |
| HMS Suffolk (55) | 55 | 1928 | Scrapped 1948 |
| HMS Sussex (96) | 96 | 1929 | 1950 |
Sources
- Facts harvested from County-class cruiser on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.