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

HMS Cairo

C-class light cruiser

HMS Cairo
Photographer not identified. "Commercial photograph". — This photograph Q 20272 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 2406-01) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate British light cruiser HMS CAIRO .

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Cairo23 September 1919 — 12 August 19421,076 days of the war
C-class light cruiser Particulars
Name
HMS Cairo
Builder
Cammell Laird
Laid down
17 November 1917
Launched
19 November 1918
Commissioned
23 September 1919
Fate
Sunk 12 August 1942 by the Italian submarine Axum off Bizerta
By submarine (1942)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
4,190 long tons (4,257 t)
Length
137.59 m (451.4 ft)
Beam
13.38 m (43.9 ft)
Draught
4.27 m (14 ft)
Speed
29 knots (53.7 km/h, 33.4 mph)
Complement
330
Main gun
152 mm (6 in)

HMS Cairo was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy. Her keel was laid at Cammell Laird on 17 November 1917. She entered service on 23 September 1919, having been launched on 19 November 1918.

Her class ran to 40 ships. 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 137.6 m (451 ft) long with a beam of 13.4 m (44 ft). Her designed speed was 29 knots, and she carried a complement of 330.

Her main battery was five 152 mm (6 in) guns. Her machinery developed 40,000 shp.

She was in commission for 1,076 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 12 August 1942 by submarine, at 37°26′N 10°22′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
  • Parsons geared turbines
  • Two propellers
Power
  • Yarrow boilers
  • 40,000 shp
Armament
  • 5 × 6 in guns
  • 2 × 3 in anti-aircraft guns
  • 4 × 3-pounder guns
  • 2 × 2-pounder pom-poms
  • 1 × machine gun
  • 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour
  • 3in side (amidships)
  • 2–1in side (bows)
  • 2in side (stern)
  • 1in upper decks (amidships)
  • 1in deck over rudder

Sister ships

15 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Cairo on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Photographer not identified. "Commercial photograph". — This photograph Q 20272 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 2406-01) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons