HMS Dorsetshire (40)
Service
- as Dorsetshire30 September 1930 — 5 April 1942947 days of the war
- Name
- HMS Dorsetshire
- Pennant / hull number
- 40
- Namesake
- Dorset
- Builder
- Portsmouth Dockyard
- Laid down
- 21 September 1927
- Launched
- 29 January 1929
- Commissioned
- 30 September 1930
- Fate
- Sunk by Japanese air attack, 5 April 1942
By aircraft (1942) - Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 10,035 long tons (10,196 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 13,420 long tons (13,635 t)
- Length
- 192.63 m (632 ft)
- Beam
- 20.12 m (66 ft)
- Draught
- 5.49 m (18 ft)
- Speed
- 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h, 36.2 mph)
- Range
- 12,000 nmi (22,224 km)
- Complement
- 653
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
HMS Dorsetshire was a County-class cruiser heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number 40. She was named for Dorset. Portsmouth Dockyard laid her keel on 21 September 1927. Launched on 29 January 1929, she entered service on 30 September 1930.
Her class ran to 13 ships. The class followed the Hawkins-class cruiser and was succeeded by the York-class cruiser.
Displacement was 10,035 long tons standard and 13,420 long tons at full load. She measured 192.6 m (632 ft) long with a beam of 20.1 m (66 ft). Her designed speed was 31.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 653.
Her main battery was eight 203 mm (8 in) guns. She carried two aircraft. Her machinery developed 80,000 shp.
She was in commission for 947 days of the Second World War.
She was sunk on 5 April 1942 by aircraft, at 1°54′N 77°45′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 × Parsons geared or Brown Curtis steam turbines
- 4 × screw propellers
- Power
- 8 × boilers
- 80000 shp
- Armament
- 8 × 8 in Mk VIII guns
- 8 × QF 4 in dual-purpose guns
- 24 × 2-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft guns
- 8 × 21 in torpedo tubes
- Armour
- Side: 1 to 4 in
- Turrets: 1 in
- Aircraft
- 2 × Supermarine Walrus floatplanes (operated by 700 Naval Air Squadron)
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Dorsetshire (40) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Photographer not identified — This photograph Q 83436 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 7211-17) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons