Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Light cruiser 16

HMS Edinburgh (16)

Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser

HMS Edinburgh (16)
Coote, R G G (Lt) Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph A 6160 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-01) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — 16 Aerial view of HMS EDINBURGH , 'Southampton' class (third group) cruiser in Scapa Flow, October 1941

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Edinburgh6 July 1939 — 2 May 1942974 days of the war
Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser Particulars
Name
HMS Edinburgh
Pennant / hull number
16
Builder
Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Laid down
30 December 1936
Launched
31 March 1938
Commissioned
6 July 1939
Fate
Scuttled 2 May 1942 (1942)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, full load
10,550 long tons (10,719 t)
Length
187.03 m (613.6 ft)
Beam
19.78 m (64.9 ft)
Draught
6.89 m (22.6 ft)
Speed
32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
Complement
750
Main gun
152 mm (6 in)

HMS Edinburgh was a Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser in service with the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number 16. Her keel was laid at Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear on 30 December 1936. Launched on 31 March 1938, she entered service on 6 July 1939.

She displaced 10,550 long tons. She measured 187.0 m (614 ft) long with a beam of 19.8 m (65 ft). Her designed speed was 32 knots, and she carried a complement of 750. Her main battery was of 152 mm (6.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 974 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 2 May 1942, at 72°00′N 35°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
  • Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines
  • Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 82500 shp
Armament
  • 12 × BL 6-inch Mk XXIII naval guns (152 mm) in triple turrets
  • 12 × QF 4 in Mk XVI guns
  • Two octuple mount QF 2-pounder (40 mm) AA guns
  • 8 × 0.5 in Vickers machine guns
  • 6 × 21 in torpedo tubes
Aircraft
  • Two Walrus aircraft (Removed in the latter part of World War II)

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Edinburgh (16) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Coote, R G G (Lt) Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph A 6160 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-01) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons