HMS Cumberland (1902)
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HMS Cumberland was one of 10 Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet upon completion in 1903. After a refit in 1907–1908 she became a training ship in the Home Fleet. She was sent to West Africa after the beginning of World War I in August 1914 and captured 10 German merchant ships in September. Cumberland spent the rest of the war on convoy escort duties and patrolling for German commerce raiders. She was sold for scrap in 1921 and broken up two years later.
Design and description
The Monmouths were intended to protect British merchant shipping from fast cruisers like the French Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". or the Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".. The ships were designed to displace Script error: No such module "convert".. They had an overall length of Script error: No such module "convert"., a beam of Script error: No such module "convert". and a deep draught of Script error: No such module "convert".. They were powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam provided by 31 Belleville boilers. The engines produced a total of Script error: No such module "convert". which was designed to give the ships a maximum speed of Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] The ships carried a maximum of Script error: No such module "convert". of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and ratings.[2]
The Monmouth-class ships' main armament consisted of fourteen breech-loading (BL) Script error: No such module "convert". Mk VII guns.[3] Four of these guns were mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and the others were positioned in casemates amidships. Six of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather.[4] Ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder (Script error: No such module "convert".) 12-cwt guns[Note 1] were fitted for defence against torpedo boats.[2] Cumberland also carried three 3-pounder Script error: No such module "convert". Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[1]
Beginning in 1915, the main deck six-inch guns of the Monmouth-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve seakeeping. The twelve-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were repositioned elsewhere. At some point in the war, a pair of three-pounder anti-aircraft guns were installed on the upper deck.[5]
The ship's waterline armour belt was Script error: No such module "convert". thick amidships and Script error: No such module "convert". forward. The armour of the gun turrets, their barbettes and the casemates was four inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from Script error: No such module "convert". and the conning tower was protected by Script error: No such module "convert". of armour.[6]
Construction and service
Cumberland, named for the English county,[7] was laid down by London and Glasgow Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Govan on 19 February 1901 and launched on 16 December 1902, when she was named by Lady Morpeth.[8] She was completed on 1 December 1904[1] and assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet. She was transferred to the Home Fleet in December 1906 and was refitted to serve as a cadet training ship from 1907–08. From May 1912 to July 1914 she was under the command of Captain Aubrey Smith[9] and was present for the July 1914 Fleet review at Spithead.[10]
She was sent to West Africa after the beginning of the war in August and supported operations in the Cameroons where she captured 10 German merchantmen at Douala on 27 September. She was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron in January 1915 where she conducted patrols for German raiders and escorted convoys for the rest of the war.
Cumberland was paid off in April 1920 in Queenstown, Ireland[10] and sold to Thos. W. Ward for scrap on 9 May 1921. She was finally broken up at Briton Ferry in 1923.[7]
Notes
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- ↑ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
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Footnotes
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- ↑ a b c Roberts, p. 70
- ↑ a b Friedman 2012, p. 336
- ↑ Friedman 2011, p. 81
- ↑ Friedman 2012, pp. 251–252, 260–261
- ↑ Friedman 2012, pp. 280, 286
- ↑ McBride, p. 21
- ↑ a b Silverstone, p. 224
- ↑ Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
- ↑ 'Smith, Adm. Sir Aubrey Clare Hugh' in Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage (1931), p. 1,233
- ↑ a b Preston, p. 12
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Bibliography
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