{{short description|Town-class light cruiser}} {{other ships|HMS Chatham}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Use British English|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image = HMS Chatham AllanGreen2.jpg | image_caption = }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header = | country = United Kingdom | flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | name =''Chatham'' | namesake = Chatham, Kent | ordered = | awarded = | builder = Chatham Dockyard | laid_down = 3 January 1911 | launched = 9 November 1911 | christened = | commissioned = December 1912 | recommissioned = | decommissioned = | in_service = | out_of_service = | renamed = | reclassified = | refit = | struck = | reinstated = | fate = Sold for scrap, 13 July 1926 }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header = | header_caption = (as built) | class = {{Sclass2|Town|cruiser (1910)|0}} light cruiser | displacement = {{convert|5400|LT|t|0|lk=on}} | length = *{{convert|430|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} p/p *{{convert|457|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} o/a | beam = {{convert|49|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} | draught = {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}} (mean) | power =*12 × Yarrow boilers *{{cvt|25000|shp|kW|lk=on}} | propulsion = 4 × shafts; 3 × steam turbines | speed = {{convert|25.5|kn|lk=in}} | range = {{convert|4460|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}} | complement = 475 | armament = *8 × single {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} guns *4 × single 3 pdr ({{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}) guns *2 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes | armour = *Waterline belt: {{convert|2|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} *Deck: {{convert|.375|-|1.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} *Conning Tower: {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} | notes = }} }}
'''HMS ''Chatham''''' was a {{sclass2|Town|cruiser (1910)|0}} light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She was the name ship of her sub-class of the Town class. The ship survived the First World War and was sold for scrap in 1926.
==Design and description== The ''Chatham'' sub-class were slightly larger and improved versions of the preceding ''Weymouth'' sub-class.<ref name="conways06 p51">Preston, p. 53</ref> They were {{convert|457|ft|m|1}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|49|ft|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|16|ft|m|1}}. Displacement was {{convert|5400|LT|t|lk=on}} normal<ref name=f3>Friedman, p. 384</ref> and {{convert|6000|LT|t}} at full load. Twelve Yarrow boilers fed ''Chatham''{{'}}s Parsons steam turbines,<ref name="conways06 p51"/> driving four propeller shafts, that were rated at {{convert|25000|shp|lk=in}} for a design speed of {{convert|25.5|kn}}. The ship reached {{convert|26.1|kn}} during her sea trials from {{convert|26247|shp|abbr=on}}.<ref>Lyon, Part 2, pp. 59–60</ref> The boilers used both fuel oil and coal, with {{convert|1200|LT|t|0}} of coal and {{convert|260|LT|t|0}} tons of oil carried, which gave a range of {{convert|4460|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.<ref name=f3/>
The main armament of the ''Chatham''s was eight BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns. Two of these guns were mounted on the centreline fore and aft of the superstructure and two more were mounted on the forecastle deck abreast the bridge. The remaining four guns amidships were raised to the extended forecastle deck, which meant that they could be worked in all weathers. All these guns were fitted with gun shields.<ref name="conways06 p51"/> Four Vickers 3-pounder (47 mm) saluting guns were also fitted. The armament was completed by two submerged 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes.<ref>Lyon, Part 2, pp. 55–57</ref>
==Construction and career== The ship was laid down on 3 January 1911 by Chatham Royal Dockyard and launched on 6 November. Upon completion in December 1912, ''Chatham'' was assigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron and was transferred to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in July 1913.<ref name="conways p53-4">Preston, pp. 53–54</ref>
''Chatham'' remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the First World War, and was initially employed in the search for the German battlecruiser {{SMS|Goeben||2}} and cruiser {{SMS|Breslau||2}}, searching the Straits of Messina on 3 August.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 21 1923, pp. 1–2, 12–13.</ref> After the two German ships avoided the British forces and reached Turkey, ''Chatham'' was detached for operations in the Red Sea on 13 August 1914.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 21 1923, pp. 49–50.</ref>
On 20 September that year, the German light cruiser {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|2}} sank the old British cruiser {{HMS|Pegasus|1897|2}} in Zanzibar harbour. In response, ''Chatham'' was ordered to East Africa to join up with sister ships {{HMS|Weymouth|1910|2}} and {{HMS|Dartmouth|1911|2}} and take part in the hunt for ''Königsberg'', with ''Chatham''{{'}}s Captain, Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe commanding the operation. ''Chatham'' arrived at Zanzibar on 28 September, but her participation in the search was delayed when, during the night of 1 October, cruising off Mombasa, she ran aground on the Leven Reef, just to the northward of the entrance to Kilindini Harbour.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 35-37.</ref> While ''Chatham'' was only lightly damaged, she was under repair at Mombasa from 3 October to 15 October.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 36, 42.</ref>
thumb|left|''Präsident'' On 19 October ''Chatham''{{'}}s boats found the German steamer ''Präsident'' {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} upriver from the coastal town of Lindi, German East Africa (now Tanzania). While the Germans claimed that ''Präsident'' was a hospital ship, the British found no medical equipment on board and had not been notified of the German ship's status and found documents aboard ''Präsident'' indicating that she had acted as a supply ship for ''Königsberg''. The German ship was claimed as a Prize of war, but as ''Präsident''{{'}}s engines were broken down, ''Chatham'' permanently disabled ''Präsident''{{'}}s machinery before continuing the search for ''Königsberg''.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 43–45.</ref><ref>The Naval Review Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 479–480.</ref>
thumb|''Somali'' after being burnt out by shellfire from ''Chatham''. On 30 October ''Chatham'' found ''Königsberg'' and the supply ship ''Somali'' up the Rufiji River, but owing to the shallowness of the river delta, could not closely approach the two German ships.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 44–45, 54–55.</ref> On 7 November ''Chatham'' hit ''Somali'' with a shell, causing a fire that destroyed the supply ship, while on 10 November the British scuttled the collier ''Newbridge'' in the main channel of the Delta, blocking ''Königsberg'' from escaping to sea.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 56–60.</ref> ''Chatham'' left East African waters on 2 January 1915 for the Mediterranean.<ref>Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, p. 71.</ref>
From May 1915 ''Chatham'' supported the Allied landings at Gallipoli.<ref name="conways p53-4"/> On 12–13 July 1915 she provided gunfire support to an attack along the Achi Baba Nullah dry water course on Cape Helles,<ref>Corbett 1923, p. 72.</ref> and on 6–7 August took part in the Landing at Suvla Bay, acting as the flagship of Rear-Admiral John de Robeck, in command of Naval Forces during the operation.<ref>Corbett 1923, p. 94.</ref> On 20 December ''Chatham'' acted as the flagship for Admiral Weymss during the evacuation from Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove.<ref>Corbett 1923, pp. 238, 241.</ref>
In 1916 she returned to home waters and joined the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. On 26 May 1916, ''Chatham'' struck a mine off the Norfolk coast and had to be towed to Chatham for repairs. The ship was placed in reserve in 1918. After the war, ''Chatham'' was lent to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy from 1920 to 1924,<ref name="conways p53-4"/><ref>J. O'C Ross, The White Ensign in New Zealand (1967); Howard, The Navy in New Zealand (1981).</ref> She proceeded via the Royal Naval Dockyard in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda (home base of the 8th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station), before cruising to the West Indies and becoming the first Royal Naval vessel from Bermuda to pass through the Panama Canal in December, 1920 (the geographic limits of the station controlled from Bermuda had grown over the preceding century from the western North Atlantic to absorb the area of the Jamaica Station, and following the first World War would absorb the former areas of the South East Coast of America Station and, utilising the canal, the Pacific Station, demonstrating the amity and the convergence of national interests between the United Kingdom and the United States).<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=1920-12-04 |title=Cruiser on The Coast |page=22 |work=The Daily Colonist |location=Toronto |quote=This is the first occasion on which a ship from the Bermuda station has come through the Canal.}}</ref> During late June 1921, she carried out a search for the missing steamer SS Canastota.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|date=1921-07-01|title=Missing Canastota.|pages=9|work=Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15936471|access-date=2018-02-13}}</ref>
She was sold for scrapping on 13 July 1926 to Thos. W. Ward, of Pembroke Dock.<ref>Lyon, Part 3, p. 51</ref>
In 1922, the crew of ''Chatham'' donated a cup to the New Zealand Football Association. This became the Chatham Cup, New Zealand's local equivalent of the FA Cup, and its premier knockout football trophy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hilton |first1=Tony |last2=Smith |first2=Barry |title=An Association with Soccer: The NZFA Celebrates Its First 100 Years |year=1991 |publisher=New Zealand Football |page=66 |isbn=978-0473012915}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == *{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1-5267-9327-0 |edition=5th revised and updated|first2=Ben|last2=Warlow|first3=Steve|last3=Bush|name-list-style=amp}} * {{cite book|last=Corbett|first=Julian|author-link=Julian Corbett|title=Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands|edition=2nd|orig-year=1938|series=History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents|volume=I|publisher=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press|isbn=0-89839-256-X}} * {{cite book|last=Corbett|first=Julian|title=Naval Operations|orig-year= 1929|edition=Second|series=History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents|volume=II|year=1997|publisher=Imperial War Museum in association with the Battery Press|isbn=1-870423-74-7}} * {{cite book|last=Corbett|first=Julian|title=Naval Operations: Vol. III|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.523439|series=History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents|year=1923|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.}} * {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After|year=2010|publisher=Naval Institute Press|author-link=Norman Friedman|isbn=978-1-59114-078-8}} * {{cite journal|last=Lyon|first=David|title=The First Town Class 1908–31: Part 1|journal=Warship|issue= 1|volume= 1|year=1977|pages=48–58|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-132-7}} * {{cite journal|last=Lyon|first=David|title=The First Town Class 1908–31: Part 2|journal=Warship|issue= 2|volume= 1|year=1977|pages=54–61|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-132-7}} * {{cite journal|last=Lyon|first=David|title=The First Town Class 1908–31: Part 3|journal=Warship|issue= 3|volume= 1|year=1977|pages=46–51|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-132-7}} * {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 10.—East Africa to July 1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=II|year=1921|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.II_opt.pdf|pages=2–148|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 10|1921}}}} * {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 21: The Mediterranean 1914–1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=VIII|year=1923|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.VIII_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 21|1923}}}} * {{cite journal|title=Narrative of Proceedings of H.M.S. ''Chatham'': Off East Coast of Africa in Search of German Light Cruiser ''Köningsberg''|journal=The Naval Review| volume=3|issue=3|year=1915|pages=471–487}} * {{cite book|last=Newbolt|first=Henry|title=Naval Operations|orig-year=1931|series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents|volume=V|year=1996|publisher=Battery Press|author-link=Henry Newbolt|isbn=0-89839-255-1}} *{{cite book|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|first1=Antony|last1=Preston|author-link=Antony Preston|pages=1–104}}
==External links== {{Commons category|HMS Chatham (1911)}} * [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Chatham.html Ships of the Chatham group]
{{Town class cruiser 1910}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatham}} Category:Town-class cruisers (1910) of the Royal Navy Category:Ships built in Chatham, Kent Category:1911 ships Category:World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom