# HMS Chatham (1911) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HMS_Chatham_(1911) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HMS_Chatham_(1911).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chatham_(1911) > Source revision: 1330148525 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/Chatham%2C_Kent) | ordered = | awarded = | builder = [Chatham Dockyard](/source/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](/source/ship_breaking), 13 July 1926 }} |section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header = | header_caption = (as built) | class = {{Sclass2|Town|cruiser (1910)|0}} [light cruiser](/source/light_cruiser) | displacement = {{convert|5400|LT|t|0|lk=on}} | length = *{{convert|430|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} [p/p](/source/Length_between_perpendiculars) *{{convert|457|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} [o/a](/source/Length_overall) | beam = {{convert|49|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} | draught = {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}} (mean) | power =*12 × [Yarrow boiler](/source/Yarrow_boiler)s *{{cvt|25000|shp|kW|lk=on}} | propulsion = 4 × shafts; 3 × [steam turbine](/source/steam_turbine)s | 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}} gun](/source/BL_6_inch_Mk_XI_naval_gun)s *4 × single [3 pdr ({{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}) guns](/source/Ordnance_QF_3_pounder_Vickers) *2 × [{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}](/source/British_21-inch_torpedo) [torpedo tube](/source/torpedo_tube)s | armour = *[Waterline belt](/source/Belt_armor): {{convert|2|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} *[Deck](/source/Deck_(ship)): {{convert|.375|-|1.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} *[Conning Tower](/source/Conning_tower): {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} | notes = }} }} '''HMS ''Chatham''''' was a {{sclass2|Town|cruiser (1910)|0}} [light cruiser](/source/light_cruiser) built for the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) in the 1910s. She was the [name ship](/source/name_ship) of her [sub-class](/source/ship_class) of the Town class. The ship survived the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) and was sold for [scrap](/source/ship_breaking) in 1926. ==Design and description== The ''Chatham'' sub-class were slightly larger and improved versions of the preceding ''Weymouth'' sub-class.Preston, p. 53 They were {{convert|457|ft|m|1}} [long overall](/source/length_overall), with a [beam](/source/Beam_(nautical)) of {{convert|49|ft|m|1}} and a [draught](/source/Draft_(ship)) of {{convert|16|ft|m|1}}. [Displacement](/source/Displacement_(ship)) was {{convert|5400|LT|t|lk=on}} normalFriedman, p. 384 and {{convert|6000|LT|t}} at full load. Twelve [Yarrow boiler](/source/Yarrow_boiler)s fed ''Chatham''{{'}}s [Parsons](/source/Parsons_Marine_Steam_Turbine_Company) [steam turbine](/source/steam_turbine)s, driving four [propeller shaft](/source/propeller_shaft)s, 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](/source/sea_trials) from {{convert|26247|shp|abbr=on}}.Lyon, Part 2, pp. 59–60 The boilers used both [fuel oil](/source/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}}. The main armament of the ''Chatham''s was eight [BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns](/source/BL_6_inch_Mk_XI_naval_gun). Two of these guns were mounted on the centreline fore and aft of the [superstructure](/source/superstructure) and two more were mounted on the [forecastle](/source/forecastle) deck abreast the [bridge](/source/bridge_(nautical)). The remaining four guns [amidships](/source/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 shield](/source/gun_shield)s. Four [Vickers 3-pounder (47 mm)](/source/Ordnance_QF_3-pounder_Vickers) [saluting gun](/source/saluting_gun)s were also fitted. The armament was completed by two submerged [21-inch (533 mm)](/source/British_21-inch_torpedo) [torpedo tubes](/source/torpedo_tubes).Lyon, Part 2, pp. 55–57 ==Construction and career== The ship was [laid down](/source/laid_down) on 3 January 1911 by [Chatham Royal Dockyard](/source/Chatham_Royal_Dockyard) and [launched](/source/Ship_naming_and_launching) on 6 November. Upon completion in December 1912, ''Chatham'' was assigned to the [2nd Battle Squadron](/source/2nd_Battle_Squadron) and was transferred to the [2nd Light Cruiser Squadron](/source/2nd_Light_Cruiser_Squadron) in the [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean) in July 1913.Preston, pp. 53–54 ''Chatham'' remained part of the [Mediterranean Fleet](/source/Mediterranean_Fleet) at the outbreak of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), and was initially employed in [the search](/source/Pursuit_of_Goeben_and_Breslau) for the German battlecruiser {{SMS|Goeben||2}} and cruiser {{SMS|Breslau||2}}, searching the [Straits of Messina](/source/Straits_of_Messina) on 3 August.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 21 1923, pp. 1–2, 12–13. After the two German ships avoided the British forces and reached Turkey, ''Chatham'' was detached for operations in the [Red Sea](/source/Red_Sea) on 13 August 1914.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 21 1923, pp. 49–50. On 20 September that year, the German [light cruiser](/source/light_cruiser) {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|2}} sank the old British cruiser {{HMS|Pegasus|1897|2}} in [Zanzibar](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Mombasa), she ran aground on the [Leven Reef](/source/Leven_Reef), just to the northward of the entrance to [Kilindini Harbour](/source/Kilindini_Harbour).Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 35-37. While ''Chatham'' was only lightly damaged, she was under repair at [Mombasa](/source/Mombasa) from 3 October to 15 October.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 36, 42. 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](/source/Lindi), [German East Africa](/source/German_East_Africa) (now [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania)). While the Germans claimed that ''Präsident'' was a [hospital ship](/source/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](/source/Prize_of_war), but as ''Präsident''{{'}}s engines were broken down, ''Chatham'' permanently disabled ''Präsident''{{'}}s machinery before continuing the search for ''Königsberg''.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 43–45.The Naval Review Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 479–480. 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](/source/Rufiji_River), but owing to the shallowness of the river delta, could not closely approach the two German ships.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 44–45, 54–55. 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](/source/collier_(ship)) ''Newbridge'' in the main channel of the Delta, blocking ''Königsberg'' from escaping to sea.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, pp. 56–60. ''Chatham'' left East African waters on 2 January 1915 for the Mediterranean.Naval Staff Memorandum No. 10 1921, p. 71. From May 1915 ''Chatham'' supported the [Allied landings at Gallipoli](/source/Battle_of_Gallipoli). On 12–13 July 1915 she provided gunfire support to [an attack along the Achi Baba Nullah](/source/Battle_of_Gully_Ravine) dry water course on [Cape Helles](/source/Cape_Helles),Corbett 1923, p. 72. and on 6–7 August took part in the [Landing at Suvla Bay](/source/Landing_at_Suvla_Bay), acting as the flagship of [Rear-Admiral](/source/Rear-Admiral) [John de Robeck](/source/John_de_Robeck), in command of Naval Forces during the operation.Corbett 1923, p. 94. On 20 December ''Chatham'' acted as the flagship for Admiral [Weymss](/source/Rosslyn_Wemyss%2C_1st_Baron_Wester_Wemyss) during the evacuation from Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove.Corbett 1923, pp. 238, 241. In 1916 she returned to home waters and joined the [3rd Light Cruiser Squadron](/source/3rd_Light_Cruiser_Squadron) of the [Grand Fleet](/source/Grand_Fleet). On 26 May 1916, ''Chatham'' struck a mine off the [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk) coast and had to be towed to Chatham for repairs. The ship was placed in [reserve](/source/Reserve_fleet) in 1918. After the war, ''Chatham'' was lent to the [New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy](/source/New_Zealand_Division_of_the_Royal_Navy) from 1920 to 1924,J. O'C Ross, The White Ensign in New Zealand (1967); Howard, The Navy in New Zealand (1981). She proceeded via the [Royal Naval Dockyard](/source/Royal_Naval_Dockyard%2C_Bermuda) in the [Imperial fortress](/source/Imperial_fortress) [colony](/source/British_Overseas_Territory) of [Bermuda](/source/Bermuda) (home base of the [8th Cruiser Squadron](/source/8th_Cruiser_Squadron) on the [North America and West Indies Station](/source/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](/source/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](/source/South_East_Coast_of_America_Station) and, utilising the canal, the [Pacific Station](/source/Pacific_Station), demonstrating the amity and the convergence of national interests between the United Kingdom and the United States).{{cite news |author= |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.}} During late June 1921, she carried out a search for the missing steamer [SS Canastota](/source/SS_Canastota).{{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}} She was sold for scrapping on 13 July 1926 to [Thos. W. Ward](/source/Thos._W._Ward), of [Pembroke Dock](/source/Pembroke_Dock).Lyon, Part 3, p. 51 In 1922, the crew of ''Chatham'' donated a cup to the New Zealand Football Association. This became the [Chatham Cup](/source/Chatham_Cup), New Zealand's local equivalent of the [FA Cup](/source/FA_Cup), and its premier [knockout](/source/Single-elimination_tournament) football trophy.{{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](/source/New_Zealand_Football) |page=66 |isbn=978-0473012915}} ==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](/source/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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [HMS Chatham (1911)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chatham_(1911)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chatham_(1911)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.