The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: South Point | Table of Contents | Next: Sovetskaya Gavin |
Imperial War Museum. Via Wikimedia Commons
| Tonnage | 9100 tons standard displacement |
| Dimensions | 591'6" by 61'8" by 20'4" 180.20m by 18.79m by 6.20m |
| Maximum speed | 32 knots |
| Complement | 748 |
| Aircraft |
3 seaplanes 1 catapult |
| Armament | 4x3 6"/50
guns 4x2 4"/45 dual-purpose guns 2x4 2pdr AA guns 9x1 20mm Oerlikon AA guns 2x3 21" torpedo tubes |
| Protection | 15.7% of displacement 4.5" (114mm) belt 2" (51mm) magazine crowns 1.25" (32mm) deck over machine spaces 2" (51mm) turret roofs |
| Machinery |
4-shaft Parsons geared turbine (82,500 shp) 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers |
| Bunkerage | 2060 tons fuel oil |
| Range | 7700 nautical miles (14,300km) at 13 knots |
| Sensors |
Type 273 radar Type 291 radar |
| Modifications |
Late 1942: Radar suites updated. 10 20mm guns
added. Late 1943: 60 single 20mm guns replaced with 4x2 20mm guns. Early 1945: One 6" turret removed. Antiaircraft suite upgraded to 7x1, 10x2 20 mm guns and 4x4 40mm Bofors AA guns. |
The Southamptons
were the first of the "Town" classes, which were a response to Japan's
withdrawal from the naval
arms limitation treaties and to rumors of Japanese super cruiser
designs. The Japanese cruisers
reportedly would have 15 6.1" (155mm) guns and 5" (127mm) belt armor on
just 8500 tons displacement. Although the British were skeptical this
was possible, they attempted to create their own competing design. In fact, while the Mogamis
were as heavily armed as reports indicated, they were not as heavily
protected, and they were later converted to 8" (203mm) gun heavy cruisers.
The British designers concluded that the best that could be done on
8500 tons was 5" protection to machine and magazine spaces and armament
of 4x3 6" guns, with a speed of 32 knots, and these became the basic
parameters for the final design.
The result was well-armed, well-protected modern
warships that needed little modification during the war, other than the
usual
updates to the antiaircraft
armament and radar. However, their expense limited the numbers that
could be built at a time when Britain needed large numbers of cruisers
for trade protection. The modifications listed above are representative
for the class, with individual ships showing considerable variation.
| Newcastle
|
Arrived 1942-4 |
| Birmingham
|
Arrived 1942-4 Withdrawn 1943-4 |
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2009, 2011-2012, 2014 by Kent G. Budge. Index
