H M S Caledon - main armament arrangement

[RF]

I am doing some research into HMS Caledon, a British C class light cruiser, involved in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917.

I gather the main armament was five 6 inch guns. Does anyone have any info on the configuration of these guns?

[alecsandros]

Myabe this could help:

"The Caledon-class were all ordered in December 1915 and commissioned in 1917. They retained the two funnels of the previous two sub-classes. Their propulsion was slightly different from the previous sub-classes. Their superstructure was also slightly altered. They had a main armament of five 6-inch (152 mm) guns and a secondary armament of two 3 in guns, as well as an AA armament of four 3 pounder guns. The surviving ships of the class survived to see World War II, and underwent a number of modifications. Five Oerlikon 20 mm cannons were added to all ships. Caledon herself had a different armament, as she underwent an extensive rebuild that saw her become an AA cruiser. She was armed with the effective 4-inch (102 mm) gun, of which she had twelve, two 40 mm Bofors and eight 20 mm Oerlikons."

"Armament: 5 BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk XII guns (5x1)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_class_cruiser

So, during WW1, she had 5x1 guns, while afterwards, 12x4". I don't know how they were positioned.. From the pic below, I can see 1 fw, 1 aft and 1 in the middle. DOn't know where the other 2 where.

Cheers

[mike1880]

Two on the forecastle deck (one ahead of the bridge, one aft of the bridge); one aft of the funnels; one each in X and Y. Not the best picture in the world but you can make them out:



You can see the torpedo tubes below the third gun.

Mike

[RF]

Thanks for the info. I had suspected single mounts as there were no visible turrets.

[hammy]

The design was revised for the later Cs , moving the bridge aft and the second 6inch forward to superfire over A .
These form the class converted to AA cruisers for WW2 .
The D class was lengthened and got an extra 6 inch mount in .
A forerunner , HMS Caroline , is still afloat as the RNVR Drillship in Belfast .
In WW1 , a squadron of these operated with accompanying destroyers out of Harwich harbour at the south end of the north sea , becoming known as "Tyrwhitts Dreadnoughts" , nicknamed after their Commodore .

[hammy]

R F , there is quite a lot of stuff in " Cruisers of WW2 , an International Encyclopedia " , by MJ Whitley , 1995 , ISBN 1 86019 8740 .
Good synopsis on every cruiser in the world at that time , incl service summary and mods summaries , and lots of excellent and clearly reproduced photographs , and side/deck drawings .There are "sister-books" to the same good standard in the same series for Carriers , Destroyers , and Battleships ( the last I haven't seen ).

The picture of Caradoc Alexandros posted is the Illustrative photo for the class given in this book , I have it a little clearer than on here , the book dates the pic at May 1943 .

The book gives the Caledons AA mod as follows ; -September 1942 to December 1943 .
All 5 x 6 inch , 2 x 3 inch , 2 x 2pdr , 4 x 2 21 inch TT removed ,
3 x twin 4 inch added ( looking at what was done to the other Cs , that must have been in A , X and Y positions )
2 x twin Hazemeyer 40mm Bofors mounts added ( probably on the old 3 inch spots on either side of the fore funnel )
and 6 x twin 20mm Oerlikons added , ( I'm guessing two in the bridge wings , two more on the old Q main gun position , and two more somewhere near the mainmast ) .
New HA directors and radars fitted during the same period .
In April 1944 she was listed as carrying two more 20mm singles .
In September to October 1944 she received 6 x single 40mm Bofors mk3 ( replacing the twin 20mms ) , and one more 20mm single ( bowchaser ? , or right aft ? )

Was disarmed in April 1945 , and placed in reserve laying at Falmouth . Transferred out for scrapping on 22nd Jan 1948 , and arrived Dover for breaking up on 14th Feb that year .

There's the design detail and the service history if you want it , just say .

[hammy]

You can see the torpedo tubes below the third gun.

Mike

On the starboard side there is a boat in davits where the aft TTs are on the port side , so the stbd aft tubes are positioned aft again , approximately between the aft searchlight ( the two black blobs on top of the aft superstructure ) and X main gun mount , so the tubes layout is not symmetrical . ( Because otherwise the boat would get blast damage from X gun when trained far forward to starboard ) You can see that in Alexandros view of Caradoc .

[Byron Angel]

I am doing some research into HMS Caledon, a British C class light cruiser, involved in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917.

I gather the main armament was five 6 inch guns. Does anyone have any info on the configuration of these guns?

..... The following data on CALEDON's armament are taken from British Cruisers of WW2", by Alan Raven and John Roberts.

CALEDON was originally completed with the following armament:

5 x 6in, located in individual shielded open center-line mounts: 1 on forecastle deck forward of bridge; 1 at forecastle deck level situated between foremast and the number one funnel; 1 at forecastle deck level aft of number two funnel; 1 at forecastle deck level atop the after deckhouse (and presumably able to superfire over its neighbor astern); 1 in the stern at main deck level. These were 6in BL Mk XII guns in PXIII* mountings giving 30deg elevation and a maximum range of about 19,000 yards with 4crh shells and a MV of 2825 ft/sec; the design of this mounting however hindered rate of fire at short ranges

2 x 3in AA, in single high-elevation mounts abreast of the number one funnel.

8 x 21in torpedo tubes in four twin tube revolving beam mounts, with two mounts on each beam; the two forwardmost mounts were situated approximately at the forward transverse bulkhead of the forward engine room; the two aftmost mounts were situated approximately at the after transverse bulkhead of the aft engine room.

CALEDON was modified in September 1917 by the installation forward of a flying-off ramp plus small protected storage hangar for a Beardmore WBIII folding-wing recce aircraft. These aircraft facilities were found to be not operationally satisfactory and were removed in mid-1918.


Hope this helps.


Byron

[RF]

Thanks for the info hammy and Byron Angel.

I was researching into this cruiser in respect of the Heligoland Bight action, in which one of the sailors, who came from Walsall, received a posthumous Victoria Cross, I believe at age 18.
I wasn't aware at first that this particular ship served into WW2; looking at photos of the ship from WW1 I couldn't make out the gun arrangement, from the lack of visible turrets. Now I know there weren't any which explains why.
Nevertheless a somewhat odd and light armament for a cruiser, hardly more firepower than an AMC or the later Narvik class destroyers.

Once again, thanks for the info.