County class cruiser
Encyclopedia
The County class was a class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s built for the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in the years between the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
World Wars. They were the first post-war cruiser construction for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Conference
Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference also called the Washington Arms Conference, was a military conference called by President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington from 12 November 1921 to 6 February 1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations...
of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 tons standard displacement
Displacement (ship)
A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...
and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers" (the term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...
of 1930).
The fifteen Counties were built in three distinct sub-classes : the Kent, London and Norfolk classes. They were the only 10,000-ton 8-inch gun, or "A", cruisers that the Royal Navy built. The Counties are remembered for their distinctive three-funnel layout and service in all the major naval theatres of World War II.
In an attempt to extract more ships from the treaty limits, the navy planned to construct 8,250-ton "B" ships; six of which could be built in place of five Counties. The extra ship that this afforded was an attractive proposition for a navy that had the immense peacetime commitments of empire. In the event, peacetime economies and politics intervened and only two B-type cruisers were built, a 6-gun modified County design; the York class
York class cruiser
The York class was the second and last class of gunned cruisers built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. They were essentially a reduced version of the preceding County class, scaled down in an effort to extract more, smaller ships from the treaty limits...
.
Design & development
The 10,000 ton treaty cruisers were the first type of warships built to internationally-agreed restrictions. These restrictions posed new engineering challenges and forced compromises upon designers in how to extract the best balance of speed, armament and protection. The United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
adopted a design with triple-gun turrets
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
, allowing the hull to be shortened thus saving weight that could be put into protection. This approach however was at the expense of requiring increased installed power, as the speed of a ship is a function of the ratio of length to beam. The Royal Navy had a requirement for a vessel for colonial trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
defence, which required a good cruising range and speed. This determined the need for a long hull and the use of twin-gun turrets, with any remaining displacement invested in protection.
The design was conservative in nature, especially when compared to the contemporary Nelson class
Nelson class battleship
The Nelson class was a class of two battleships of the British Royal Navy, built shortly after, and under the terms of, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922...
battleships built to satisfy the same treaty. The long (630 feet overall) hull was flush deck
Flush deck
In naval architecture, a flush deck refers to when the upper deck of a vessel extends unbroken from stem to stern. There is no raised forecastle or lowered quarterdeck. Ships of this type may be referred to as "flush deckers", although this is often taken as referring to a series of United States...
ed and with a high freeboard, and was strongly built. This afforded high initial stability
Directional stability
Directional stability is stability of a moving body or vehicle about an axis which is perpendicular to its direction of motion. Stability of a vehicle concerns itself with the tendency of a vehicle to return to its original direction in relation to the oncoming medium when disturbed away from...
, which contributed to the protection scheme. The machinery spaces followed the traditional layout of boiler rooms ahead of engine room
Engine room
On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...
s, separated by an amidships magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
. The two boiler rooms exhausted into four uptakes, the central pair being combined to form a thickened central funnel. The three-funnel design was handsome, but somewhat impractical in terms of utilisation of internal space
As had been trialled in the wartime cruiser HMS Emerald
HMS Emerald (D66)
HMS Emerald was an Emerald-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Armstrong , with the keel being laid down on 23 September 1918...
whose completion had been delayed post-war, the Counties featured a new design of forward superstructure incorporating the navigating bridge, wheelhouse, signalling and compass platforms and gunnery director
Fire-control system
A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
in a single block. This advance considerably rationalised the separate armoured conning tower and myriad of decks and platforms of older designs. Moving the fire-control equipment from the mast negated the need for a heavy tripod, and light pole masts sufficed for signalling yards and the spread of wireless antennae.
Armament
The guns, BL 8 inch Mark VIII (203 mm, L/50), were equally disposed in superfiring twin-turrets fore and aft. The turret design was needlessly complicated by the original requirement that they should be capable of anti-aircraft fire and were thus provided with a maximum elevation of 70°, despite the inability to train and elevate sufficiently quickly to track aerial targets and the complete lack of a suitable fire control system.Secondary armament consisted of four QF 4 inch Mark V (102 mm, L/45) guns
QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun
The QF 4 inch Mk V gun was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.-Naval service:...
in single mounts HA Mk.III fed from the amidships magazine. There were quadruple-tube torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
launchers, one each side, amidships. The single 4-inch Mk V guns were later replaced by Mk XVI guns in paired mountings. In a fruitless attempt to keep within treaty limits, the Mark XVI mounting was stripped down to reduce the weight, the result being the Mark XVII, an exercise described as "ridiculous punctiliousness". They were later converted back to standard Mark XVI mounts.
The initial design called for two octuple mountings for the QF 2 pounder Mk.VIII
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
anti-aircraft autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
, but as a weight saving exercise these were not initially shipped, and the existing QF 2 pounder Mark II was carried in lieu on four single mounts. Space was provided for a rotating catapult and a crane for operating aircraft, although again these were initially not provided.
Protection
The initial design left little weight to distribute amongst protection, particularly in light of the fastidiousness of the designers to stick to the letter of the treaty. Thus, the traditional side-belt of armour was dispensed with, and the 1 inch (25 mm) side plating afforded only splinter protection. A 1.25 inch (32 mm) protective deck covered the machinery spaced, and there were "box citadels" protecting the magazines and shell rooms; 2.5 inch (64 mm) crowns and 4 inch (102 mm) sides, closed by 2.5 inch bulkheads. The aft box citadel had slightly reduced thicknesses at the ends, and that amidships was thinned as it lay within the confines of the armoured deck and side plating. There was a 1.5 inch (38 mm) arch over the steering gear closed by a 1 inch forward bulkhead. The turrets and barbettes received only thin splinter plating, as did the compass platform. There were external bulgesAnti-torpedo bulge
The anti-torpedo bulge is a form of passive defence against naval torpedoes that featured in warship construction in the period between the First and Second World Wars.-Theory and form:...
to provide torpedo protection.
Kent class
The initial seven ships – HM Ships BerwickHMS Berwick (65)
HMS Berwick was a Royal Navy County class heavy cruiser, of the Kent subclass. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , with the keel being laid down on 15 September 1924...
, Cornwall
HMS Cornwall (56)
HMS Cornwall was a County class heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. She was built at Devonport Dockyard .-History:...
, Cumberland, Kent, and Suffolk
HMS Suffolk (55)
HMS Suffolk was a County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, and part of the Kent subclass. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK), with the keel being laid down on 15 November 1924...
and HMAS Australia
HMAS Australia (1927)
HMAS Australia was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . One of two Kent-subclass ships ordered for the RAN in 1924, Australia was laid down in Scotland in 1925, and entered service in 1928...
and Canberra
HMAS Canberra (1927)
HMAS Canberra , named after the Australian capital city of Canberra, was a Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass of County class cruisers...
for the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
– formed the Kent class. All were ordered in 1924 and commissioned in 1928. It was quickly found necessary to heighten the funnels by some 15 feet (4.5 m) to clear the flue gasses from the aft superstructure. The Australian ships, Australia and Canberra had them raised a further 3 feet (0.9 m). Between 1930 and 1933 the aircraft and catapult were added, as was a high-angle HACS
HACS
HACS, an acronym of High Angle Control System, was a British anti-aircraft fire-control system employed by the Royal Navy from 1931 onwards and used widely during World War II...
director for the 4-inch guns. Kent received an additional pair of 4-inch guns in 1934, and she, Berwick and Cornwall each received a pair of QF 0.5 inch Vickers
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s added abreast the fore funnel.
By the mid-1930s, the British Kents were due for modernisation. However, there was little surplus of weights for the designers to work with; they were between 150 and 250 tons under the treaty limits and it was estimated that a further 200-odd tons could be gained through various savings. A 6 feet (1.8 m) armoured belt, 4.5 inches thick, was added amidships, extending from the armoured deck to 1 foot below the waterline. Cumberland and Suffolk had the aft superstructure razed and replaced by a large hangar for two aircraft and a fixed athwartships catapult. A crane was fitted on either side of the after funnel and the rear gunnery, navigation and control positions were relocated to the hangar roof. The single 2 pdr guns were removed and quadruple moutings, Mark VII, were added on either side of the bridge. The 4-inch were relocated, and the rearmost pair were replaced by twin mountings Mark XIX for the QF 4 inch Mark XVI. To keep weight within acceptable margins, the hull was cut down by one deck aft of Y turret. Berwick and Cornwall were similarly converted but with more weight in hand the hull was not cut down, all four 4-inch mounts were twins and the 2 pounder guns were octuple mounts. By 1939, the torpedo tubes had been removed in all four ships.
Kent had less weight available for improvements, therefore was not given such an extensive modernisation. While she received the 4" armour belt and the double 4" gun mounts like her sisters, she retained the rotating catapult and after superstructure, with an additional fire-control position mounted on a distinctive lattice structure aft. Her anti-aircraft armaments were improved as per her sisters, but the multiple 2 pounders and their directors were carried aft, by the lattice structure.
Naval historian H. Trevor Lenton estimates that despite the best attempts, none of these ships stayed truly within the treaty limits; Kents full load displacement was 14,197 tons, indicating a standard displacement of around 10,600 tons. Lenton expresses doubts whether the Admiralty ever informed the Government of these excesses, as with war imminent, "there were more pressing demands on their time".
London class
The second group, the four ships of the London class (HMS DevonshireHMS Devonshire (39)
HMS Devonshire was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was part of the London subgroup of the County class, and saw service in the Second World War.-Early career:...
, London
HMS London (69)
HMS London was a member of the second group of the County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters; Sussex, Shropshire, and Devonshire differed from the earlier group of Counties, , by having a smaller forward superstructure, which was positioned slightly further aft, and next...
, Shropshire
HMS Shropshire (73)
HMS Shropshire was a Royal Navy heavy cruiser of the London sub-class of County class cruisers. She is the only warship to have been named after Shropshire, England. Completed in 1929, Shropshire served with the RN until 1942, when she was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy following the...
and Sussex
HMS Sussex (96)
HMS Sussex was one of the London sub-class of the County-class heavy cruisers in the Royal Navy. She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 1 February 1927, launched on 22 February 1928 and completed on 19 March 1929.-Mediterranean, Australia and...
), closely followed the design of the Kents. The external bulges were lost, reducing the beam by 2 feet, and the hull was lengthened by 2.75 feet, which translated into a ¾ knot increase in speed. To remedy the loss of bulge protection, instead there was a second skin of inner plating to provide the same effect. The bridge was moved aft to lessen the effects of blast from B turret when training abaft the beam. They had heightened funnels as-built. The aircraft and catapult had been fitted by 1932.
In all ships bar Sussex, four 4-inch guns were added in single mountings abreast the funnels. The single 2 pounder guns were removed, and two quadruple mounts for 0.5 inch Vickers machine guns were added. Shropshire acquired an additional anti-aircraft fire control director. Early in the war, the additional 4-inch guns were removed, and the original 4 guns altered to the Mark XVI twin mounts. The octuple 2 pounder guns that had originally been designed in were also finally added.
From 1938 to 1941, London received an altogether more comprehensive modernisation. Her upperworks were razed, and replaced by new fore and aft superstructures and two upright funnels modelled on the contemporary Crown Colony class
Crown Colony class cruiser
The Crown Colony-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy were named after Crown Colonies of the British Empire. The first eight are known as the Fiji class, while the last three to be built are commonly referred to as the Ceylon class and were built to a slightly modified design.-Design:They were...
. The forward superstructure block incorporated a large hangar opening onto an athwartships catapult between the superstructure blocks. There was a catapult on either side of the after funnel. The 4-inch anti aircraft guns were replaced by twin mountings and relocated to the after superstructure, with the torpedoes a deck below. The 2 pounder guns were carried on the hangar roof and the multiple Vickers guns mounted, one each, on the roofs of B and X turrets. A 3.5 inch (89 mm) belt, 8 feet deep, was added abreast the machinery spaces, extending up to the armoured deck. However, the hull had originally been carefully designed to reduce weight based on the initial arrangements. London's modifications, with heavy weights added fore and aft, resulted in a severely overstressed hull, and cracks and loose rivets began to appear on the upper deck. The upper deck was reinforced, which caused the stress to be transmitted through the lower hull, and cracks began to appear under the waterline. It took underwater reinforcements and refits extending into 1943 to remedy the situation.
The outbreak of war prevented what had ended up being a rather fruitless cosmetic rebuild being extended to the rest of her sisters, as had originally been intended. The remaining Londons thus never received side armouring or the improved aircraft complement.
In the 1930s, the last three Londons underwent similar alterations as the Kents did, having their eight 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes removed, and one twin 8 inch (203 mm) turret removed, although London retained it. One ship, Shropshire, retained her "X" Turret as well as her Torpedoes and was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in early 1943 to replace Canberra.
Norfolk class
The final pair of Counties – NorfolkHMS Norfolk (78)
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
and Dorsetshire
HMS Dorsetshire (40)
HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county . She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. During the Second World War, she was last commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C....
– formed the Norfolk class. Orders for another two ships that had been deferred from the 1927-8 and 1928-9 programmes – Northumberland and Surrey – were never placed. This was due to a change in administration in 1929
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
that ushered in a minority Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government under Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
, which cancelled the ships as an economy measure and a gesture to the forthcoming London Naval Conference
London Naval Conference
There were three major international naval conferences in London, the first in 1908-09, the second in 1930 and the third in 1935. The latter two, together with the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22 and the Geneva Conferences , resulted in agreements between the major powers on navy vessel...
. They were repeats of the Londons with minor alterations.
The bridge and after superstructure were lowered. The 8-inch gun turrets were Mark II variants that were intended to offer weight savings, but ended up being heavier than the Mark I variant!. The 4-inch guns were relocated forwards, in order that they did not obstruct the catapult and aircraft which had been mounted lower down than in their predecessors. During 1937, the 4-inch guns were replaced by twins, octuple 2 pounders were added around the after superstructure and the single guns forward were removed. These improvements pushed the standard displacement over 10,400 tons.
During the war, UP
Unrotated Projectile
The Unrotated Projectile, or UP, was a short range rocket-firing anti-aircraft weapon developed for the Royal Navy to supplement the 2 pounder Pom-Pom gun due to a critical lack of close-range anti-aircraft weapons. It was used extensively by British ships during the early days of World War II...
launchers were initially added, but were later removed along with the Vickers guns. These were replaced by the altogether more useful 20 mm Oerlikon gun. An additional director for the 4-inch guns was added, and the pole masts were replaced by tripods to support the additional weight of masthead electronics. A refit in 1944 saw the Norfolk, by now a singleton in the class, lose her aircraft, catapult and X turret. This allowed four quadruple 2 pounder mounts and their directors and four single 40 mm Bofors guns to be added. An extra superstructure was added aft to carry barrage directors, fitted with radar Type 283, which finally allowed the main armament to serve in its intended anti-aircraft role.
Comparison of classes
| Number built & planned |
Ordered | Length (ft) |
Beam (ft) |
Speed (full load, knots) |
Displacement (standard, tons) |
Main armament |
Belt armour (inches) |
Torpedoes | Complement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 7 of 7 | 1924 | 630 | 68 | 31½ | 10,570 | 8 × 8 inch | 4.5* | 8 | 685 |
| London | 4 of 4 | 1925–1926 | 632¾ | 66 | 32¼ | 9,830 | 8 × 8 inch | 3.5** | 8 | 700 |
| Norfolk | 2 of 4 | 1926–1927 | 632¾ | 66 | 32¼ | 10,300 | 8 × 8 inch | n/a | 8 | 725 |
| York | 2 of 5 | 1926–1928 | 575 | 58 | 31½ | 8,250 | 6 × 8 inch | 3 | 6 | 623 |
-
-
- Post 1935 refit, not in Australia or Canberra
-
- Post 1938 rebuild, London only
-
Ships
| Pennant | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent class | ||||||
| Berwick HMS Berwick (65) HMS Berwick was a Royal Navy County class heavy cruiser, of the Kent subclass. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , with the keel being laid down on 15 September 1924... |
65 | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick.... |
15 September 1924 | 30 March 1926 | 15 February 1928 | Sold for scrapping 1948 |
| Cumberland HMS Cumberland (57) HMS Cumberland was a County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw action during the Second World War.-Career:Cumberland served on the China Station with the 5th Cruiser Squadron from 1928 until 1938, returning to the UK in March 1935 for a refit... |
57 | Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow in Furness | 18 October 1924 | 16 March 1926 | 21 January 1928 | Sold for scrapping 1959 |
| Suffolk HMS Suffolk (55) HMS Suffolk was a County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, and part of the Kent subclass. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK), with the keel being laid down on 15 November 1924... |
55 | HM Dockyard HMNB Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy... , Portsmouth Portsmouth Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island... |
30 September 1924 | 16 February 1926 | 31 May 1928 | Sold for scrapping 1948 |
| Kent | 54 | HM Dockyard Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional... , Chatham |
15 November 1924 | 16 March 1926 | 22 June 1928 | Sold for scrapping 1948 |
| Cornwall HMS Cornwall (56) HMS Cornwall was a County class heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. She was built at Devonport Dockyard .-History:... |
56 | HM Dockyard HMNB Devonport Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England... , Devonport Devonport, Devon Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889... |
9 October 1924 | 11 March 1926 | 10 May 1928 | Bombed and sunk by Japanese Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes... aircraft south of Ceylon, 5 April 1942 |
| Australia | I84 | John Brown & Company John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the... , Clydebank Clydebank Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and... |
9 June 1925 | 17 March 1927 | 24 April 1928 | Sold for scrapping, 1955 |
| Canberra | I85 | John Brown | 9 September 1925 | 31 May 1927 | 10 July 1928 | Shelled by Japanese ships off Savo Island Savo Island Savo Island is a volcanic island in the Solomon Islands group in the South Pacific ocean. It is located to the northeast of the northern tip of Guadalcanal Island at . Politically, Savo Island is a part of the Solomons' Central Province. The indigenous language of Savo is the Savosavo language.The... 9 August 1942 and sunk by USS Ellet USS Ellet (DD-398) USS Ellet was a Benham-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for five members of the Ellet family of Pennsylvania who rendered service during the American Civil War: Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.; Brigadier General Alfred W. Ellet; Colonel Charles R. Ellet;... |
| London class | ||||||
| London HMS London (69) HMS London was a member of the second group of the County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters; Sussex, Shropshire, and Devonshire differed from the earlier group of Counties, , by having a smaller forward superstructure, which was positioned slightly further aft, and next... |
69 | Portsmouth | 23 February 1926 | 14 September 1927 | 31 January 1929 | Sold for scrapping 1950 |
| Devonshire HMS Devonshire (39) HMS Devonshire was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was part of the London subgroup of the County class, and saw service in the Second World War.-Early career:... |
39 | Devonport | 16 March 1926 | 22 October 1927 | 18 March 1929 | Sold for scrapping 1954 |
| Shropshire | 73 | William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir Dalmuir Dalmuir is an area on the western side of Clydebank, in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.-Location:It is neighboured by the village of Old Kilpatrick, the Mountblow and Parkhall areas of Clydebank, as well as the town centre... |
24 February 1927 | 5 July 1928 | 12 September 1929 | To RAN 1943, sold for scrapping 1954 |
| Sussex HMS Sussex (96) HMS Sussex was one of the London sub-class of the County-class heavy cruisers in the Royal Navy. She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 1 February 1927, launched on 22 February 1928 and completed on 19 March 1929.-Mediterranean, Australia and... |
96 | Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn Hebburn Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay... |
1 February 1927 | 22 February 1928 | 19 March 1929 | Sold for scrapping, 1950 |
| Norfolk class | ||||||
| Dorsetshire HMS Dorsetshire (40) HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county . She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. During the Second World War, she was last commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C.... |
40 | Portsmouth | 21 September 1927 | 24 January 1929 | 30 September 1930 | Bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft south of Ceylon, 5 April 1942 |
| Norfolk HMS Norfolk (78) HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War.... |
78 | Fairfields | 8 July 1927 | 12 December 1928 | 1 May 1930 | Sold for scrapping, 1950 |
Service
The County class saw much service during the Second World War. HMS Norfolk and Suffolk were equipped with radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
which was used to good advantage when they shadowed the Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck
Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...
during the RN's attempts to hunt her down after the sinking of HMS Hood
HMS Hood
Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hood after several members of the Hood family, who were notable Navy officers: was a 91-gun second-rate ship of the line, originally laid down as HMS Edgar, but renamed in 1848 and launched in 1859. She was used for harbour service from 1872 and was...
.
The class saw service in nearly every theatre of the war. Norfolk, Dorsetshire, and Berwick fought gunnery actions (and received shell damage) from German Navy surface units, while Suffolk, and Sussex suffered bomb damage from Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
aircraft. A number of losses were suffered by the class; with Canberra being hit by naval gunfire at the Battle of Savo Island
Battle of Savo Island
The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , was a naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval forces...
then scuttled by an American destroyer, and Cornwall and Dorsetshire both bombed and sunk by Japanese carrier borne aircraft during the Indian Ocean raid (1942).
The survivors were all decommissioned by the 1950s, except Cumberland which was an armaments trials ship testing the automatic 6 inch and 3 inch guns that would be fitted to the Tiger class
Tiger class cruiser
The Tiger-class helicopter cruisers were the first of such a type in the Royal Navy, and the last cruisers built for the Royal Navy. They were originally designed to be Minotaur-class light cruisers...
. She was scrapped in 1959.
Canarias class
Two ships based on the County class, CanariasSpanish cruiser Canarias
The Canarias was a heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. She was designed in the United Kingdom and was a modified version of the Royal Navy's County class cruiser. She was built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval...
and Baleares
Spanish cruiser Baleares
Baleares was a Canarias-class heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. She was designed in Great Britain and was a modified version of the Royal Navy′s County-class cruiser...
of the Canarias class
Canarias class Cruiser
The Canarias class was a class of heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. Two ships of the class were completed in the 1930s. They were designed in the United Kingdom and were modified versions of the Royal Navy's County class cruiser. They were built in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary...
, were designed in the UK and constructed in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval
Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval
From 1909 up until the Spanish Civil War, the naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval - also Spanish Society for Naval Construction was largely owned by the British , and therefore almost all ships were designed after Royal Navy vessels...
. Completed in the late 1930s for the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
, they saw service during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Although they shared a common hull, machinery and main armament the Spanish ships had a notably different appearance, sporting an enormous single funnel and an equally tall forward superstructure.