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HMS Liverpool (1909)
Encyclopedia
HMS Liverpool was a 4,800 ton Town-class
Town class cruiser (1910)
The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire...
light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
of 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...
commissioned in 1909. Named for the port city of Liverpool, the cruiser served continuously in home waters subordinated to the Home Fleet from 1909 through the initial stages of the First World War.
During the war, Liverpool fought in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, operated off the coast of West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, and served in the Adriatic and Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. The cruiser was notably involved in the rescue of the crew of Audacious on 27 October 1914 and attempted to tow the ship to port before the battleship capsized and exploded. After the Armistice was signed, Liverpool served in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
until placed in reserve in June 1919.
Grand Fleet (1914-1915)
Built by VickersVickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
Sons & Maxim at Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, she was the first Liverpool to be named for the port city in the 20th Century and the first to be constructed of steel. Launched on 30 October 1909 and commissioned in 1910, Liverpool was one of five cruisers ordered to the Bristol sub-class specification. The Bristol was the first medium (or 2nd class) cruiser design to be built for the Royal Navy since the late 19th Century. Their main armament consisted of two 6 in (152.4 mm) and ten 4 in (101.6 mm) guns — a mixed configuration deemed "unsatisfactory" and discontinued in the subsequent Weymouth sub-class in favour of a uniform complement of eight 6 in (152.4 mm) guns.
She was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron
1st Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)
The British 1st Battle Squadron was a squadron of battleships, initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, renamed the Grand Fleet during World War I...
of the Home Fleet on commission and transferred to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in 1913. At the beginning of the First World War, Liverpool was serving with the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron. She participated in the first engagement of the war, the Battle of Heligoland Bight, on 28 August 1914 grouped with five other Town cruisers under command of Commodore William Goodenough
William Goodenough
Admiral Sir William Edmund Goodenough GCB, MVO was a senior Royal Navy officer of World War I.-Naval career:Goodenough joined the Royal Navy in 1882. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1905...
. After the German cruiser Mainz
SMS Mainz
SMS Mainz was a light cruiser of the Kolberg class in the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1909, with 4,400 tons displacement. She was armed with twelve 10.5 cm guns and had a top speed of 27 knots...
was heavily damaged and disabled, Goodenough ordered his ships to cease firing on her at 12:55 pm and a rescue operation was subsequently undertaken. Liverpool, accompanied by the destroyers Firedrake
HMS Firedrake (1912)
HMS Firedrake was a modified Acheron-class destroyer, named after the firedrake of Teutonic mythology, and the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.-Pennant Numbers:-Construction:...
and Lurcher
HMS Lurcher (1912)
HMS Lurcher was a modified Acheron-class destroyer, named after the lurcher-type dog, and the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name; when new she was the fastest ship in the Royal Navy.-Pennant Numbers:-Construction:...
, manoeuvred close to the cruiser in an effort to recover the surviving crew. Small craft from Liverpool were deployed to retrieve crewmembers who had abandoned ship while Lurcher positioned alongside Mainz to transfer the remaining personnel on board. Liverpool detached from the main force at 7:45 pm to transport 86 embarked prisoners to Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
, including a son of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
.
Two-months later, on 27 October, Liverpool was in the company of Audacious
HMS Audacious (1912)
HMS Audacious was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. The vessel did not see any combat in the First World War, being sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of Donegal, Ireland in 1914.- Design :...
when the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
struck a mine
Mine warfare
Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices:*Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to destroy vehicles...
during a morning exercise by the Grand Fleet off the coast of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Unsure of the circumstances of the incident, the Admiralty ordered the fleet to withdraw as a precaution while Liverpool remained as an escort. Audacious attempted to proceed to Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three known glacial fjords in Ireland....
but the flooding proved to be grievous. Other vessels, including the liner RMS Olympic
RMS Olympic
RMS Olympic was the lead ship of the Olympic-class ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included Titanic and Britannic...
, converged on the position after Audacious transmitted an SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
. Repeated attempts to tow the immobile Audacious were ineffectual and the crew was steadily evacuated. The battleship capsized and exploded at 20:45 with the loss of a petty officer onboard Liverpool, killed by scattered debris fragments.
Adriatic and Aegean (1915-1918)
In 1915, Liverpool was detached from the Grand Fleet and sent to patrol the coast of West AfricaWest Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
in support of a search for the armed merchant cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm. Liverpool's mission was unsuccessful and the cruiser arrived at her namesake port in June for boiler repairs. After the repairs were completed, Liverpool deployed to the Mediterranean in November. She was ported in Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, which functioned as a naval base for Allied warships operating in the Adriatic against Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. The cruiser, in concert with the Italian Bronzetti, pursued the Austrian destroyer Wildfang in February 1916, necessitating the latter's retreat to Cattaro. During the Battle of the Otranto Straits
Otranto Barrage
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Albanian side of the Adriatic Sea in World War I. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escaping into the Mediterranean and threatening Allied operations...
, Liverpool was under command of Captain G.H. Vivian and at a reduced state of readiness. Her unpreparedness was compounded by the captain's decision to use the cruiser's reduced state as an opportunity to undergo routine maintenance of the cruiser's boilers. Signals received from Saseno classified as "Urgent" were intercepted at 0350 am and disregarded because Liverpools wireless room was unable to read Italian and had been the recipient of similar signals previously. Ultimately, Liverpool remained in port and no order was issued by Admiral Alfredo Acton for Liverpool to sail despite the cruiser's eventual readiness and Captain Vivian's personal request.
Liverpool was transferred to the Aegean Squadron in January 1918. Armistices with the Central Powers were signed later that year. With the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
's accessibility restored and the Allies committed to intervention during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, Liverpool was ordered to the region and engaged in operations supporting the "White" Army
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
from November. On the 23rd, Liverpool and the French armoured cruiser Ernest Renan
French cruiser Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan was an armoured cruiser of the French Navy, named in honour of philosopher Ernest Renan.-Design and history:- External links :* *...
, escorted by two Australian destroyers, transported military delegations to the port of Novorossisk to establish contact with Russian General Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin was Lieutenant General of the Imperial Russian Army and one of the foremost generals of the White movement in the Russian Civil War.- Childhood :...
. She returned to Britain in mid-1919 and was relegated to reserve status in June, berthed at Devonport 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...
.
Placed on the disposal list in March 1920, Liverpool was sold to Stanlee, then acquired by Slough Trading Company in November 1921 and broken up in Germany. A silver bell and plate were preserved and presented to the Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
-built battleship Rodney. The objects came into the possession of the sixth Liverpool
HMS Liverpool (C11)
HMS Liverpool , named after the port city of Liverpool in north-west England, was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy in service from 1938 to 1952....
in the late 1930s as gifts following the light cruiser's commission.