The Antarctican Navy wanted to put some more Captain D'Urville
class cruisers into production, but the Washington Treaty
stopped that with the 10,000 ton, 8" gun size limit on cruisers.
The last two cruiser types in the Antarctican Navy were
the D'Urville (10x9.5") and the Gerlache (8x6"). Now they needed
to produce something in the middle with a gun size that had
never been considered by the Antarctican Navy. 1922-23 saw the
design team producing several designs from ships with 6x8" in
either three twins, or two triples, which could be kept under
10,000 tons. For the first time the designers were looking at
arming a ship with triple turrets. Designs with two, three and
four triples were drawn and the slide rules got thrown at the
walls as the designers tried to fit what was wanted in a
10,000 ton package. It came down to two designs, one with 8x8"
in four twins, or one with 9x8" in three triples. It was decided
that the extra gun would be useful and the 9x8" design was
chosen.
Design features of the latest Gerlache class and the D'Urville
class were copied across to the new design. The machinery was
reduced to give the new ships 32 knots, as this would use less
space and weight . Critical factors in all the design factors
for the new ships. Even with all the weight saving devices put
in place the design was still 1,500 tons over. This had to have
been done with the connivance of the Navy Senator (and the Senate
behind him). The biggest problem perceived by the Antarctican
Navy about these ships was lack of armour. A 3" belt and 2" deck
was really only proof against 6" guns. Something to fix in the
next class.
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Two of the class completed in 1926, the other pair in 1927. When
all four were completed they would be joined by a D'Urville
class ship to make up the 1st Cruiser Squadron. The coveted
'eyes of the fleet' position. The normal rotation of refits went
on for all of these ships lives. Added 2 pounder quad mounts
aft. Paired the single 4" for eight 4". Electronics start
appearing. Single 20mm replace the single 2 pounder guns.
| Displacement | 11,500 tons standard, 14,800 tons full load | |
| Length | 607 ft | |
| Breadth | 66 ft | |
| Draught | 19 ft | |
| Machinery | 4 shaft, steam turbines, 75,000ihp | |
| Speed | 32 knots | |
| Range | 11,000 miles at 12 knots | |
| Armour | 3" side, 2" deck | |
| Armament | As completed 9 x 8" (3x3) 6 x 4" AA (6x1) 14 x 2pd AA (2x4, 6x1) |
Refits to 1940 9 x 8" (3x3) 8 x 4" (4x2) 16 x 2pd (4x4) 16 x 20mm (16x1) |
| Aircraft | 2 | Removed 1942 |
| Complement | 680 | 700 |
| Notes | Colonel Kolchak - Senator Nilsson - Captain Hendrix - Admiral Croce - |
|
This might be a surprise, but I am really enjoying doing these
cruisers. The 1905-1916 series is all based on a drawing I did
for Shipbucket. The same for the Gerlache and Kolchak classes. I
did a search on Shipbucket recently, on 'Nigevids', and was
pleasantly surprised how many 'real' drawings I have done. I
continually reuse them for my Alternate Universe drawings and
enjoy doing so - as much because I do not have to give anybody
else credit for what I might dream up.
