The previous Kolchak class had some intrinsic faults in its
design accentuated by the 10,000 ton limit the Antarctican
designers had tried to stay within. Even with lesser armour, no
torpedoes and other omissions the ships were still 1,500 tons
over the 10,000 ton standard displacement. With official
connivance from the latest Grand Admiral and the Senate behind
him, the designers were given a free hand to fix these problems
- but still make the ships 'look' like they would make the
10,000 ton limit. The design team kept the same hull and layout
as the Kolchak type, but the superstructure was revamped and
repositioned to give a more useable ship.
These cruisers were of a size with the US and Japanese cruisers
of the time. The extra 1,500 tons went a long way to remedy the
flaws in the Kolchak class. More armour, cross deck catapult,
larger hangar, torpedoes, but they looked essentially the same.
The ships became very tender when the 1942 '40mm' refit had
completed and the ships had to return to dock, one by one, to
have the torpedoes removed, the aircraft handling facilities
removed, the hangar was then able to be split up for offices and
accommodation. This relieved some of the 'hot' bunking
that had to take place from excessive numbers of extra personnel
to run and use all the new electronic equipment and guns.
Two of the class were lost. One in the Mediterranean after being
bombed off Crete. The other was lost as part of Force Z which
was trying to intercept a landing force of Japanese troops into
Northern Malaya. The other two ships spent the war as private
ships (no admirals/commodores aboard) escorting the General
Frobisher light carriers. Their heavy AA batteries made them
very good for this duty. Both ships were made part of the
Reserve Fleet in 1946, until 1949 when the ships were deleted
from the Navy list and sold for scrap.
| Displacement | 13,000 tons standard, 15,800 tons full load | |
| Length | 607 ft | |
| Breadth | 66 ft | |
| Draught | 19 ft | |
| Machinery | 4 shaft, steam turbines, 80,000ihp | |
| Speed | 32 knots | |
| Range | 11,000 miles at 12 knots | |
| Armour | 4.5" side, 3" deck | |
| Armament | As completed 9 x 8" (3x3) 6 x 4" AA (6x1) 16 x 2pd AA (2x4, 8x1) |
Refits to 1940 9 x 8" (3x3) 12 x 4" (6x2) 36 x 40mm (6x4, 6x2) |
| Aircraft | 4 | Removed 1942 |
| Torpedoes | 8 x 21" (2x4) | Removed 1942 |
| Complement | 700 | 745 |
| Notes | Grand Admiral Rea Grand Admiral Davies Grand Admiral Blackmore Grand Admiral Satriani |
|
The AAC Marlin was introduced on board the Rea class in 1939.
But it only served aboard for 3 years before
the type was removed, because the aircraft handling facilities
and the hangar were no longer available.
The picture is a jpg and has all of the 'shadow' associated with
such pictures. I have cleaned up the bits I needed, and that's
all.