Antarctica was always short of coastal patrol ships. There were four major ports dotted round the coast of Antarctica that had production facilities. Each port was given a Coast Defence Cruiser design to build. The ships were to operate from those home ports, circumnavigating Antarctica for each patrol cycle. Another four were to be built later but the war commenced and these plans were shelved till 1920. The basic design was a cruiser type vessel utilising leftover weapons from prior construction. High speed was not a requirement but long range was. One of the first Navy ships to be fitted with low power diesels. The main armament was to be the twin 9.5" turrets left over from the cancellation of the semi-dreadnoughts and their replacement with Dreadnought type battleships. Six single 6" would be fitted as well.



All four fought through WW1 as monitors - in the shore bombardment role. Two went to the Mediterranean, the other two to the North Sea. They proved excellent investments. Long ranged with the diesel engines, they served for nearly forty years, through both world wars and almost to Korea. The main interwar upgrades was to improve the AA capability of the ships. To this end, the raised 6", fore and aft, were replaced with twin 4" dual purpose mountings, the two single 2 pounder guns, by the aft mast, were replace with a quad mounting, the three 3" AA were replace with 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannons, as were the two 2 pounder guns beside the bridge.



During the interwar years, the ships did their patrol duties along with acting as Training Ships. One was lost during WW2 at Dunkirk while supporting the withdrawal of the troops off the beaches. Bombed by JU-88's it was beached so that it could continue its support role. Another strike on the ship by Stuka dive-bombers finished it off, the wreck finally being broken up in 1947. Two fought in the Mediterranean and received bits and pieces of damage that would be repaired and the ships returned to the front lines. They even managed to avoid the Fritz-X scourge of 1943-44, when acting as bombardment ships off Anzio and Salerno. The last ship had been seconded to Escort Command at Liverpool after repairing damage received at Dunkirk (where its sistership was sunk). It was very useful as the Convoy Commodore's command as it would go all the way across the Atlantic without need of refuelling. The Nesmith was credited with assisting with sinking two U-Boats.

 

Displacement	7,900 tons standard, 10,100 tons full load
Length	445 ft
Breadth	68 ft
Draught	15 ft
Machinery	2 shaft, diesel engines, 15,000ihp
Speed	17 knots
Range	12,000 miles at 12 knots
Armour	4" side, 2" deck, 6" turrets
Armament	As completed 4 x 9.5" (2x2) 6 x 6" (6x1) 3 x 3" AA (3x1) 4 x 2pd (4x1)	Refits to 1940 4 x 9.5" (2x2) 4 x 6" (4x1) 4 x 4" AA (2x2) 4 x 2pd (1x4) 6 x 20mm (6x1)
Complement	435	455
Notes	Lieutenant Lyakhov Major Nesmith Senator Tork Captain Dolens

USS Savannah receives a hit from a Fritz-X bomb. It would be many months before the Savannah was ready to fight again. Photo taken from ANS Lyakhov.