Bristol Class Cruiser (1909)
The five light cruisers of the Bristol Class (sometimes called Town Class) were completed by 1911.
Armament
Guns
Torpedoes
Two 18-in submerged broadside tubes aft, 4.5 feet below the load waterline, depressed 3 degrees with the axis of the tube 14.75 inches above the deck.[1]
In 1915, they were rearmed with 18-in Mark VII*** torpedoes.[2]
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
This equipment was unlikely to have been fitted for gun or searchlight control.[3]
Gunnery Control
Control Positions
Control Groups
Directors
Main Battery
Secondary Battery
Transmitting Stations
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[4]
Fire Control Instruments
In 1909, it was planned that all five ships in this class were to be completed with the latest Vickers Mark II F.T.P. Fire Control Instruments as follows:[5][6]
- Range Transmitters: 4
- Deflection Transmitters: 4
- Range Receivers: 12
- Deflection Receivers: 12
- C.O.S.: 1
- Vickers Fire Gongs: 12 with 4 keys
None of the ships had Target Visible or Gun Ready signals.[7]
Torpedo Control
In 1916, it was decided that all light cruisers of Bristol class and later should have torpedo firing keys (Pattern 2333) fitted on the fore bridge, in parallel with those in the CT, and that a flexible voice pipe be fitted between these positions. Additionally, those with submerged tubes were to be equipped with gyro angle and order instruments from fore bridge (and after control position, if present) to the tubes. Mention is made that Bristol class may already have Barr and Stroud for this purpose.[8]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Addenda (1911) to Torpedo Manual, Vol. III., 1909, p. 155.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915, p. 59.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 29.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, pp. 57, 60.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909, p. 148.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1916, p. 146.
Bibliography
- Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918
