Boadicea-class cruiser

Like the earlier scout cruisers, the Boadicea class was designed to provide destroyer flotillas with a command ship, theoretically offering the ability to scout ahead of the group and locate targets for the smaller ships to attack. They were enlarged and more powerfully armed versions of the earlier ships, fitted with steam turbines. Curiously, they were no faster than the older ships and equally unsuccessful in their intended role as they lacked the speed of the destroyers they were supposed to escort.Friedman 2009, pp. 111–13

Displacing {{convert|3350|LT|t}}, the ships had an overall length of {{convert|405|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|41|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a deep draught of {{convert|14|ft|m|1}}. They were powered by two sets of Parsons steam turbines, each driving two shafts. The turbines produced a total of {{convert|18000|ihp|lk=in}}, using steam produced by 12 Yarrow boilers that burned both fuel oil and coal, and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|25|kn}}. They carried a maximum of {{convert|780|LT|t}} of coal and {{convert|189|LT|t}} of fuel oil that gave them a range of {{convert|4260|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.Friedman 2009, p. 295 Her crew consisted of 317 officers and enlisted men.Preston 1985, p. 50

The main armament of the Boadicea class consisted of six breech-loading (BL) four-inch (102 mm) Mk VII guns. The forward pair of guns were mounted side by side on a platform on the forecastle, the middle pair were amidships, one on each broadside, and the two remaining guns were on the centreline of the quarterdeck, one ahead of the other. The guns fired their {{convert|31|lb|adj=on}} shells to a range of about {{convert|11400|yd}}.Friedman 2011, pp. 75–76 Her secondary armament was four quick-firing (QF) Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickerss and two submerged 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. During the war, four additional four-inch guns were added amidships to increase her firepower. A QF three-inch 20 cwt"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. anti-aircraft gun was also added. In 1918 it was replaced by a four-inch gun.

As scout cruisers, the ships were only lightly protected to maximise their speed. They had a curved protective deck that was {{convert|1|in|mm|0}} thick on the slope and {{convert|0.5|in}} on the flat. Their conning tower was protected by 4 inches of armour.

Both Boadicea and Bellona began their careers with destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet, Boadicea as senior officers' ship for the 1st Destroyer Flotilla and Bellona with the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla. The former was transferred to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in mid-1912 and the sisters were transferred to the 2nd and the 1st Battle Squadrons, respectively, of the First Fleet in 1913.{{cite web|title=The Navy List|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistjul1913grea|website=National Library of Scotland|date=18 June 1913|publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|access-date=31 March 2016|page=269}} Both ships were assigned to positions at the rear of their squadrons and did not fire their guns during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916.Corbett 1997, p. 345

The sisters remained with their squadrons until 1917 when they were converted into minelayers, Bellona in May{{cite web|title=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistapr1917grea|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Admiralty|date=May 1917|access-date=1 April 2016|page=14}} and Boadicea in October, Bellona replacing her sister in the 2nd Battle Squadron that month.{{cite web|title=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistoct1917grea|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Admiralty|date=October 1917|access-date=1 April 2016|pages=10, 14}} After her conversion, Boadicea was assigned to the 4th Battle Squadron in January 1918{{cite web|title=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistjan1918grea|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Admiralty|date=January 1918|access-date=1 April 2016|page=10}} and neither ship was reassigned before the end of the war.{{cite web|title=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistoct1918grea|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Admiralty|date=October 1918|access-date=1 April 2016|page=10}} They laid mines at the entrance to the Kattegat on the nights of 18/19 and 24/25 February 1918Smith 2005, pp. 32–37 and both made several other sorties to lay their mines before the end of the war. They were placed in reserve after the war{{cite web|title=Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c.|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistmar1919grea|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Admiralty|date=1 March 1919|access-date=1 April 2016|page=17}} and taken out of service in 1920.{{cite web|title=The Navy List|url=https://archive.org/details/navylistapr1920grea|website=National Library of Scotland|date=18 March 1920|publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|access-date=31 March 2016|page=735}} Bellona was quickly sold for scrap in 1921, but Boadicea was not sold until 1926.Colledge 2006, pp. 37, 43

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{cite book|last=Corbett|first=Julian|author-link=Julian Corbett|title=Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands|edition=2nd, reprint of the 1938|series=History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents|volume=I|publisher=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press|location=London and Nashville, Tennessee|year=1997|isbn=0-89839-256-X}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2009|isbn=978-1-59114-081-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84832-100-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander|title=Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History|date=2014|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK|isbn=978-0-7509-5214-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Preston|first=Antony|chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|pages=1–104|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Peter C.|title=Into the Minefields: British Destroyer Minelaying 1916 - 1960|date=2005|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=1-84415-271-5}}

{{Commons category|Boadicea class cruiser}}

• [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Boadicea.html Boadicea class in World War I]
• [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_boadicea_class_cruisers.html History of the Boadicea class]

{{Boadicea class cruiser}}

{{WWI British ships}}

Category:Cruiser classes

Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy

Category:Ships built in Pembroke Dock