HMS Raleigh (1919)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Raleigh.

HMS Raleigh visiting Vancouver in 1921.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Raleigh
Namesake	Sir Walter Raleigh
Ordered	12 December 1915
Builder	William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir
Laid down	9 December 1915
Launched	28 August 1919
Commissioned	1921
Stricken	1926
Fate	Wrecked off Point Amour, Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador, 8 August 1922
General characteristics
Class and type	Hawkins-class heavy cruiser
Displacement	9,750 long tons (9,910 t) (standard) 12,190 long tons (12,390 t) (full load)
Length	565 ft (172 m) (p.p.) 605 ft (184 m) (o/a)
Beam	58 ft (18 m) (65 ft (20 m) across bulges)
Draught	17.25 ft (5.26 m) (20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) full load)
Installed power	70,000 shp (52,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × Parsons geared steam turbines 10 × Yarrow water-tube boilers 4 × shafts
Speed	31 kn (36 mph; 57 km/h)
Range	5,400 nmi (10,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Capacity	2,186 tons oil fuel
Complement	690 (standard), 800+ (wartime)
Armament	Design: 7 × BL 7.5-inch Mark VI in single mounts CP Mk.V, 8 × QF 12-pdr 12 cwt Mk.II on single mounts P Mk.I, 4 × QF 3-inch 20 cwt Mk.I on single mounts HA Mk.II, 6 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 submerged, 4 fixed above water) As Completed: 7 × BL 7.5-inch Mark VI in single mounts CP Mk.V, 3 × QF 4-inch Mk.V in single mounts HA Mk.III, 4 × QF 3-inch 20 cwt Mk.I on single mounts HA Mk.II, 2 × QF 2-pdr Mk.II on single mounts HA Mk.I, 6 × 21-inch torpedo tubes (two submerged, four fixed above water)
Armour	Belt: 1.5–2.5 in (3.8–6.4 cm) (lower, forward); 3 in (7.6 cm) (lower, amidships); 1.5–2.25 in (3.8–5.7 cm) (lower, aft); 1.5 in (3.8 cm) (upper, forward); 2 in (5.1 cm) (upper, amidships) Deck: 1–1.5 in (2.5–3.8 cm) (upper, over boilers); 1–1.5 in (2.5–3.8 cm) (lower, over engines); 1 in (2.5 cm) (lower, over steering gear) Turrets: 2 in (5.1 cm) (face); 1 in (2.5 cm) (crown); 1 in (2.5 cm) (sides)

HMS Raleigh was a -class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned as part of the British North Atlantic squadron in 1921. Within in a year of commissioning the ship was paid off after having run aground off Labrador. The vessel was eventually destroyed with explosives in 1926.

Design

She had a full load displacement of 12,000 long tons (12,000 t) (light, 9,700 long tons (9,900 t)), an overall length of 605 ft (184 m), and carried a complement of 700 officers and men. She was the only ship of the Hawkins-class to be completed with 70,000 shp (52,000 kW) machinery; on trials off Isle of Arran from 7–9 September 1920, she reached her designed speed of 31 kn (36 mph; 57 km/h) at full power of 71,350 shp (53,210 kW). At half power, 35,000 shp (26,000 kW), she still managed to make 28 kn (32 mph; 52 km/h). After trials the ship proceeded to Devonport for completion as a flagship.

Raleigh aground.

Service history

In April 1922, Sir William Christopher Pakenham was Admiral of the Royal Navy's North America and West Indies Station and he designated Raleigh as his flagship. Sir Arthur Bromley was the captain of Raleigh and it was through his negligence that the ship was lost. On 8 August 1922, Captain Bromley sped the flagship through thick fog and ran her aground at L'Anse Amour, Newfoundland and Labrador. Eleven sailors were drowned in the shipwreck.

The ship remained hard aground and upright for four years. During this period, she was paid off and stripped of all salvageable items and was then destroyed with explosives by HMS Durban in September 1926.

The residents of L'Anse Amour conduct an annual re-enactment of the event on the anniversary of the disaster.

References

• Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two. Great Britain: Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
• Rohmer, Richard (2003). 'Raleigh' on the Rocks: The Shipwreck of HMS 'Raleigh'. St. John's: Creative Publishing.

Further reading

• Extract from the diary of Vice Admiral Sir Stephen Carlill, KBE, CB, DSO "The Wreck of HMS Raleigh", Naval Review, 1982.