1914 HMS CAROLINE In the period immediately before World War I, nearly 40 light cruisers were laid down for the Royal Navy. They were designed to operate near to their home ports, in particular in the North Sea, and were quite small - smaller than one of todays frigates.
THE CRUISER COMPROMISE
HMS Caroline and her five sisters were a development of the smaller Arethusa class of 1913, their extra 350t going into more 4in (102mm) guns, armour for their conning towers and slightly extended bunkerage. Caroline was laid down at Cammel Lairds in Birkenhead on 28 January 1914, launched on 29 September and completed in December. She was at Jutland in May 1916 as part of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron, and later went to the East Indies. From 1924 she spent most of her life in Belfast as Harbour Training Ship, her only excursions being to neighbouring Londonderry to serve as an administrative base for the convoy escorts operating out of the city during World War II, and to Harland & Wolffs yard where she was refitted in 1951. In 1998 she remained in Belfast, still in commission.
CHOPPING AND CHANGING
Even with a deep-load displacement of over 4700t, Caroline was well able to carry out the duties of a destroyer flotilla leader, since with 4-shaft turbines producing 40,000shp she was a match for the smaller ships in speed. If she had a shortcoming, it was in the selection and sighting of her guns. Her forward-mounted 4in (102mm) pair were held to be quite useless in a seaway and were later replaced by a single 6in (152mm) weapon. The remaining six 4in guns were also later removed and a single 6in abaft the funnels was added to complement the two original single 6in guns, one of which was mounted aft on the deckhouse, the other right aft. In 1916 she gained a pair of 3m (76mm) anti-aircraft guns and a pair of 21 in (533mm) torpedo tubes to add to the pair fitted originally.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Light cruiser
Machinery: 4-shaft Parsons turbines giving a total of 40,000shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 135.9m (440ft); beam 12.6m (41.5ft)
Displacement: 4220t normal, 4735t deep load
Draught: 4.9m (16ft) normal
Complement: 301
