The ''Challenger''-class cruisers were a pair of second-class protected cruisers built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in the first decade of the 20th century. One ship, , was later transferred to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

Design and description

The ''Challenger''-class cruisers were essentially repeats of the previous ''Highflyer'' class, albeit with more powerful propulsion machinery. They were designed to displace . The ships had a length between perpendiculars of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . Their crew consisted of 490 officers and other ranks.Friedman 2012, p. 336 The ships were powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by 18 Babcock & Wilcox () or

Dürr Dürr may refer to: * Alfred Dürr (1918–2011), German musicologist * Christian Dürr (born 1977), German politician * Emil Dürr (1920–1944), Unterscharführer * Françoise Dürr (born 1942), French tennis player * Hans-Peter Dürr (1929– ...

(''Encounter'')

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s. These boilers were heavier and bulkier, but more powerful than the

Belleville boiler There have been a vast number of designs of steam boiler, particularly towards the end of the 19th century when the technology was evolving rapidly. A great many of these took the names of their originators or primary manufacturers, rather than a m ...

s used in the ''Highflyer'' class. Sir William White,

Director of Naval Construction The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer resp ...

, was uncertain if the extra power would offset the weight sufficiently to reach and rated the ships at . The boilers were designed to produce enough steam to allow the engines to reach . The ships easily exceeded their designed power and speeds during their sea trials.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 79 They carried a maximum of of coal. The main armament of the ''Challenger'' class consisted of 11 quick-firing (QF) Mk I guns. One gun was mounted on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

and two others were positioned on the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

. The remaining eight guns were placed

port and starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

. They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells.Friedman 2011, pp. 87–88 Eight QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. One additional 12-pounder 8 cwt gun could be dismounted for service ashore. They also carried six 3-pounder

Hotchkiss gun The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun; there were also a navy (47 mm) and a 3-inch (76&nbs ...

s and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. The ships' protective deck armour ranged in thickness from . The engine hatches were protected by of armour. The main guns were fitted with 3-inch

gun shield A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...

s and the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

had armour 6 inches thick.

Ships

* - Sold 1920 * - To Australia in 1912 as HMAS ''Encounter'', renamed ''Penguin'' 1923, scuttled 1932.

Design and description

Ships

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links