The ''Emerald'' class or E class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of two

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

s 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 ...

. Following the ''Cavendish'' class, three ships of a new class were ordered in March 1918, towards the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, designed to emphasise high speed at the cost of other qualities, for use against rumoured new high-speed German cruisers – like the – and particularly

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

s, in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The third ship was cancelled in November 1918.

Design

The E class were based on the preceding , itself based on the

C-class cruiser The C class was a group of twenty-eight light cruisers of the Royal Navy, and were built in a sequence of seven groups known as the ''Caroline'' class (six ships), the ''Calliope'' class (two ships), the ''Cambrian'' class (four ships), the ' ...

but had a very high ratio of length to

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 ...

and only one more gun, despite being much bigger and more expensive. Much was sacrificed to achieve , the

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

was doubled and the hull increased by in length, with a 50 per cent increase in displacement. Only two ships were built, being completed in 1926. Four propellers were necessary for the increased power and were driven from two engine rooms. There were four boiler rooms, nos. 2 and 3 being arranged side-by-side with the exhausts trunked into a common funnel. The

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

were between boiler rooms nos. 2 and 3 and the forward engine room and between boiler room no. 4 and the after engine room. This led to a bizarre funnel arrangement, accentuated further when in 1935 a longer

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...

required the mainmast to be stepped forward of the after funnel and the funnels were heightened by . was completed with a prototype twin

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

in place of her two forward single mounts. The trials of the turret were successful and it was retained on ''Enterprise'' for the rest of her career. The turret design was later installed in the , and classes. The turret installation occupied less space than the superimposed 'A' and 'B' guns of , therefore the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

was placed further forward. The bridge was of a new design, being a single block topped by a director tower, rather than the traditional platforms built around the foremast and wheelhouse topped with a spotting top. This design of bridge would appear in the s. Notwithstanding their age and outlandish appearance, the two ships were the fastest cruisers in the Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War II, ''Emerald'' exceeding in a full-power trial at full load in 1939. Both cruisers also carried the heaviest

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

armament of any Royal Navy cruiser – four quadruple mounts. These cruisers had a long range, unlike the C- and ''Danae''-class cruisers, making them valuable for patrolling sea lanes against Axis merchant raiders. They were also large enough that they could accommodate significant additions to their anti-aircraft armament as well as modern radar suites.

Modifications

In the mid-1930s both ships were fitted with a catapult which replaced the outmoded flying-off platform and had

HACS High Angle Control System (HACS) was a British anti-aircraft fire-control system employed by the Royal Navy from 1931 and used widely during World War II. HACS calculated the necessary deflection required to place an explosive shell in the loca ...

Mk.I added for the guns, which was fitted amidships between the searchlight platform and the after funnel. The funnels were raised . Later proposals to increase the AA outfit by the addition of twin 4-inch and multiple 2-pounder guns were thwarted by the outbreak of war. ''Emerald'' had received two quadruple .5 machine guns before the war, then during refit between August 1942 and April 1943 she landed the after 6 in, two 2 pounder singles and the .5 machine guns to receive instead six power-operated twin and two quadruple 2 pounder guns and radars Type 273 (centimetric target indication), 281 (air warning), 282 (pom-pom ranging) and 285 (HACS ranging). In April 1944 six single mounts were added and the catapult was removed. ''Enterprise'' landed two singles in 1941 and had one quadruple 2 pounder fitted. She later had four single fitted and then, in the course of a long refit between the end of December 1942 and October 1943, she lost the single 2 pounder and weapons, receiving six twin power-operated mountings in lieu. The two were reinstated and a second quadruple 2 pounder fitted. She was fitted with radars Type 272 (centimetric target indication), 281, 282, 284 (6 inch gun ranging), and 285. In February she had an additional four single fitted and the catapult was removed.

Ships

Service history

Like the ''Cavendish'' class, they were mainly employed on the ocean trade routes, also seeing fleet service in the Far East in 1942–43 with the East Indies Fleet. Unlike almost all of the other older cruisers, both ships had active employment until the last few months of the war, in almost every theatre. ''Enterprise'' served in

Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the ...

in 1940 when that naval task force bombarded the French naval squadron in the

Attack on Mers-el-Kébir The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on neutral French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The atta ...

in July 1940. ''Enterprise'' after her 1942–43 refit served with the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

where, in company with the cruiser , she participated in the

Battle of the Bay of Biscay The Battle of the Bay of Biscay, or Operation Bernau, was a naval action that took place on 28 December 1943 during World War II as part of the Atlantic campaign. The battle took place in the Bay of Biscay between two light cruisers of the Br ...

against a well-armed German destroyer and torpedo boat force in December 1943 in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

. ''Emerald'' supported British forces in their campaign putting down the pro-German revolt in Iraq in the summer of 1941. Both cruisers provided gunfire support in the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in June 1944. Both cruisers were reduced to reserve by January 1945; ''Enterprise'' was reactivated for use in trooping duties upon the ending of the war.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Emerald class at U-boat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerald Class Cruiser Cruiser classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy