HMS ''Castor'' was one of the ''Cambrian'' subclass of the of light cruisers. She saw service during the

First World War 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 ...

and the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

Construction

Design of the ''Cambrian'' subclass was based on the earlier light cruisers and , which, in turn, were based on the subclass, using the same hull as the ''Caroline''s but with two

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

and a maximum armor thickness of as opposed to in the ''Caroline''s. ''Castor'' was built by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

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on 28 October 1914, she was launched on 28 July 1915 and completed in November 1915.Preston, p. 59

Service history

World War I

Commissioned in November 1915, ''Castor'' was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of Commodore (D), assigned to the

11th Destroyer Flotilla The British 11th Destroyer Flotilla, or Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1915 to September 1945. History World War One The 11th Destroyer Flotilla was formed in August 1915 and was assigned to the ...

in the Grand Fleet. She fought in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

, in which she was damaged by German gunfire and suffered 10 casualties. On 4 October 1917, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

patrol vessel suffered an uncontrollable leak in her hull while on patrol duty off

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. ''Rehoboth''s crew had to be taken off, and ''Castor'' sank her with gunfire.

Post-war

After the

, ''Castor'' served in the

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from 1919 to 1920 during the British intervention in the

. In April 1920, she recommissioned at Chatham Dockyard for service in the 2nd Light Cruiser

Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

in the Atlantic Fleet. In 1921, ''Castor'' joined the light cruisers , , and and the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s , , , , , , , and in a

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cruise, departing the United Kingdom on 31 August 1921. The ships crossed the

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and transited the

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to enter the Baltic, where they called at Danzig in the

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; Memel in the

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; Liepāja,

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;

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, Latvia;

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;

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;

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;

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Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

;

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, Sweden; and

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, before crossing the North Sea and ending the voyage at Port Edgar,

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, on 15 October 1921.Naval History: HMS VANQUISHER, BALTIC CRUISE 1921
/ref> ''Castor'' patrolled off the coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1922 during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

. She was assigned to the

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nery School at

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from 1923 to 1924, then was in the

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from 1924 to 1925. ''Castor'' underwent a refit from November 1925 to September 1926, then began transporting troops to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in October 1927. She recommissioned at Devonport in June 1928 to serve on the China Station. She entered the Devonport Reserve in July 1930, then was decommissioned in May 1935.

Disposal

''Castor'' was sold on 30 July 1936 for scrapping and arrived at the shipbreakers yard at Rosyth in August 1936.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Cambrian Class Light Cruisers
* Transcription of ship's logbooks November 1918 to May 1920
Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Castor Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castor (1915) C-class cruisers Ships built on the River Mersey 1915 ships World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom