HMS ''Yarmouth'' was a light cruiser of 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 ...

launched on 12 April 1911 from the yards of the London & Glasgow Co. She was part of the ''Weymouth'' subgroup. Rutland-yarmouth

On the outbreak of 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 ...

, ''Yarmouth'' was on the China Station, and later in 1914, she was involved in the hunt for the German commerce raider . In October that year she captured two German colliers. She returned to home waters in December 1914 and was assigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, and in February 1915 to 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron. Whilst serving with this squadron, she took part 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 ...

on 31 May-1 June 1916. On 28 June 1917,

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Flight Commander F. J. Rutland took off in a

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

from a flying-off platform mounted on the roof of one of ''Yarmouth''s gun turrets, the first such successful launch of an aircraft in history. On 21 August a Pup flown by Flight Sub-Lieutenant B. A. Smart flown from ''Yarmouth'' shot down the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

L 23 near Bovbjerg. HMS ''Yarmouth'' re-commissioned at

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, in June, 1918. She served as part of the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron. She re-commissioned at Colombo again on 21st March, 1919. The flag of Rear-Admiral The Hon. Edward Stafford Fitzherbert, CB, Commander-in-Chief on the Africa Station, was flown in ''Yarmouth'' temporarily. In 1919, she stopped at

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

, the first ship in ten years, to inform the islanders of the outcome 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 ...

. After the war, she joined the 7th Light Cruiser Squadron on the South America Station. ''Yarmouth'' was sold for scrapping on 2 July 1929 to the Alloa South Breaking Company, of Rosyth.

Notes

References

* * Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
Ships of the Weymouth group

External links

Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS ''Yarmouth'' Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarmouth Town-class cruisers (1910) of the Royal Navy Ships built in Govan 1911 ships World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom