Adventure-class cruiser
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The ''Adventure''-class cruisers were a pair of
scout cruiser A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties a ...
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 ...
in the first decade of the 20th century. The sister ships spent about half of the first decade of their careers in
reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
and were based in home waters when on active duty. During this time was involved in two collisions. When 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 ...
began in August 1914 the ships were given coastal defence missions on the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. ''Attentive'' was transferred to Ireland in mid-1915, but remained with the
Dover Patrol The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dove ...
for another three years. They were assigned convoy escort duties in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
in 1918 before being separated when ''Attentive'' was transferred to the Mediterranean and ''Adventure'' was tasked to support the British intervention in North Russia. The sisters returned home a few months after the end of the war in November 1918 and were sold for scrap in 1920.


Background and design

In 1901–1902, the Admiralty developed scout cruisers to work with destroyer
flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...
s, leading their torpedo attacks and backing them up when attacked by other destroyers. In May 1902, it requested tenders for a design that was capable of , a protective deck, a range of and an armament of six quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder () 18 cwt guns,"Cwt" is the abbreviation for
hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...
, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
eight QF 3-pounder (47 mm) guns and two 18-inch (457 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. It accepted four of the submissions and ordered one ship from each builder in the 1902–1903 Naval Programme and a repeat in the following year's programme. The two ships from
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became the ''Adventure'' class. Four more 12-pounders were added to the specification in August. The ships had a
length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
of , a beam of and a draught of . They displaced at normal load and at
deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. Their crew consisted of 289 officers and ratings.Friedman 2009, pp. 100, 294 The ''Adventure''-class ships were the only one of this group of scout cruisers to have four
funnel 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 construct ...
s and a clipper-style bow. The Brazilian scout cruisers were derived from these ships. The ships were powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by a dozen
Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...
s. The engines were designed to produce a total of which was intended to give a maximum speed of 25 knots.Roberts 1979, pp. 84–85 The ''Adventure''s barely exceeded their design speed when they ran their
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s in 1905. The scout cruisers soon proved too slow for this role as faster,
turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
-engined, destroyers entered service before the First World War. The sisters carried a maximum of of coal which gave them a range of at . The main armament of the ''Adventure'' class consisted of ten QF 12-pounder 18-cwt guns. Three guns were mounted abreast on the forecastle and the quarterdeck, with the remaining four guns positioned port and starboard
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 ...
. They also carried eight QF three-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two single mounts for 18-inch torpedo tubes, one on each broadside. The ships' protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower had armour thick.


Ships


Construction and service

The sisters were placed in reserve for two years after completion, during which time two additional 12-pounder guns were added and the 3-pounder guns were replaced with six
QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were ma ...
guns. They were commissioned in mid-1907 as flotilla leaders in the Home Fleet and they spent the next seven years moving on and off of active service in British waters. During this time ''Attentive'' sank one destroyer and damaged two others in collisions. In 1911–1912,Preston 1985, p. 17 they were rearmed with nine QF Mk IV guns.Friedman 2011, p. 102 When the First World War began, the sisters were assigned to coastal defence duties, in the English Channel. In mid-1915 ''Adventure'' was transferred to Irish waters to serve as the flagship there while ''Attentive'' remained with the Dover Patrol until 1918. That year she played a minor role in the
Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent Germ ...
in early 1918 and was then assigned to escort convoys to
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
together with her sister. ''Attentive'' was transferred to the Mediterranean at the end of the war while ''Adventure'' was sent to the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
to support the unsuccessful British attempt to intervene in the Russian Civil War. The sisters returned home around the beginning of 1919 to be
paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
; they were sold for scrap in 1920.


Notes


Footnotes


Bibliography

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External links


Adventure class in World War I
{{WWI British ships Cruiser classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy