The ''Almirante Grau'' class was a class of two

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 Peruvian Navy between 1905 and 1907. Both ships remained in service until 1958.

Construction and design

In 1905, Peru placed orders with the British shipbuilder

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...

for two

s, similar in design to Vickers' built for the British

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 ...

.Whitley 1999, p. 198. Named ''Almirante Grau'' and ''Coronel Bolognesi'', the ships were far more powerful than any other ship in the Peruvian Navy, which had suffered severe damage in the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

twenty years earlier and had not ordered any new warships since. The two scout cruisers were to be what one magazine called the "pioneers" of a growing and modernized Peruvian Navy; the navy intended for ''Almirante Grau'' to remain as the fleet's flagship only until more powerful warships were purchased. As of 1905, Peru's naval expansion plans included three ''Swiftsure''-like battleships, three armored cruisers, six destroyers, and numerous smaller warships, all acquired in a nine-year, $7 million outlay."Fleets in Preparation," ''Proceedings'', 740. None of these purchases came to fruition, and ''Almirante Grau'' and ''Coronel Bolognesi'' remained the most powerful Peruvian warships for many years. The ships were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

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 ...

, with a beam of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was Normal.Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 410. They were powered by two coal-fired four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. The engines were fed with steam at by ten

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 machinery was rated at giving a contract speed of .''Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers'' May 1907, p. 583. 500 t of coal were carried, sufficient to give a range of at . The ships were armed with two guns, one each fore and aft, with eight 14-pounder (76 mm) guns on single mounts on the ships' waists, backed up by eight 3 pounder (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns. 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 were fitted. The ships had a armoured deck, with of armour protecting the ships' conning tower and thick gunshields on the six-inch guns. The ships had a complement of 320 officers and ratings, with one of the ships, ''Almirante Grau'', fitted as a flagship, with additional accommodation provided in a poopdeck, while a sternwalk was also fitted to ''Almirante Grau''. The ships were laid down at Vickers'

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

shipyard in 1905 and launched in 1906. They both comfortably met the required speed of during

sea trials 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 i ...

, with ''Almirante Grau'' reaching during trials and ''Coronel Bolognese'' making .''Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers'' May 1907, p. 582.

Service

After completion, the two ships sailed together from England to Peru, reaching Callao on 10 August 1907. 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 ...

, the two cruisers escorted merchant ships of the coast of Peru,Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 409. with ''Almirante Grau'' also serving as a

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing and ...

for submarines.Moore 1990, p. 307. In 1925, the two ships were refitted, with the boilers being re-tubed and converted to use oil. In 1932, a

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

broke out between Peru and Colombia over territory in the Amazon rainforest. In May 1933, ''Almirante Grau'', escorted by two submarines, was sent via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

to the mouth of the Amazon River to support operations by Peruvian warships on the Amazon. However, the war ended before they arrived, so ''Almirante Grau'' and the two submarines returned to the Pacific.Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, p. 423. The two cruisers were re-boilered by

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

in 1934, the 10 old boilers being replaced by 8 new ones, giving a speed of . A new fire control system was later fitted, and in 1936, two of the 14-pounder guns were replaced by Japanese 76 mm anti-aircraft guns. From July 1941 to January 1942, the two cruisers took part in a blockade of the

Gulf of Guayaquil The Gulf of Guayaquil is a large body of water of the Pacific Ocean in western South America. Its northern limit is the city of Santa Elena, in Ecuador, and its southern limit is Cabo Blanco, in Peru. The gulf takes its name from the city of Gua ...

during the

Ecuadorian–Peruvian War The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of '41 ( es, link=no, Guerra del 41), was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th ...

.Whitley 1999, p. 199. During the 1940s, the ships' bridges were modified, and

tripod mast The tripod mast is a type of mast used on warships from the Edwardian era onwards, replacing the pole mast. Tripod masts are distinctive using two large (usually cylindrical) support columns spread out at angles to brace another (usually vertica ...

s replaced the original foremast. Anti-aircraft armament was strengthened by the addition of seven Browning machine guns, while a depth charge thrower and rails was fitted to provide an anti-submarine capability. Following the entry of Peru into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1944, the two cruisers were used for coastal patrols. After the war, they were used as training ships, and then as stationary hulks before being stricken on 24 June 1958 and sold for scrap.

Ships

References

Sources

* * * * *

Construction and design

Service

Ships

See also

References

Sources

Further reading