The Tiger class were a class of three British warships of the 20th century and the last all-gun cruisers of the Royal Navy. Construction of three Minotaur-class cruisers began during World War II but, due to post-war austerity, the Korean War and focus on the Royal Air Force over the surface fleet, the hulls remained unfinished. Against a background of changing priorities and financial constraints, approval to complete them to a modified design was given in November 1954 and the three ships – Tiger, Lion and Blake – entered service from March 1959.
HMS Tiger was a conventional cruiser of the British Royal Navy, one of a three-ship class known as the Tiger class. Ordered during World War II, she was completed after its end.
The Battle class were a class of destroyers of the British Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN), named after naval or other battles fought by British or English forces. Built in three groups, the first group were ordered under the 1942 naval estimates. A modified second and third group, together with two ships of an extended design were planned for the 1943 and 1944 estimates. Most of these ships were cancelled when it became apparent that the war was being won and the ships would not be required, although two ships of the third group, ordered for the RAN, were not cancelled and were subsequently completed in Australia.
The Dido class consisted of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The first group of three ships were commissioned in 1940; the second group and third group were commissioned between 1941 and 1942. A fourth group, also described as the Improved Dido, or the Bellona class, were commissioned between 1943 and 1944. Most members of the class were given names drawn from classical history and legend. The groups differed in armament and for the Bellonas, in function. The Dido class were designed as small trade protection cruisers with a secondary role with the fleet providing leaders for the destroyer screen. The Didos were designed for five turrets, with twin 5.25" high angle gun turret mountings, complex modern warships and turrets, offering shell loading, -05 to 90 degree elevation to give a dual-purpose capacity with centreline turrets with potential AA possible. The new complex turrets were unreliable when introduced and somewhat unsatisfactory, at a time the UK faced a military fight for survival. During the war the original 1939-42 Didos class required very extensive increased electric generating capacity for additional radar and RPM with electrification of turret hydraulics and in the final Bellona, HMS Diadem electric turrets While some damage was experienced initially in extreme North Atlantic conditions, modified handling avoided the problem. The fitting of the three turrets forward in A, B and C positions depended on some use of aluminium in the structure and the lack of aluminium after Dunkirk was one of the reasons for only four turrets being fitted to the first group of three, while the third group had four turrets with twin 4.5" guns. The Bellona's were designed from the start with four turrets with radar-aimed guns and greater light anti-aircraft armament.
HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during the Second World War and commissioned after the war ended. She was the largest and fastest of the Royal Navy's battleships, the only ship of her class, and the last battleship to be built.
The Minotaur class, also known as the Swiftsure class after the lead ship was sold to Canada and renamed, were a group of light cruisers of the British Royal Navy built during the Second World War. They were designed as a modified version of the Fiji class incorporating war modifications and authorised in 1941. However, in spite of the heavy toll of cruisers in that year and the following one, the building of this new class had a relatively low priority and only three of the planned twelve were completed by end of World War II. They played no significant part in the Second World War, though Swiftsure, as flagship of the British Pacific Cruiser Squadron, was selected by Admiral Cecil Harcourt to hoist his flag for the Japanese surrender at Hong Kong.
HMS Magnificent was one of the nine Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy. She entered service in late 1895 with the Channel Fleet, remaining with the fleet through its subsequent reorganisation into the Atlantic Fleet. In 1905, an explosion caused the deaths of 18 men but she remained in service until 1906, after which she underwent a refit. She served with the Home Fleet for most of her pre-war service.
HMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town-class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the more traditional brass. This was an attempt to reduce the amount of cleaning required on the part of the crew. Her nickname, the "Shiny Sheff", stemmed from this. A prototype radar system was placed into service in August 1938 on the Sheffield. It was the first vessel in the Royal Navy to be so equipped.
The Type 41 or Leopard class were a class of anti-aircraft defence frigates built for the Royal Navy and Indian Navy in the 1950s. The Type 41, together with the Type 61 variant introduced diesel propulsion into the Royal Navy, the perceived benefits being long range, low fuel use, reduced crew, and reduced complexity.
HMS Diadem was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Bellona subgroup of the Royal Navy. She was a modified Dido design with only four turrets but improved anti-aircraft armament – also known as Dido Group 2. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK, with the keel being laid down on 15 December 1939. She was launched on 26 August 1942, and completed on 6 January 1944.
HMS Royalist was a Bellona-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy (RN) during the Second World War.
HMS Commonwealth was a King Edward VII-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely the Commonwealth of Australia. Armed with a battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) and four 9.2 in (234 mm) guns, she and her sister ships marked a significant advance in offensive power compared to earlier British battleship designs that did not carry the 9.2 in guns. Commonwealth was built at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and was laid down in June 1902, launched in May 1903, and completed in March 1905.
HMS Gambia was a Fiji-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was in the service of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) as HMNZS Gambia from 1943 to 1946. She was named after the then Crown colony of the Gambia, and has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
HMS Swiftsure was one of three Minotaur-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle upon Tyne on 22 September 1941, launched on 4 February 1943 by Lady Wake-Walker and commissioned on 22 June 1944. The first of a new Minotaur class, a development of the later Colony class with extra beam and a fifth twin 4 inch turret. Swiftsure was the last Royal Navy cruiser completed during World War II and was the first British cruiser designed around the concept of an operations room and modern radar, with sensor screens and communications positioned for efficient operation. During her service in the Pacific in 1945, she proved the most efficient anti-aircraft cruiser in the fleet and was the first Royal Navy cruiser with the Type 274 lock-and-follow radar targeting system for her main armament.
HMS Sutlej was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Upon completion she was assigned to the China Station. In 1906 she became a training ship for the North America and West Indies Station before returning home and being assigned as the flagship of the reserve Third Fleet in 1909. Relieved as flagship in 1910, she remained in reserve until the beginning of World War I in August 1914.
HMS Leviathan was one of four Drake-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. Leviathan was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913.
HMS Powerful was the lead ship of her class of two protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1890s. She was initially assigned to the China Station and then provided landing parties which fought in the Siege of Ladysmith of 1899–1900 during the Second Boer War. After a lengthy refit, the ship was placed in reserve until 1905 when Powerful became the flagship of the Australia Station. Upon her return home in 1912, she was again reduced to reserve for a brief time before she was reclassified as a training ship. The ship remained in this role until 1929 when she was sold for scrap.
HMS Superb was a Minotaur-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. The ship entered service in 1945 and had a brief, quiet career before being decommissioned in 1957 after her modernisation was cancelled. She was broken up in 1960.
The QF 6-inch Gun Mark N5 was a British naval gun, which was developed in the post-war period. It was the last large gun to be operational with the Royal Navy.
The Minotaur class, or Design Z, was a proposed class of light cruisers planned for the British Royal Navy shortly after the Second World War. Design Z had several proposed configurations with differing armament and propulsion arrangements. The designs were large ships that were planned to be armed with ten 6 in (152 mm) dual purpose guns and an extensive array of 3 in (76 mm) secondary guns. Six ships of the class were planned in 1947 but they were ultimately cancelled before construction could begin, owing to the post-war economic difficulties of the United Kingdom and shifting naval priorities.
United Kingdom