Ceres Class Light Cruisers

Ceres Class.  A significant improvement on the previous classes of 'C' cruisers with the bridge moved further aft and one of the 6 inch guns moved into a forward super-firing position giving improved arcs of fire.  These changes necessitated some rearrangement of the boiler layout.

HMS Ceres
Built John Brown, laid down July 1916, completed June 1917.

HMS Cardiff
Built Fairfield, laid down July 1916, completed June 1917.

HMS Coventry
Built Swan Hunter, laid down August 1916, completed February 1918.

HMS Curacoa
Built Pembroke Dockyard, laid down July 1916, completed February 1918.

HMS Curlew
Built Vickers, laid down August 1916, completed December 1917.

Size:
Length 425 feet pp 450 feet 3 inches overall, beam 43 feet 5 inches, draught 14 feet 8 inches, displacement 4,190 tons normal 5,020 tons deep load..

Propulsion:
2 shaft Parsons/Brown-Curtis turbines, 40,000 shp, 29 knots

Trials:
Ceres 39,425 shp = 29.11 knots
Curlew 40,700 shp = 28.3 knots

Armour:
3-1.5in belt, 1in decks

Armament:
5 x 6in 45cal Mk XII (5 x 1), 2 x 3in (2 x 1), 8 x 21in TT

Comments:
Crew 460.

World War 1 Service:
Ceres
6th Light Cruiser Squadron Grand Fleet.
1946 Scrapped.

Cardiff
6th Light Cruiser Squadron Grand Fleet.
21 November 1918 Led German High Seas Fleet to surrender.
1946 Scrapped.

Coventry
5th Light Cruiser Squadron Harwich Force.
14 September 1942 sunk by Italian aircraft off Tobruk.

Curacoa
5th Light Cruiser Squadron Harwich Force.
2 October 1942 Accidentally rammed and sunk by the liner Queen Mary.

Curlew
5th Light Cruiser Squadron Harwich Force.
26 May 1940 sunk by German aircraft off Norway.

HMS Ceres.  The moving of the bridge aft along with a slight increase in beam made them better sea boats than previous classes.  All five survived World War 1 and went on to serve in World War 2 during which three of the class were sunk.