- Design and description
- Construction and career
- See also
- Notes
- Footnotes
- Bibliography
- External links
{{other ships|HMS Curlew}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=HMS Curlew.jpg | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United Kingdom | United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name=HMS Curlew | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Vickers Limited, Barrow in Furness | Ship laid down=21 August 1916 | Ship launched=5 July 1917 | Ship christened= | Ship commissioned=14 December 1917 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship in service= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship fate=Sunk by air attack, 26 May 1940 | Ship status=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption=(as built) | C|cruiser|0}} light cruiser | 4190|LT|t|0}} | 425|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} p/p- {{convert|450|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} o/a
| 43|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} | 14|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} | 40000|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion= 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines | 29|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}} | Ship range= | Ship complement=460 | 6|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} Mk XII guns- 2 × single QF {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} 20-cwt[1] anti-aircraft guns
- 4 × twin {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes
| 1.25|-|3|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}- Deck: {{convert|1|in|mm|abbr=on}}
- Conning tower: 3 in
}} | HMS Curlew was a {{sclass2-|C|cruiser|0}} light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was part of the Ceres sub-class of the C class. The ship survived World War I to be sunk by German aircraft during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. Design and descriptionThe Ceres sub-class was redesigned to move one of the amidships guns to a superfiring position in front of the bridge to improve its arcs of fire. This required moving the bridge and tripod mast further aft and rearranging the compartments forward of the aft boiler room. The ships were {{convert|450|ft|6|in|m|1}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|43|ft|m|1}}[2] and a mean draught of {{convert|14|ft|8|in|m|1}}. Displacement was {{convert|4190|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal and {{convert|5020|LT|t}} at deep load. Curlew was powered by two Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, which produced a total of {{convert|40000|ihp|lk=in}}. The turbines used steam generated by six Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about {{convert|29|kn|lk=in}}. She carried {{convert|935|LT|t|0}} tons of fuel oil. The ship had a crew of about 460 officers and other ranks.[3] The armament of the Ceres sub-class was identical to that of the preceding Caledon sub-class and consisted of five BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline. One superfiring pair of guns was forward of the bridge, one was aft of the two funnels and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. The two QF {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} 20-cwt anti-aircraft guns were positioned abreast of the fore funnel. The Ceress were equipped with eight {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes in four twin mounts, two on each broadside.[3] Construction and careerShe was laid down by Vickers Limited on 21 August 1916, and launched on 5 July 1917, being commissioned into the navy on 14 December 1917. In common with most of her sisters Curlew was rearmed to become an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1935–36. On the outbreak of war she served with the Home Fleet. She participated in the Norwegian Campaign, and whilst operating off the Norwegian coast on 26 May 1940, she came under attack from German Ju 88 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 30 and was sunk in Lavangsfjord, Ofotfjord near Narvik.[4] 9 sailors were lost with the ship.[5] See also- List of shipwrecks in 1940
Notes1. ^"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
2. ^Friedman 2010, p. 387
3. ^1 Gardiner & Gray, p. 61
4. ^Whitley, pp. 68, 70
5. ^http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-05MAY.htm#curlewlost
Footnotes{{Reflist|30em}} Bibliography - {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
- {{Colledge}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After|year=2010|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|isbn=978-1-59114-078-8}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One|publisher=Seaforth|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84832-100-7}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921|year=1984|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|lastauthoramp=y}}
- {{cite book|last=Newbolt|first=Henry|title=Naval Operations|edition=reprint of the 1931|series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents|volume=V|year=1996|publisher=Battery Press|location=Nashville, Tennessee|isbn=0-89839-255-1}}
- {{cite book|last1=Raven|first1=Alan|last2=Roberts|first2=John|title=British Cruisers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1980|isbn=0-87021-922-7|lastauthoramp=y}}
- {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|authorlink=Jürgen Rohwer}}
- {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Cassell|location=London|year=1995|isbn=1-86019-874-0}}
External links- HMS Curlew in WW2 at Naval-History.net
- HMS Curlew at Uboat.net
{{C class cruiser}}{{May 1940 shipwrecks}}{{coord|68.559|16.558|display=title|region:NO-18_type:landmark}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlew}} 9 : C-class cruisers|Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness|1917 ships|World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom|World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom|World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea|Maritime incidents in May 1940|Cruisers sunk by aircraft|Ships sunk by German aircraft |