HMAS Adelaide (1918)

HMAS Adelaide in her third armament configuration
History
Australia
Namesake:	City of Adelaide
Builder:	Cockatoo Island Dockyard
Laid down:	20 November 1915
Launched:	27 July 1918
Completed:	31 July 1922
Commissioned:	5 August 1922
Decommissioned:	27 June 1928
Recommissioned:	13 March 1939
Decommissioned:	17 May 1939
Recommissioned:	1 September 1939
Decommissioned:	26 February 1945
Recommissioned:	19 May 1945
Decommissioned:	13 May 1946
Motto:	"Ut Prosint Omnibus Conjuncti" "United for the Common Weal"
Nickname(s):	HMAS Longdelayed
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: Pacific 1941–43 East Indies 1942
Fate:	Sold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement:	5,560 tons
Length:	138.8 m (455 ft)
Beam:	14.9 m (49 ft)
Draught:	5.7 m (19 ft)
Propulsion:	Parsons turbines, 2 shafts, 25,000 shp (19,000 kW)
Speed:	25 knots (46.3 km/h; 28.8 mph)
Complement:	1922: 33 officers and 450 sailors 1941: 26 officers and 436 sailors
Armament:	Original configuration: 9 × 6-inch (152-mm) Mk XII guns 1 × 3-inch (76-mm) anti-aircraft gun 1 × 12-pounder (3-inch) 8-cwt field gun 4 × 3-pounder saluting guns 10 × .303-inch machine guns 2 × 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × depth charge chutes
Armour:	3-inch (7.6 cm) side armour-belt over midships section

HMAS Adelaide was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), named after Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Laid down in 1915, wartime shortages and design modifications meant the ship was not completed until 1922, earning her the nickname "HMAS Longdelayed".

Adelaide served with the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron during 1924 and 1925, and was involved in the 1927 Malaita massacre. She was decommissioned in 1928, but was modernised and returned to service just before World War II began. During the war, Adelaide was involved in successful efforts to secure the colony of New Caledonia for Free France, was present during the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, and intercepted the German blockade runner Ramses.

The cruiser was decommissioned in 1946, and broken up for scrap in 1949.

The design of Adelaide was modified from the Chatham subclass of the Town-class light cruisers, with similarities to the Birmingham subclass. The ship was 462 feet 6.5 inches (140.983 m) long overall and 430 feet (130 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 49 feet 9.5 inches (15.177 m), and a draught of 19.66 feet (5.99 m). The initial ship's company stood at 33 officers and 450 sailors, but by 1941, this had dropped to 26 officers and 436 sailors.

The propulsion system consisted of Parsons turbines providing 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) to two propeller shafts. As designed, the ship had a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), but modifications during her career saw this increase to 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) during the 1920s, then drop to 24.8 knots (45.9 km/h; 28.5 mph) by 1941. The cruiser was originally fuelled by both coal and oil, but the ship's refit in 1938–39 saw her converted to oil only, along with the removal of the foremost funnel and boilers.