HMS Edinburgh (16)

Edinburgh at Scapa Flow in October 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Edinburgh
Builder:	Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Laid down:	30 December 1936
Launched:	31 March 1938
Commissioned:	6 July 1939
Identification:	Pennant number: 16
Fate:	Scuttled in the Arctic Ocean 2 May 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement:	13,175 tons
Length:	613.6 ft (187.0 m)
Beam:	64.9 ft (19.8 m)
Draught:	22.6 ft (6.9 m)
Propulsion:	Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers 82,500 shp (62 MW)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement:	750
Armament:	12 × BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval guns (152 mm) in triple turrets 12 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk XVI guns Two octuple mount QF 2 pounder (40 mm) AA guns 8 × 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns 6 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	Two Walrus aircraft (Removed in the latter part of World War II)

HMS Edinburgh was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, which served during the Second World War. She was one of the last two Town class cruisers, which formed the Edinburgh sub-class. Edinburgh saw a great deal of combat service during the Second World War, especially in the North Sea and the Arctic Sea, where she was sunk by torpedoes in 1942.

Edinburgh was built in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, her keel laid down on 30 December 1936. She was a fast cruiser, displacing 10,635 tonnes, and with an intended sea speed of 32.25 knots (59.73 km/h), reaching a maximum speed of thirty-three knots.

The ship was heavily armed for a light cruiser, with twelve 6 inch guns, twelve (later eight) 4 inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns (along with her sister ship, the heaviest 4-in battery among all the British cruisers), sixteen 2-pounder pom pom guns, in addition to sixteen Vickers .50 machine guns. Also, she carried six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes in a pair of triple racks, giving the ship extra firepower.

Edinburgh was designed as a very modern vessel, equipped with an impressive radar array and fire-control systems, and the ability to carry up to three Supermarine Walrus seaplanes for reconnaissance, though she usually carried only two.

Her armour thickness statistics were 4.88 inches (124 mm) on the main belt, and 1.5 in (38 mm) at its thinnest, the heaviest of all the British light cruisers. As with battlecruisers, light cruisers were intended to be fast enough to avoid engagements with more heavily armed opponents, negating the need for immensely thick armour like that found on the battleships of the day.