Leander-class cruiser (1931)
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Leander-class cruiser |
| Operators: | |
| Preceded by: | Emerald class |
| Succeeded by: | Arethusa class |
| Subclasses: |
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| Completed: | 8 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type: | light cruiser |
| Displacement: |
7,270 tons standard 9,740 tons full load (9,000 tons in Amphions) |
| Length: | 554.9 ft (169.1 m) |
| Beam: | 56 ft (17 m) |
| Draught: | 19.1 ft (5.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | 6 x (Leander) / 4 x (Amphion) Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines, 72,000 shp (53,700 kW) on 4 shafts |
| Speed: | 32.5 kn (60 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,730 nmi (10,610 km) at 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Complement: | 570 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 × Fairey Seafox, later Fairey Swordfish, later Supermarine Walrus |
| Aviation facilities: | Rotating catapult & crane |
7,270 tons standard
The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936. The three ships of the second group were sold to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) before World War II and renamed after Australian cities.
The Leander class was influenced by the York-class heavy cruiser, and was an attempt to better provide for the role of commerce protection. The 7,000-7,200 ton Leanders were armed with eight BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval guns in twin turrets, two forward and two aft. Their secondary armament consisted of four high angle QF 4 inch Mk V naval guns, which were later replaced by twin mountings for eight guns (the later high angle QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun). Their close range anti-aircraft weaponry consisted of twelve 0.5-inch (13 mm) Vickers machine guns in three quadruple mounts. They also shipped a bank of four 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes on each beam and provision was made in the design for carriage of two catapult-launched Fairey Seafox aircraft.
Speed was 32 knots (59 km/h), and 845 tons of armour was provided. During trials in December 1932 Leander made 32.45 knots (60 km/h) with 72,430 shp (54,000 kW) at 7265 tons displacement and 31.4 knots (58 km/h) with 73,140 shp (54,500 kW) at 9010 tons deep displacement. The first five vessels did not contain dispersed machinery; the boiler rooms were arranged together and exhausted into a single funnel, a unique feature amongst British cruisers. This meant that damage amidships was more liable to disable all the boiler rooms. In service their machinery proved to be highly reliable and exceeded trials output by a wide margin as evidenced by Achilles on 13 December 1939 during The Battle of the River Plate:
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