York-class cruiser

HMS York
Class overview
Name:	York class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	County class
Succeeded by:	None
Planned:	7
Completed:	2
Cancelled:	5
Lost:	2
General characteristics - York
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	8,250 tons standard / 10,350 tons full load
Length:	540 ft (160 m) p/p 575 ft (175 m) o/a
Beam:	57 ft (17 m)
Draught:	17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion:	Eight Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers Parsons geared steam turbines 80,000 shp (59,700 kW) on four shafts
Speed:	32.25 knots (59.73 km/h) (30.25 knots (56.02 km/h) full load)
Range:	1,900 tons oil fuel; 10,000 nmi (20,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement:	623
Armament:	6 × BL 8 inch Mk.VIII (203 mm, L/50) guns, twin mounts Mk.II 4 × QF 4 inch Mk.V (102 mm, L/45) guns, single mounts HA Mk.III 8 × 0.5 inch Mk.III Vickers (12.7 mm, L/50) machine guns, quad mounts Mk.I 6 (2x3) tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes
Armour:	Main belt 3 in  2 1⁄2-1 in enclosing bulkheads Lower deck  1 1⁄4 in over machinery  1 1⁄2 in over steering gear Magazine box citadels 4-1 in Transmitting Station 1 in Turrets 1 in face, rear, crown  2 1⁄2 in base 1 in barbette 2 in hoist
Aircraft carried:	One x Fairey Seafox
Aviation facilities:	rotating catapult
General characteristics - Exeter
Displacement:	8,390 tons standard / 10,410 tons full load
Beam:	58 ft (18 m)
Complement:	630
Armour:	as York, except; Magazine box citadels 5-1 in
Aircraft carried:	Two x Fairey Seafox, later Supermarine Walrus
Aviation facilities:	Two fixed catapults
Notes:	Other characteristics as per York

The York class was the second and final class of 8-inch (203 mm)–gunned heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. They were essentially a reduced version of the preceding County class, scaled down to enable more cruisers to be built from the limited defence budgets of the late 1920s.

It was initially planned to build seven ships of this class, though in the end only two were constructed—HMS York, started in 1927, and HMS Exeter, started in 1928. Exeter differed in appearance from York because of late changes in her design. The remaining ships were delayed due to budget cuts, and then following the London Naval Treaty of 1930 the Royal Navy decided its cruiser needs were best met by building a greater number of yet smaller cruisers with 6–in guns.

While both ships served vigorously in the first few years of World War II, it was Exeter that had the more lively career. Most famously, Exeter took part in the Battle of the River Plate against the German raider Admiral Graf Spee, and was badly damaged, though later she was repaired and extensively modernized. She escorted a convoy to the Pacific in late 1941, and was again heavily damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea, then caught and overwhelmed a few days later by four Japanese heavy cruisers. York was sunk in Suda Bay, Crete, by Italian MT boats in 1941, and was raised in 1952 and towed away to be scrapped in Italy.

The Royal Navy had a need for smaller cruisers than the County class, the largest design possible under the Washington limits, in order that more could be built under the strict defence economies of 1920s Britain. From 1925 the Royal Navy planned a "Class B" cruiser (as against the 10,000-ton cruisers of Class A, such as the Counties.)

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Wikipedia