DOMINION’S NAVY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2232, 29 January 1921, Page 4

DOMINION’S NAVY

NUCLEUS VESSEL ARRIVES

HER BUILD AND ARMAMENT

H.M. light cruiser Chatham, which was presented to the Dominion by the Imperial Government as a nucleus for the Dominion Navy, ■reached Auckland from England via Australia on Thursday. The Chatham is one of -several sister ships built at Chatham under the provisions of the naval programme of 1911-12. The type was specially designed to meet certain requirements of the overseas stations where cruisers of fair speed, quick-firing armament, and economical coal consumption could be advantageously employed, or alternatively kept in British waters to act as screens to the bigger ship squadrons, do scouting and patrol work, all of which duties the Chatham carried out during the war. She measures 430 ft. in length, has a beam of 492 ft-., a draught of 15? ft., and a displacement of 5,400 tons at the load line. At her speed trials she easily ran her contract speed of 25.9 knots, with a little in hand for emergencies—all of which she needed in the late war, when she was frequently put on her mettle. With regard to protection, a Jin. steel deck encloses her vitals. Hie main armament of the Chatham comprises eight bin, guns, and her secondary or anti-torpedo armament includes four 3-pounders, and during the war she was fitted with a 3in. gun for anti-aircraft work.

During the war the boilers of the Chatham were altered so as to allow a proportion of them being oil fired. Her bankers have now space for 26(Wons, and her double bottom space for 1,260 tons of oil. She has a torpedo equipment for the 12in. weapon.

Her keel was laid down on January 3rd, 1911, and she was completed for sea in 20 months, at a cost og £349,538. When in full commission the Chatham carries a crew of 400 officers and men all ‘told. She was refitted in August, 1920, at a cost of £170,000.