The ''Boadicea''-class cruiser was a pair of

scout cruiser A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties ...

s built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first class of this type to be fitted with

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...

machinery. Upon completion in 1909–10, the

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s served as

flotilla leader A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The flot ...

s for destroyer

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish language, Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (Naval fleet, fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a Tactical formation, formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually ...

s of the First Fleet until 1913 when they were assigned to battleship squadrons. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

began in August 1914, they remained with their squadrons as the First Fleet was incorporated into the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

, although they changed squadrons over the course of the war. Both ships were present during the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vic ...

in mid-1916, but neither fired a shot. They were converted into

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing contro ...

s the following year and both ships laid minefields in early 1918 in addition to other missions. The sisters were reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered m ...

in 1921 and 1926.

Design

Like the earlier scout cruisers, the ''Boadicea'' class was designed to provide destroyer

s with a

command ship Command ships serve as the flagships of the commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and their staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities. An auxiliary command ship features ...

, theoretically offering the ability to

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

ahead of the group and locate targets for the smaller ships to attack. They were enlarged and more powerfully armed versions of the earlier ships, fitted with steam turbines. Curiously, they were no faster than the older ships and equally unsuccessful in their intended role as they lacked the speed of the destroyers they were supposed to escort. Displacing , the ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a deep draught of . They were powered by two sets of

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

s, each driving two shafts. The turbines produced a total of , using steam produced by 12

Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...

s that burned both

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bu ...

and coal, and gave a maximum speed of . They carried a maximum of of coal and of fuel oil that gave them a range of at .Friedman 2009, p. 295 Her crew consisted of 317 officers and enlisted men.Preston 1985, p. 50 The main armament of the ''Boadicea'' class consisted of six breech-loading (BL) four-inch (102 mm) Mk VII guns. The forward pair of guns were mounted side by side on a platform on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " b ...

, the middle pair were

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

, one on each

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic s ...

, and the two remaining guns were on the centreline of the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on b ...

, one ahead of the other. The guns fired their shells to a range of about . Her secondary armament was four quick-firing (QF) three-pounder Vickers Mk I guns and two submerged 21-inch (533 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s. During the war, four additional four-inch guns were added amidships to increase her firepower. A QF three-inch 20 cwt"Cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distin ...

, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. anti-aircraft gun was also added. In 1918 it was replaced by a four-inch gun. As scout cruisers, the ships were only lightly protected to maximise their speed. They had a curved protective deck that was thick on the slope and on the flat. Their conning tower was protected by 4 inches of armour.

Ships

Service

Both ''Boadicea'' and ''Bellona'' began their careers with destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet, ''Boadicea'' as senior officers' ship for the

1st Destroyer Flotilla The 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as the First Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from 1909 to 1940 and again from 1947 to 1951. History Pre-war history In May 1906, the First Destroyer Flotilla was at ...

and ''Bellona'' with the

2nd Destroyer Flotilla The British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (also styled as Second Destroyer Flotilla) was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1943 and again from 1945 to 1946. History The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla originated in early 1907 as a part of a Home F ...

. The former was transferred to the

3rd Destroyer Flotilla The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951. History In 1907 the Channel Fleet had a large Channel Flotilla of destroyers in Fe ...

in mid-1912 and the sisters were transferred to the 2nd and the

1st Battle Squadron The 1st Battle Squadron was a naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, ...

s, respectively, of the First Fleet in 1913. Both ships were assigned to positions at the rear of their squadrons and did not fire their guns during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. The sisters remained with their squadrons until 1917 when they were converted into minelayers, ''Bellona'' in May and ''Boadicea'' in October, ''Bellona'' replacing her sister in the 2nd Battle Squadron that month. After her conversion, ''Boadicea'' was assigned to the

4th Battle Squadron The 4th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 4th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet (1912–14) and then the Grand Fleet after the outbreak of the First World Wa ...

in January 1918 and neither ship was reassigned before the end of the war. They laid

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging * Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

at the entrance to the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in S ...

on the nights of 18/19 and 24/25 February 1918 and both made several other

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...

s to lay their mines before the end of the war. They were placed in reserve after the war and taken out of service in 1920. ''Bellona'' was quickly sold for scrap in 1921, but ''Boadicea'' was not sold until 1926.Colledge 2006, pp. 37, 43

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

Boadicea class in World War I
{{WWI British ships Cruiser classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy Ships built in Pembroke Dock