HMS Caledon (D53)

HMS ''Caledon'' was a light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was the name ship of the ''Caledon'' sub-class of the C class. She survived both world wars to be scrapped in 1948.

Design and description

The ''Caledon'' sub-class was a slightly larger and improved version of the preceding ''Centaur'' sub-class with a more powerful armament. The ships were long overall, with a beam of and a deep draught of . Displacement was at normal and at deep load. ''Caledon'' was powered by two Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, which produced a total of . The turbines used steam generated by six Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about . She carried tons of fuel oil. The ship had a crew of about 400 officers and ratings; this increased to 437 when serving as a flagship.Preston, p. 60

The main armament of the ''Caledon''-class ships consisted of five BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline. One gun was forward of the bridge, two were fore and aft of the two funnels and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. The two QF 20-cwt anti-aircraft guns were positioned abreast of the fore funnel. The torpedo armament of the ''Caledon''s was four times more powerful than that of the ''Centaur''s, with eight torpedo tubes in four twin mounts, two on each broadside.

''Caledon'' was converted at the end of 1943 to an anti-aircraft cruiser, replacing the entire former armament with three QF Mk XVI twin and two Bofors Mk IV "Hazemeyer" twin mounts. By 1944 this was supplemented by six Bofors 40 mm Mk III and one Oerlikon Mk III single mounts. The ship's tonnage increased to at full load, including 200 tons of lead ballast.

Construction and career

She was laid down by Cammell Laird on 17 March 1916, launched on 25 November 1916 and commissioned into the Navy on 6 March 1917. ''Caledon'', commanded by Commodore Walter Cowan, saw action in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, where the ship was the leader of the First Light Cruiser Squadron. During the battle, British light cruisers, including ''Caledon'', supported by the First Battlecruiser Squadron, attempted to cut off and destroy a force of German minesweepers escorted by light cruisers. The engagement developed into a chase with the German ships retreating behind smoke screens. The pursuit broke off when the British cruisers came under fire from the German battleships and , which were deployed as a distant covering force for the German minesweeping operation. ''Caledon'' was hit by a single shell from one of the German battleships which failed to explode, and did no damage.Bennett 2002, pp. 59, 228. Throughout the battle, five men of ''Caledon''s crew were killed, with one man, John Henry Carless being awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for remaining at his gun after receiving a fatal wound. ''Caledon'' survived the First World War.

''Caledon'' took part in the British naval intervention in the Baltic in 1919, serving as Rear Admiral Cowan's flagship for a force of two cruisers (''Caledon'' and and five destroyers that sailed for the Baltic in January 1919.Bennett 2002, pp. 52–53, 70–73. ''Caledon'' shelled Soviet forces at Ventspils during February, helping Latvians to retake the town, before being returning to the United Kingdom later that month, with British naval forces in the Baltic being relieved every six weeks.Bennett 2002, pp. 73–76. ''Caledon'' returned to the Baltic, again as Cowan's flagship, in April 1919, but was relieved by in May.Bennett 2002, pp. 87–88, 109. ''Caledon'' returned again in July.Bennett 2002, pp. 43–44.

The ship spent the early part of the Second World War with the Home Fleet, where she escorted convoys and was involved in the pursuit of the German battleships and after the sinking of . She was reassigned to the Eastern Fleet between August 1940 and September 1942. ''Caledon'' then rejoined the Home Fleet. Upon her arrival in the UK, she underwent conversion into an anti-aircraft cruiser at Chatham Dockyard between 14 September 1942 and 7 December 1943, replacing the entire armament with modern AA weaponry. Obsolete by the end of the war, she was disarmed in April 1945, and subsequently sold for scrap on 22 January 1948. ''Caledon'' arrived at the yards of Dover Industries, Dover, on 14 February 1948 to be broken up.Whitley, pp. 66–68

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External links

HMS ''Caledon'' at Uboat.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caledon
C-class cruisers
Ships built on the River Mersey
1916 ships
World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom