HMS ''Chester'' was a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

of 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 ...

, one of two ships forming the ''Birkenhead'' subtype. Along with sister ship, , she was originally ordered for the

Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

in 1914 and was to be named Lambros Katsonis. The order was placed with

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

and production continued for the Greek account after the outbreak of 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 ...

in August 1914. In 1915 the two cruisers were purchased by the British

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

. She fought at 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 ...

where casualties included John 'Jack' Cornwell who was awarded the highest honour, aged 16.

Design and description

Based on the ''Birmingham'' sub-class of the ''Town''s, the two Greek ships primarily differed from their British

half-sisters A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised se ...

in their armament. The Greeks specified that they would use the new BL 5.5-inch (140 mm) Mk I gun built by the

Coventry Ordnance Works Coventry Ordnance Works was a British manufacturer of heavy guns particularly naval artillery jointly owned by Cammell Laird & Co of Sheffield and Birkenhead, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Glasgow and John Brown & Compa ...

. This weapon was significantly lighter than the standard 6-inch (152 mm) gun, which allowed the ships to mount ten guns, rather than the nine of the ''Birmingham''s, and fired an shell rather than the shell of the 6-inch weapon. It therefore had a higher rate of fire with little loss in hitting power.Gardiner & Gray, p. 58 The Greeks also specified a secondary armament of two 12-pounder anti-aircraft guns, but these were still under development in 1915 and a pair of

3-pounder gun 3-pounder gun, 3-pounder, 3-pdr or QF 3-pdr is an abbreviation typically referring to a gun which fired a projectile weighing approximately 3 pounds. It may refer to : *The Grasshopper cannon : of the 18th century *QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss The QF ...

s on high-angle mounts were substituted instead. In addition, ''Chester'' had a requirement for and only used oil-fired

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s to save weight and increase her power to meet the specification. The ship was long overall, with a beam of and a draught of .Friedman 2010, p. 384

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal and at full load. Twelve

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 fed ''Chester''s Parsons

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 ...

s, driving four

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

s, that were rated at for her intended speed of 26.5 knots. She carried tons of

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 ...

Greek order

Along with her sister ship, , she was originally ordered for the Greek Navy in 1914 and was to be named in honour of Lambros Katsonis. The order was placed with

and production continued for the Greek account after the outbreak of the

in August 1914. In 1915 the two cruisers were purchased by the British

Service

Memorial to HMS Chester in Chester Cathedral

The ship was laid down on 7 October 1914, launched on 8 December 1915 and entered service in May 1916, three weeks before the

. At Jutland she fought as part of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron and came under withering fire from German forces. She was hit by 17 150mm shells and suffered 29 men killed and 49 wounded; many of the wounded lost legs because the open backed gun-shields did not reach the deck and give adequate protection. Amongst the gun crew fatalities was 16-year-old John 'Jack' Cornwell who received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his dedication to duty though mortally injured. ''Chester'' served with the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron until the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

and was subsequently placed in reserve. She was offered for re-sale to Greece but the offer was declined and the ship was sold for scrapping on 9 November 1921 to Rees, of Llanelly. The gun served by Cornwell is preserved in the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in London. Mount Chester in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost par ...

was named after this ship and nearby Mount Cornwell after John Cornwell.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Ships of the Birkenhead groupLlanelli Community Heritage - HMS Chester at Llanelli North Dock in 1922 before being broken upBattle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Chester Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester Cruisers of the Hellenic Navy Town-class cruisers (1910) of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Mersey 1915 ships World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom