HMS Liverpool (1909)

HMS ''Liverpool'' was a 4,800 ton light cruiser of the Royal Navy commissioned in 1909. Named for the port city of ''Liverpool'', the cruiser served continuously in home waters subordinated to the Home Fleet from 1909 through the initial stages of the First World War.

During the war, ''Liverpool'' fought in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, operated off the coast of West Africa, and served in the Adriatic and Aegean. On 27 October 1914, the cruiser assisted in the rescue of the crew of '' Audacious''. ''Liverpool'' made efforts to tow the battleship to port, but ''Audacious'' eventually capsized and exploded. After the Armistice was signed, ''Liverpool'' operated in the Black Sea during the Russian Civil War until placed in reserve in June 1919.

History

Grand Fleet (1914-1915)

Built by Vickers Sons & Maxim at Barrow-in-Furness, she was the first ''Liverpool'' to be named for the port city in the 20th Century and the first to be constructed of steel. Launched on 30 October 1909 and commissioned in 1910, ''Liverpool'' was one of five cruisers ordered to the ''Bristol'' sub-class specification. The ''Bristol'' sub class was the first medium (or 2nd class) cruiser design to be built for the Royal Navy since the late 19th Century. Their main armament consisted of two and ten guns — a mixed configuration deemed "unsatisfactory" and discontinued in the subsequent Weymouth sub-class in favour of a uniform complement of eight guns.

She was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet on commission and transferred to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in 1913. At the beginning of the First World War, ''Liverpool'' was serving with the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron. She participated in the first engagement of the war, the Battle of Heligoland Bight, on 28 August 1914 grouped with five other Town cruisers under command of Commodore William Goodenough. After the German cruiser was heavily damaged and disabled, Goodenough ordered his ships to cease firing on her at 12:55 pm and a rescue operation was subsequently undertaken. ''Liverpool'', accompanied by the destroyers and , manoeuvred close to the cruiser in an effort to recover the surviving crew. Small craft from ''Liverpool'' were deployed to retrieve crewmembers who had abandoned ship while ''Lurcher'' positioned alongside ''Mainz'' to transfer the remaining personnel on board. ''Liverpool'' detached from the main force at 7:45 pm to transport 86 embarked prisoners to Rosyth, including a son of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.

Two-months later, on 27 October, ''Liverpool'' was in the company of the battleship when the latter struck a mine during a morning exercise by the Grand Fleet off the coast of Ireland. Unsure of the circumstances of the incident, the Admiralty ordered the fleet to withdraw as a precaution while ''Liverpool'' remained as an escort. ''Audacious'' attempted to proceed to Lough Swilly but the flooding proved to be grievous. Other vessels, including the liner , converged on the position after ''Audacious'' transmitted an SOS. Repeated attempts to tow the immobile ''Audacious'' were ineffectual and the crew was steadily evacuated. The battleship capsized and exploded at 20:45 with the loss of a petty officer on board ''Liverpool'', killed by a scattered piece of armour plate.

Adriatic and Aegean (1915-1918)

In 1915, ''Liverpool'' was detached from the Grand Fleet and sent to patrol the coast of West Africa in support of a search for the armed merchant cruiser . ''Liverpool''s mission was unsuccessful and the cruiser arrived at her namesake port in June for boiler repairs. After the repairs were completed, ''Liverpool'' deployed to the Mediterranean in November. She was ported in Brindisi, which functioned as a naval base for Allied warships operating in the Adriatic against Austria-Hungary. The cruiser, in concert with the Italian , pursued the Austrian destroyer ''Wildfang'' in February 1916, necessitating the latter's retreat to Cattaro. During the Battle of the Otranto Straits, ''Liverpool'' was under command of Captain G.H. Vivian and at a reduced state of readiness. Her unpreparedness was compounded by the captain's decision to use the cruiser's reduced state as an opportunity to undergo routine maintenance of the cruiser's boilers.Halpern, Paul G. (2004), ''The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in WWI'', p71 Signals received from Saseno classified as "Urgent" were intercepted at 0350 am and disregarded because ''Liverpool''s wireless room was unable to read Italian and had been the recipient of similar signals previously. Ultimately, ''Liverpool'' remained in port and no order was issued by Admiral Alfredo Acton for ''Liverpool'' to sail despite the cruiser's eventual readiness and Captain Vivian's personal request.

''Liverpool'' was transferred to the Aegean Squadron in January 1918. Armistices with the Central Powers were signed later that year. With the Black Sea's accessibility restored and the Allies committed to intervention during the Russian Civil War, ''Liverpool'' was ordered to the region and engaged in operations supporting the White Army from November. On the 23rd, ''Liverpool'' and the French armoured cruiser , escorted by two Australian destroyers, transported military delegations to the port of Novorossisk to establish contact with Russian General Denikin. She returned to Britain in mid-1919 and was relegated to reserve status in June, berthed at Devonport Dockyard.

Placed on the disposal list in March 1920, ''Liverpool'' was sold to Stanlee, then acquired by Slough Trading Company in November 1921 and broken up in Germany. A silver bell and plate were preserved and presented to the Birkenhead-built battleship . The objects came into the possession of the sixth in the late 1930s as gifts following the light cruiser's commission.A City’s Gift to Warship. H.M.S. Liverpool in the Mersey
The Times, 9 January 1939, ancs.ac.uk. Accessed 25 April 2008.

Image gallery

File: HMS_Liverpool_tows_HMS_Audacious.jpg, HMS ''Liverpool'' and HMS ''Fury'', together with RMS ''Olympic'', try to take HMS ''Audacious'' in tow. The view is from the passenger areas of RMS ''Olympic''
File:HMS Liverpool_attemps_to take HMS Audacious in tow.jpg, View from the passenger decks of RMS ''Olympic'' as HMS ''Liverpool'' (left) strains to tow the sinking HMS ''Audacious'' (bow seen on right), dated October 26 (sic) 1914.
File:HMS_Audacious_crew_take_to_lifeboats.jpg, After aborting the attempts to tow, the crew of HMS ''Audacious'' take to lifeboats to be taken aboard RMS ''Olympic''. The ''Olympic'' passengers and amateur photographers, Edith and Mabel Smith of Derby, dated the event in their album as 26 October (sic) 1914.
File:HMS Liverpool (Bristol-class cruiser).jpg, HMS ''Liverpool'' (Bristol-class cruiser)

Notes

References

*
* Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* Gray, Randal (1985), ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921'', Conway Maritime Press.

External links

Warships1.com - Bristol-class cruiser (webarchive)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liverpool (1909)
Town-class cruisers (1910) of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1909 ships
World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom