HMS Bristol (1910)

The fifth HMS "Bristol" was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 23 February 1910 at John Brown & Company's Clydebank shipyard.

On the outbreak of World War I in 1914 she was in the West Indies and was the first British ship to see action, engaging the German raider "Karlsruhe" on 6 August. The "Karlsruhe" used her superior speed to escape.

By early December 1914 she formed part of the squadron sent to hunt Admiral Maximilian von Spee and to avenge the defeat at Coronel, and was refueling with coal in the harbour of Stanley on the morning of 8 December. Because of this, she was two hours late in joining the chase which was the Battle of the Falkland Islands and consequently did not engage the main enemy force, attacking two collier ships instead.

"Bristol" was operating in the Mediterranean, and in 1916 she joined the Adriatic Squadron under an Italian admiral and fought in the inconclusive battle of the Otranto Straits against a fleet of Austrian cruisers. She ended the war serving off the coast of South America.

"Bristol" was sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921 to Ward, of Hayle.

References

*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Bristol.html Ships of the Bristol group]