Tiger class cruiser

Not to be confused with Tiger class battlecruiser or Tiger class fast attack craft.

HMS Tiger before conversion
Class overview
Name:	Tiger
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Minotaur class
Succeeded by:	No conventional cruiser class after, followed by the Invincible class anti-submarine cruiser[1]
Completed:	Three
General characteristics
Class and type:	light cruiser
Displacement:	11,700 tons (12,080 tons after conversion of Blake and Tiger)
Length:	555.5 ft (169 m)
Beam:	64 ft (19.5 m)
Draught:	23 ft (7.0 m)
Propulsion:	Four Admiralty-type three drum boilers Four shaft Parsons steam turbines 80,000 shp
Speed:	31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)
Range:	8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement:	716 (885 after conversion of Blake and Tiger)
Armament:	Two × twin 6 in guns QF Mark N5 with RP15 (hydraulic) or RP53 (electric) RPC (One later removed from Blake and Tiger) Three × twin 3 in guns QF Mark N1 (Two later removed from Blake and Tiger) Two × quad GWS.21 Sea Cat missile launchers (Blake and Tiger conversion)
Armour:	Belt 3.5 in - 3.25 in Bulkheads 2 in - 1.5 in Turrets 2 in - 1 in Crowns of engine room and magazines 2 in
Aircraft carried:	Four helicopters (originally Wessex then Sea King)

The Tiger-class helicopter cruisers were the first of such a type in the Royal Navy, and the last cruisers built for the Royal Navy. They were originally designed to be Minotaur-class light cruisers. The Minotaurs were laid down as World War II was ending, and accordingly only three Minotaurs were completed (Swiftsure, Superb and Minotaur, which was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Ontario). Three other ships of the Minotaur-class had their construction either suspended or cancelled in 1946; two more were broken up.

Design and commissioning

Construction of the three suspended ships resumed in 1954 to a revised design known as the Tiger class, as the many World War II-era cruisers were coming to the end of their service life. All such cruisers would be out of service by the 1960s due to the many defence cuts that the Royal Navy suffered.

The design of the Tigers differed from the original Minotaurs in that they were armed with two state-of-the-art automatic twin mount 6-inch (152 mm) guns designed just for the Tigers rather than the more obsolete three triple mount 6-inch (152 mm) guns used for the Minotaurs which had been designed in 1929. They were the last 6-inch (152 mm) guns used by the RN. Instead of the five twin mount 4-inch (102 mm) guns designed in 1934, the Tigers used 3 twin mount 3-inch (76 mm) guns, also designed for the Tigers, and which saw service in only the Tigers and the Canadian Restigouche-class destroyer.

The first ship to be commissioned was Tiger in 1959, with Lion in 1960 and Blake the following year, nearly two-decades after the ships had been laid down. They were, however, obsolete, in that they were not armed with missile systems. Other ship classes that were close to entering service, such as the Leander-class and Tribal-class frigates were being equipped with the SeaCat missile system, though only three of the Tribals would be armed with that missile system. In 1963, Blake was placed in reserve, followed by Lion in the summer of 1965, and in 1968, Tiger too was placed in reserve.

Construction Programme

Pennant	Name	(a) Hull builder (b) Main machinery manufacturers	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Accepted into service	Commissioned	Estimated building cost[2]
C24	Tiger (ex-Bellorophon [3]	(a) & (b) John Brown and Co Ltd, Clydebank.[4]		1 October 1941 [3]	25 October 1945 [3]	March 1959 [4]	18 March 1959 [3]	£12,820,000 [4]
C34	Lion (ex-Defence) [3]	(a) Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock (to launching stage) (a) Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne (for completion) (b) Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock (b) The Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Co Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne (for completion).[5]		24 June 1942 [3]	2 September 1944 [3]	July 1960 [5]	20 July 1960 [3]	£14,375,000 [5]
C99	Blake (ex-Tiger, ex-Blake) [3]	(a) & (b) The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd, Govan, Glasgow.[5]		17 August 1942 [3]	20 December 1945 [3]	March 1961 [5]	8 March 1961 [3]	£14,940,000 [5]

Conversions

In 1965, work began on Blake for her to be converted into a helicopter cruiser while Tiger began her conversion in 1968. Lion's conversion was cancelled. One aft twin mount 6 inch gun was removed to allow the addition of a large helicopter hangar and helicopter pad that would be capable of handling four helicopters. Two twin mount 3 in guns were also removed to make way for two quad Seacat missile launchers. More modern sensor equipment and command and control facilities were also added, that would enable them to perform in a very capable role as a flagship for task groups.

The conversions left Tiger and Blake some 380 tons heavier with a full displacement of 12,080 tons and their crew complements increased by 169 to 885. During conversion they had lost their much loved sleek cruiser lines and their new appearance was criticised for being an ungainly and inelegant ‘push me-pull me’ design, and both vessels were soon nicknamed ‘Ugly Ducklings’. Originally Lion was also to have been converted, although this never materialised: Blake’s conversion had been more expensive than envisaged (£5.5 million) and so funds were no longer available. Ironically Tiger’s conversion cost even more (£13.25 million), such was the level of inflation at the time. Lion was subsequently sold for breaking up.

Conversion of Swiftsure and Superb to the Tiger class standard was implemented but not completed; Swiftsure's refit was cancelled part way, Superbs never started.

Obsolescence and decommissioning

In 1969, Blake returned to service followed by Tiger in 1972. However, the crew-intensive Tigers' days were numbered. In 1973, Lion was used as a parts hulk to maintain Blake and Tiger. With HMS Ark Royal’s entry into reserve, Tiger and Blake were the only major Royal Navy vessels capable of performing the fundamental anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role. The conversion had given Tiger and Blake between fifteen and twenty years' further service, but the manpower shortages that the Royal Navy faced in the 1970s quickened their demise.^{[citation needed]} The recommissioning of two carriers, Bulwark and Hermes now configured to perform anti-submarine warfare, vital against the Soviet Union submarine threat in the Atlantic, a role that the Tigers had been used for, decreased the importance of the Tigers even further.

In April 1978 Tiger was withdrawn from service, followed by Blake in 1979. When Blake decommissioned in 1979, she had the distinction of being the last cruiser to serve the Royal Navy and her passing was marked on 6 December 1979, when she ceremonially fired her 6-inch guns for the last time in the English Channel. Just a few days after the Falklands War started, both Blake and Tiger were rapidly surveyed to determine their condition for reactivation. Both ships were found to be in very good condition and were dry-docked and reactivation work begun. By mid-May it was determined the ships would not be completed in time to take part in the war and the work was stopped.^{[citation needed]} Though Chile showed some interest in acquiring both ships, the sale did not proceed and the ships sat at anchor in an unmaintained condition until sold.^{[citation needed]} Blake was then sold for breaking up in 1982, followed by Tiger in 1986.

Footnotes

1. ^ Hansard HC Deb 04 March 1977 vol 927 c337W] Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him to list the number of warships ordered, and their names, in each of the past 10 years, 4 March 1977.
   The answer given included the words: "In the current financial year orders have been placed for an anti-submarine cruiser—HMS Illustrious —a nuclear-powered fleet submarine, a Type 22 frigate and a Type 42 destroyer."
2. ^ "Unit cost, i.e. excluding cost of certain items (e.g. aircraft, First Outfits)."
   Text from Defences Estimates
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Gardiner, Robert Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995, pub Conway Maritime Press, 1995, ISBN 0-85177-605-1 page 504.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Navy Estimates, 1959-60, pages 230-1, List and particulars of new ships which have been accepted or are expected to be accepted into HM service during the Financial Year ended 31st March 1959
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Navy Estimates, 1961-62, pages 220-1, List and particulars of new ships which have been accepted or are expected to be accepted into HM service during the Financial Year ended 31st March 1961

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Tiger class cruisers
• Tiger class at Uboat.net

External links