Cressy class cruiser

HMS Cressy
Class overview
Name:	Cressy
Preceded by:	Diadem class cruiser
Succeeded by:	Drake class cruiser
Completed:	6
General characteristics
Type:	armoured cruiser
Displacement:	12,000 tons
Length:	472 ft (144 m) overall
Beam:	69.5 ft (21.2 m)
Draught:	26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion:	4 cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, 30 Belleville boilers, 21,000 hp (16,000 kW)
Speed:	21 knots
Complement:	760
Armament:	2 × BL 9.2-inch (233.7 mm) Mk X guns (2 x 1) 12 × BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk VII guns (12 x 1) 12 x QF 12 pdr (3 inch) guns (12 x 1) 3 x QF 3-pounder guns (3 x 1) 2 x 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged

The Cressy class cruiser was a class of six armoured cruisers launched between December 1899 and May 1901, for the Royal Navy.

Service

Until 1908, the ships served in Home waters, the Mediterranean and the Far East. On the outbreak of the First World War Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue and Euryalus formed the Seventh Cruiser Squadron. Due to the obsolescence of the ships and that they were crewed by inexperienced reservists the squadron was known as the "Live Bait Squadron". This proved to be the case when Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir were sunk in a single action on 22 September 1914 by U-9.

Ships

• HMS Cressy: launched 4 December 1899, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914
• HMS Sutlej: launched 18 November 1899, scrapped 9 May 1921
• HMS Aboukir: launched 16 May 1900, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914
• HMS Hogue: launched 13 August 1900, torpedoed and sunk 22 September 1914
• HMS Bacchante: launched 21 February 1901, scrapped 1 July 1920
• HMS Euryalus: launched 20 May 1901, scrapped 1 July 1920

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Cressy class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions.

Ship	Builder	Engine Maker	Date of			Cost according to
			Laid Down	Launch	Completion	(BNA 1904)[1]	(BNA 1906)[2]
HMS Cressy	Fairfield, Govan	Fairfield	12 Oct 1898	14 Dec 1899	28 May 1901	£780,110	£749,324
HMS Sutlej	J Brown Clydebank	Clydebank Company	15 Aug 1898	18 Nov 1899	6 May 1902	£790,706	£755,690
HMS Aboukir	Fairfield, Govan	Fairfield	9 Nov 1898	16 May 1900	3 Apr 1902	£783,883	£751,118
HMS Hogue	Vickers, Barrow	Vickers	14 Jul 1898	13 Aug 1900	19 Nov 1902	£787,507	£749,809
HMS Bacchante	John Brown Clydebank	John Brown	15 February 1899	21 February 1901	25 November 1902	£787,230	£787,230
HMS Euryalus	Vickers, Barrow	Vickers	18 July 1899	20 May 1901	5 January 1904	£817,880	£782,901

Image gallery

• 

  Right elevation and deck plan, from Brassey's Naval Annual 1906
• 

  Right elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret

• 

  Rear elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret

References

• Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
• Brassey, T.A. (ed)The Naval Annual 1904
• Leyland, J. and Brassey, T.A. (ed)The Naval Annual 1906

Footnotes

1. ^ Brassey's Naval Annual 1904, p212-219
2. ^ Brassey's Naval Annual 1906, p208-215

External links

• Loss of HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue
• Cressy class description