HMS Galatea (1914)

HMS "Galatea" was an "Arethusa"-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on May 14, 1914 at William Beardmore and Company shipyard.

On her commissioning she was assigned as the leader to the 2nd Destroyer Squadron of the Harwich Force, guarding the eastern approaches to the English Channel. On the 4 May 1916, she took part in the shooting down of Zeppelin "L 7". At the battle of Jutland, she was the flagship of the First Light Cruiser Squadron under Commodore E.S. Alexander-Sinclair. She was the first ship to report the presence of German ships, triggering the battle. The "Galatea" was also the first to receive a hit by the German light cruiser SMS "Elbing", but no explosion occurred.

"Galatea" was part of the screen around the Battle Cruiser Force under Admiral Beatty which was on a sweep across the North Sea on May 31, 1916. She was sent in company with her sister HMS "Phaeton" to investigate a stopped merchant vessel, the Danish "N J Fiord". At the same time, two destroyers, "B-109" and "B-110" from the German battlecruiser and cruiser Scouting Groups under Admiral Franz von Hipper, were sent to investigate the ship. The two fleets were previously unaware that they were less than 50 miles (80 km) apart.

She was sold for scrapping on 25 October 1921. Mount Galatea in Alberta, Canada is named after this ship.

References

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