- Blonde class cruiser
The "Blonde" class cruisers were a two ship class of light
scout cruiser s of the BritishRoyal Navy . They were developments of the earlier "Boadicea" class class, though were slightly bigger with ten 4 inch guns as their main armament.They were the first cruisers to mount the 21 inch
torpedo . There was also a slight thickness in the protective deck although this was still limited to the machinery spaces only. Like the earlier ships the "Blonde" class cruisers were too slow to perform their original duties. By the time they were completed the majority of newdestroyer s could reach at least 27 knots, making them two and a half knots quicker than the ships meant to lead them. Both HMS "Blonde" and HMS "Blanche" began their service careers with destroyer flotillas, "Blonde" as senior officers' ship for the 7th Flotilla and "Blanche" with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. Both saw service in theFirst World War but were both converted tominelayer s before its end and sold for scrapping after the end of hostilities.hips
*HMS "Blonde" - launched on
22 July 1910 and sold on6 May 1920 for breaking up.
*HMS "Blanche" - launched on25 November 1911 , she was present at theBattle of Jutland and was sold on27 July 1921 for breaking up.References
*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Blonde.html Blonde class in World War I]
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_blonde_class_cruisers.html History of the Blonde class]
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