HMS Gloucester was a light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet upon commissioning in 1910 and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913. She was involved in the hunt for the German ships and after World War I began in August 1914. Gloucester was detailed several times during the war to search for German commerce raiders, but her only success was the capture of one supply ship in early 1915. She played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916 and then spent most of the rest of the war in the Adriatic Sea. The ship was placed in reserve in 1919 and was sold for scrap in 1921.
Design and description
The Bristol sub-class were rated as second-class cruisers suitable for a variety of roles including both trade protection and duties with the fleet. They were long overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was normal and at full load. Twelve Yarrow boilers fed Gloucesters Parsons steam turbines, driving four propeller shafts, that were rated at for a design speed of . The ship reached during her sea trials from . The boilers used both fuel oil and coal, with of coal and tons of oil carried, which gave a range of at . The ship had a crew of 480 officers and ratings.
The main armament of the Bristol class was two BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns that were mounted on the centreline fore and aft of the superstructure and ten BL 4-inch Mk VII guns in waist mountings. All these guns were fitted with gun shields. Four Vickers 3-pounder (47 mm) saluting guns were fitted, while two submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted. This armament was considered rather too light for ships of this size by the Royal Navy, while the waist guns were subject to immersion in a high sea, making them difficult to work.
The Bristols were considered protected cruisers, with an armoured deck providing protection for the ships' vitals. The armoured deck was thick over the magazines and machinery, over the steering gear and elsewhere. The conning tower was protected by of armour, with the gun shields having armour, as did the ammunition hoists. As the protective deck was at the waterline, the ships were given a large metacentric height so that they would remain stable in the event of flooding above the armoured deck. This, however, resulted in the ships rolling badly making them poor gun platforms. One problem with the armour of the Bristols, which was shared with the other Town-class ships, was the sizable gap between the bottom of the gun shields and the deck, which allowed shell splinters to pass through the gap and made the guns' crews vulnerable to leg injuries in combat.
Construction and career
Gloucester was the eighth ship in the Royal Navy to be named after the eponymous port. The ship was laid down on 15 April 1909 by William Beardmore and Company at their Dalmuir shipyard and launched on 28 October. On being commissioned in October 1910, the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. In January 1913, Gloucester was transferred to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) in the Mediterranean.