The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Imperial War Museum #FL-2968. Via Wikimedia Commons
| Tonnage | 9850 tons standard displacement |
| Dimensions | 632'8" by 66'0" by 20'9" 192.8m by 20.12m by 6.32m |
| Maximum speed | 32.3 knots |
| Complement | 784 |
| Aircraft |
1 seaplane 1 catapult |
| Armament | 4x2 8"/50
guns 8x1 4"/45 dual-purpose guns 4x1, 2x8 2pdr AA guns 2x4 0.50 machine guns 2x4 21" torpedo tubes |
| Protection | 1"
(25mm) belt and bulkheads (machinery) 1.25" (32mm) deck (machinery) 4" armor + 0.35" plate/3" (102mm armor + 9mm plate/76mm) magazine vertical/horizontal box 1.5" (38mm) deck (steering) 1" (25mm) turrets 1" (25mm) barbettes |
| Machinery |
4-shaft Parsons geared turbine (80,000 hp) 8 Admiralty 3-drum boilers |
| Bunkerage | 3190 tons fuel oil |
| Range | 9120 nautical miles (16,900km) at 12 knots |
| Sensors |
Type 281
radar |
| Modifications |
Devonshire:
By 1942-4: added 6x1 20mm
Oerlikon AA guns. End of 1942: single 4" guns replaced by twin 4"
guns and two additional single 20mm guns. Added Type 293 radar. 1943: 0.50 machine guns and
6x1 20mm guns replaced by 2x4 2pdr and 12x2 20mm guns. April 1944:
Light armament now 6x4 2pdr, 7x2 20mm guns, 12x1 20mm guns, radar 281a,
282, 283, 285, and one 8" turret and aircraft removed.
London:
By 1943-6: Added 3.5" (89mm) belt armor. Added 7x1 20mm guns. Aircraft
removed. Added Type 273 radar. End of 1943: Removed 3x1 20mm, added 4x2 20mm. By April 1944:
light antiaircraft of 4x2 20mm, 16x1 20mm, 2x8 2pdr. By July 1945:
removed 8x2 20mm, added 4x2 20mm and 4x1 40mm Bofors AA guns. Shropshire: By 1943-6: Replaced single 4" with twin 4". Light antiaircraft included 7x2 20mm, 4x1 20mm. Aircraft and 0.50 machine guns removed. Added Type 271, 281, 282, and 285 radar. April 1944: 2x1 20mm added. Early 1945: added 11x1 40mm Bofors. removed 6x1, 5x2 20mm. Radar 277 fitted. Torpedo tubes and depth charge rails removed. May 1945: 15x1 40mm Bofors added. Added Type 277 radar. Sussex:
By 1943-6: 0.50 machine guns removed. 4" singles replaced by twin 4". Added Type 271, 281, 282, and 285 radar.
December 1943: total of 22x2 20mm guns, aircraft removed. June 1944:
one 8" turret torpedoes, and 15x1 20mm guns removed. Added 4x8 2pdr and
4x2 20mm and updated radar. |
The London
class were based on the Kent design. They differed
chiefly in the protection scheme, which was lighter and omitted the
torpedo bulges, and in the addition of an aircraft catapult. Plans to
increase the belt to 3.5" (88mm) had to be postponed at the outbreak of
war in Europe. This may have been just as well, since when London herself received the new
belt, the weight caused serious hull strain requiring additional major
reconstruction work. On the other hand, the original protection was
very light for a heavy cruiser.
As with many other classes of ships, the antiaircraft armament and radar
were repeatedly updated during the war.
|
Arrived 1942-4-22 Withdrawn 1943-4-29 |
|
| Sussex |
Arrived 1943-3-26 |
| Shropshire |
Transferred to Australia 1943-8 |
| London | Arrived 1944-3 |
References
Gogin (2010; accessed 2012-12-28)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008, 2012 by Kent G. Budge. Index
