Chester 1916
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Αντιναύαρχος Κουντουριώτης [Antinavarhos Kontouriotis] | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, UK | 27.3.1914 | 18.1.1915 | 5.1915 | completed for United Kingdom (Birkenhead) | ||
| Λαμπρος Κατσωνης [Lambros Katsonis] | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, UK | 7.10.1914 | 8.12.1915 | 5.1916 | completed for United Kingdom (Chester) |
|
Displacement normal, t |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 5235 Lambros Katsonis: 5185 |
|
Displacement full, t |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 5845 Lambros Katsonis: 5795 |
|
Length, m |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 131.2 pp 135.9 oa Lambros Katsonis: 131.2 pp 139.1 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
15.2 |
|
Draught, m |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 4.57 mean Lambros Katsonis: 4.65 mean |
|
No of shafts |
4 |
|
Machinery |
4 Parsons steam turbines, 12 Yarrow boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 25000 Lambros Katsonis: 31000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 25.5 Lambros Katsonis: 26.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: coal 1070 + oil 352 Lambros Katsonis: oil 1161 |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | |
| Armour, mm |
belt: 51 on 25mm plating, deck: 38 - 10, CT: 102, gun shields: 102 |
|
Armament |
10 x 1 - 140/50 BL Mk I, 2 x 1 - 47/50 3pdr Vickers Mk I, 2 - 533 TT (beam, sub) |
|
Complement |
Antinavarhos Kontouriotis: 452 Lambros Katsonis: 402 |
Project history: After the Balkan War in 1912
the Greek Navy's British Chief of Staff, Rear-Admiral Sir Mark Kerr, proposed
the construction of a modern squadron to protect the long coastline and large
mercantile marine from any attempt by Turkey to avenge her recent defeat. Kerr
wanted a fleet of destroyers and submarines to defend the Archipelago, backed up
by seaplanes for reconnaissance and by light cruisers for additional gunpower to
stiffen the surface forces. Out of this original and far-sighted scheme not much
survived for the Greek Government insisted on buying a battlecruiser from
Germany and a battleship from France, but at the beginning of 1914 an order was
placed in Britain for two light cruisers and four destroyers. The order was
placed with the newly formed Coventry Syndicate, a powerful consortium of John
Brown, Fairfield, Cammell Laird and the Coventry Ordnance Works. The cruisers
were to be copies of the Chatham/Birmingham design, but with a new
140mm/50 gun designed by Coventry Ordnance Works. It was about 0.7t lighter than
the Royal Navy's latest 152mm Mk.XII, enabling ten to be carried instead of
nine. At 38.6kg the shell was easier to handle, which made for a higher rate of
fire, and as the range and penetration were only marginally
less than the 152mm it had a lot to recommend it. Another innovation was the
provision in the design for 76mm 12pdr high-angle guns, among the first AA guns
ever proposed. To meet a request for 26kts the Chester was modified to
burn only oil fuel. The Greek Government continued to pay the instalments on the
two ships but by early 1915, when the Antinavarchos Kontouriotis had been
launched, British hopes of an early victory had begun to fade, and the Admiralty
Director of Contracts advised the Coventry Syndicate that HM Government would
take over the two ships and a total of 38 140mm guns and ammunitions. The new
names were allocated at this point and orders were given to Cammell Laird to
supply builders' specifications and drawings.
As the ships conformed closely to Admiralty requirements,
apart from the armament, very few changes were made to them. The two submerged
TT were intended to fire a side-loading Elswick-pattern torpedo, but to save
time standard Admiralty-pattern tubes and torpedoes were installed. The
high-angle 12pdr guns were not available in 1915, and although there were plans
to install 12pdr guns on extemporised mountings, Vickers 3pdr AA guns were
finally installed when the ships went to sea. The main visual distinction
between the two ships was the mainmast, which was vertical in Birkenhead
and raked in Chester.
Ship protection: 51mm belt and 38mm deck protected machinery, ship ends were protected by 10mm deck.
© Ivan Gogin, 2014