Blenheim 1894
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Blake | Chatham DYd | 7.1888 | 23.11.1889 | 2.2.1892 | destroyer depot ship 8.1907 | ||
| Blenheim | Thames Iron Works, Blackwall | 25.11.1888 | 5.7.1890 | 26.5.1894 | destroyer depot ship 5.1906 |
|
Displacement normal, t |
9150 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
114.3 pp 121.8 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
19.8 |
|
Draught, m |
7.32 |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
4 3-cyl VITE, 6 cylindrical double-ended boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
natural draught: 13000 forced draught: 20000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
natural draught: 19 forced draught: 21.4 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal 1800 |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
10000(10) |
| Armour, mm | compound; deck: 152 - 76, gunshields of 234mm guns: 114, casemates: 152, CT: 305 |
|
Armament |
2 x 1 - 234/32 BL Mk VI, 10 x 1 - 152/40 QF Mk I/II, 16 x 1 - 47/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 4 - 356 TT (1 bow sub, 2 beam aw, 1 aft sub) |
|
Complement |
570 |
Project history: Designed by William White,
these two ships provided the pattern for British first class cruiser
construction for the following decade. In general they followed the layout of
the Orlando, having the same armament and a similar appearance, but they
relied for protection on a full length armoured deck, hit her to employed only
in smaller cruisers. They were also the largest cruisers built to date, mainly
as a result of incorporating exceptionally powerful machinery and a large coal
capacity. Thus White provided a true first class cruiser with high speed and
endurance combined with adequate seakeeping, armament and protection to meet the
Admiralty's requirements for a ship suitable for long range trade protection or
work with the fleet. Unfortunately the machinery was not capable of meeting the
design specification: neither ship achieved the designed speed while endurance
was about 10000nm at 10kts instead of the designed 15000nm. However, both
exceeded the designed power and proved capable of steaming at 19kts under
natural draught for long periods. The best trial speeds at forced draught were
21.4kts for Blake and 21.8kts for Blenheim, but forcing caused
serious boiler deterioration and could not be employed generally. Blake's
boilers proved the most troublesome and she was reboilered in 1899.
As designed the guns were disposed as in Orlando but
the need to provide a wider distribution as defence against the appearance of
medium calibre QF guns resulted in two of the 152mm guns on each side being
moved down to the main deck. These four guns were provided with armoured
casemates, die first appearance of this feature which was to become typical of
White's ships. Each ship had four engines, two for each shaft, arranged in two
engine rooms each divided by a centreline bulkhead. At full power all engines
were employed but for low speed the forward engines were disconnected and only
the after pair used. Besides the main double-ended boilers they carried a
single-ended auxiliary boiler.
Both ships completed in 1892 but Blenheim did not commission
until 1894.
Ship protection: The arched steel protective
(lower) deck was 76mm on the crown and 152mm at the sides, the top being 0.5m
above Iwl and the outer edge 2m below. The
engine cylinders projected above this deck and were protected by an 203mm glacis
around the engine hatch.
Modernizations: None.
Naval service: In 1906-1907 both ships were partially disarmed and converted to depot ships for destroyers, armament was reduced to 4 152mm, 4 102mm and 4 76mm guns. Blake was sold for BU in June 1922 and Blenheim in July 1926.
Blake as completed
© Ivan Gogin, 2008-14