HMS Liverpool from the right
|
|
HMS Liverpool was a Bristol class light cruiser that spend most of the First World War in the Adriatic. She spent the first few years of her career with the Home Fleet, with the 1st Battle Squadron, then the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron (1913-1914). At the outbreak of the First World War she was part of the 5th Cruiser Squadron.
With this unit she took part in the battle of Heligoland Bight, 26 August 1914, the first naval battle of the war. She was also present when HMS Audacious was critically damaged by a German mine on 27 October 1914. The crew of the Audacious all survived but one man on the Liverpool was killed when the Audacious exploded after capsizing.
The Liverpool was part of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron from January-February 1915, and then the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron at Rosyth. She then took part in the search for the Kronprinze Wilhelm off West Africa. The Kronprinz Wilhelm, a converted passenger liner, captured 15 ships before a shortage of coal forced her to seek internment in the United States (26 April 1915).
In November 1915 she was posted to Brindisi, at the entrance to the Aegean, where she remained until January 1918. In November 1918, as part of the Aegean Squadron she was part of the fleet that sailed through the Dardanelles and anchored off Constantinople.
She remained in the Black Sea during 1918-19, during the period of British intervention in the Russian Civil War. In June 1919 she was placed into the reserve and in 1921 she was sold for scrap.
Displacement (loaded) |
5300t |
Top Speed |
25kts |
Range |
5,070 nautical miles at 16kts |
Deck Armour |
2in- ¾in |
Length |
453ft |
Armament |
Two 6in guns, one aft and one forward. |
Launched |
30 October 1909 |
Completed |
October 1910 |
Crew |
480 |
Sold for break up |
Sold for break up, May 1921 |