The Hawkins-class cruisers were designed to be able to hunt down commerce raiders in the open ocean, for which they needed a heavy armament, high speed and long range.[2] The ships had an overall length of 605 feet (184.4 m), a beam of 65 feet (19.8 m) and a draught of 19 feet 3 inches (5.9 m) at deep load. They displaced 9,750 long tons (9,910 t) at normal load and 12,190 long tons (12,390 t) at deep load. Their crew consisted of 712 officers and ratings.[3]
The ships were originally designed with 60,000-shaft-horsepower (45,000 kW) propulsion machinery, but the Admiralty decided in 1917 to replace their four coal-fired boilers with more powerful oil-burning ones. This change could only be applied to the three least-advanced ships, including Raleigh, although she was the only one who received the full upgrade. The ship was powered by four Brown-Curtis geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by a dozen Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at 70,000 shp (52,000 kW) for a speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph).[4] When Raleigh ran her sea trials in 1920, she reached, but did not exceed, her designed speed.[5]Raleigh carried enough fuel oil to give her a range of 5,640 nautical miles (10,450 km; 6,490 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[6]
The Hawkins class were protected by a full-length waterlinearmoured belt that covered most of the ships' sides. It was thickest over the boiler and engine rooms, ranging from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm) thick. Their magazines were protected by an additional 0.5 to 1 inch (13 to 25 mm) of armour. There was a 1-inch aft transverse bulkhead and the conning tower was protected by 3-inch armour plates. The ships' deck protection consisted of 1 to 1.5 inches of high-tensile steel.[8]
Sir William Pakenham, the new commander of the America and West Indies Station, hoisted his flag aboard the ship on 12 August and she departed for Montreal, Quebec, on 1 September. Two months later, Raleigh returned to Bermuda and then visited Jamaica. She passed through the Panama Canal in January 1922 and continued northwards to drop anchor in San Francisco, California, on the 21st. The ship returned to the Bermuda the following month and then visited ports around Chesapeake Bay, including Washington, D.C. in May. Two months later, Raleigh returned to Canada where the general public toured the ship. On 3 August, Pakenham transferred his flag to the light cruiserHMS Calcutta and Raleigh became a private ship.[13]
On 8 August Raleigh was bound for Forteau, Labrador, from Hawke's Bay, Newfoundland, and she entered a heavy fog in the Strait of Belle Isle en route. The ship ran aground at L'Anse Amour, Labrador, that afternoon, 15 minutes after entering the fog. She did not strike with much force, but the strong wind quickly blew her stern onto the rocks, which pounded multiple holes in the hull and gave her an eight-degree list. A dozen sailors died from drowning and hypothermia as the crew abandoned ship. Many men were able to find shelter ashore while the others lit fires to stay warm.[14]
Raleigh hard aground at L'Anse Amour, August 1922
They returned to the ship the following morning to evaluate the ship's condition and to recover personal belongings, only to find a 260-foot-long (79 m) gash in the hull and most personal items ruined by leaking fuel oil. The light cruisers Capetown and Calcutta arrived later that day and fed the crewmen. In the bad weather little could be done immediately and many of the survivors were marched to Forteau to be transported back to Britain. The 18,481-gross register ton (GRT) Canadian ocean linerRMS Empress of France arrived on 10 August to load the crewmen, but her captain refused to do so as he did not have enough provisions for all the men. They had to wait several more days before the brand-new 16,402 GRT ocean liner SS Montrose arrived. Several hundred men were kept back to salvage Raleigh and to protect the wreck from locals intent on the same task. It was stripped of everything useful and the wreck was abandoned in place, still upright. Shortly after their return to the UK, Bromley and his navigator were both court martialled and found negligent in their duty; they were severely reprimanded and dismissed their ship. Their careers over, both men requested retirement.[15]
Embarrassed by the sight of the apparently intact Raleigh visible to every passing ship, the Board of Admiralty deemed the wreck a hazard to shipping in 1926 and ordered it to be refloated. A survey found that this was impossible and the captains of Capetown and Calcutta were ordered to remove as much as possible from the wreck and then demolish the remains so that it was unrecognizable. The crew of the former ship carried out the first task and the latter's crew blew Raleigh's remains apart using depth charges under the command of Captain Andrew Cunningham over five days beginning on 23 September.[16][17][Note 2]
Cunningham's men made no effort to recover the pieces of the ship and remains are still plentiful. Royal Canadian Navy dive teams were forced to visit the site in 2003 and 2005 to remove live 7.5-inch ammunition, although there were reports of shells still visible as of 2016.[19]
Notes
^"Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
^There is much confusion as to when the ship was demolished. Naval historian M. J. Whitley states that Raleigh was blown up in July 1928, although naval historian Antony Preston says that it was in 1927.[18][3]
Citations
^Dittmar, F J; Colledge, J J (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 49.
Morris, Douglas (1987). Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies Since 1879. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN0-907771-35-1.
Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-922-7.