HMS Nottingham (1913)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Nottingham.

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Nottingham
Namesake:	Nottingham
Ordered:	under 1911 Naval Estimates
Builder:	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down:	13 June 1912
Launched:	18 April 1913
Commissioned:	April 1914
Fate:	Sunk by U-52, 19 August 1916
General characteristics
Class & type:	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement:	5,440 long tons (5,530 t)
Length:	457 ft (139.3 m) o/a
Beam:	50 ft (15.2 m)
Draught:	15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power:	25,000 shp (19,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons turbines 12 × Yarrow boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph)
Range:	4,680 nmi (8,670 km; 5,390 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Capacity:	Coal: 1,165 long tons (1,184 t) Fuel oil: 235 long tons (239 t)
Complement:	433
Armament:	9 × 6 in (150 mm) guns, 1 × 3 in (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun, 4 × 3-pounder guns, 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns, 2 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Sides: 3 in (7.6 cm) (amidships); 1.5 in (3.8 cm) (forward); 1.75 in (4.4 cm) (aft)

HMS Nottingham was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1913 and commissioned in 1914.

Nottingham was 5,440 long tons (5,530 t), 430 ft (130 m) in length and had a complement of 401 men. She had 2 in (5.1 cm) thick armour plating and was armed with nine 6 in (150 mm) guns, one 13-pounder anti-aircraft gun and two 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes. Seeing action for the first time off Heligoland on 28 August 1914 as one of eight British light cruisers supported by destroyers and submarines, she entered the Heligoland Bight to intercept German vessels employed on coastal protection duties, an action that developed into the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

The ship then saw action in the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 and shortly after that at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 23 January 1915. On 31 May came the Battle of Jutland, where Nottingham was attached to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron. On 19 August 1916, she was engaged in a sweep of the North Sea in thick mist 120 mi (190 km) south-east of the Firth of Forth when, at 06:00, she was hit by two torpedoes from U-boat U-52, and another just 25 minutes later. At 07:10, she eventually sank with the loss of only a few hands.

In December 1993, during a ceremony at Emden, Admiral Otto H Ciliax of the Federal German Navy presented the Commanding Officer of the sixth HMS Nottingham with a Plaque, Cap Ribbon and the Ensign from Nottingham sunk in 1916, as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation. Admiral Ciliax's grandfather, Otto Ciliax, was the watch-officer of U-52; he recovered these items off a boat from the ship while picking up survivors. They were kept in the Captain's Cabin Flat of the newer HMS Nottingham. The Union Jack from the ship hangs in St Mary's Church, Nottingham. It was presented by Admiral Sir William George Tennant.

External links

• Ships of the Birmingham group