Emerald

History:

The Emerald class or E class was a class of two light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. Following the Cavendish class, three ships of a new class were ordered in March 1918, towards the end of World War I, designed to emphasise high speed at the cost of other qualities, for use against rumoured new high speed German cruisers - like the Brummer class - and particularly minelayers, in the North Sea. However, the third ship was cancelled in November 1918.

The E class were based on the preceding Danae class, but had a very high ratio of length to beam and only one more gun, despite being much bigger and more expensive. Much was sacrificed to achieve 33 knots (61 km/h), the horsepower was doubled and the hull increased by 100 ft (30 m) in length, with a 50% increase in displacement. Only two ships were built, and completed in 1926. Four propellers were necessary for the increased power and were driven from two engine rooms. There were four boiler rooms, nos. 2 and 3 being arranged side-by-side with the exhausts trunked into a common funnel. The magazines were between boiler rooms nos. 2 and 3 and the forward engine room, and between boiler room no. 4 and the after engine room. This led to a bizarre funnel arrangement, accentuated further when in 1935 a longer catapult required the mainmast to be stepped forward of the after funnel, and the funnels were heightened by 5 ft (1.5 m).

Type: Cruiser

Primary Country: The United Kingdom, made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an island nation in northwestern Europe. England – birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles – is home to the capital, London, a globally influential centre of finance and culture. England is also site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.