The Minotaur class, also known as the Swiftsure class after the lead ship was sold to Canada and renamed, were a group of light cruisers of the British Royal Navy built during the Second World War. They were designed as a modified version of the Fiji class incorporating war modifications and authorised in 1941. However, in spite of the heavy toll of cruisers in that year and the following one, the building of this new class had a relatively low priority and only three of the planned twelve were completed by end of World War II. They played no significant part in the Second World War, though Swiftsure, as flagship of the British Pacific Cruiser Squadron, was selected by Admiral Cecil Harcourt to hoist his flag for the Japanese surrender at Hong Kong.
Superb was completed to a slightly different design than the first two ships, work on another three was cancelled and the last three were eventually built to a different design as the Tiger class.
The class was originally to have consisted of twelve ships,[1] six were laid down in 1941–1942 and the seventh unit, Hawke, in 1943. Four of the ordered cruisers were cancelled almost immediately, three in March 1942 being replaced by the first light fleet carrier order[a] and another, probably Mars, was cancelled in November 1942. An eighth cruiser, Bellerophon, started in early 1944, and then stopped and cancelled; its already constructed boilers and turbines were installed in the light fleet carriers[1]Colossus and Perseus[2] (ex Edgar) being constructed in the same Vickers Armstrong yard as Bellerophon had been started. It appears Bellerophon was then reordered as a Neptune-class cruiser. but by the end of World War II only Minotaur, Swiftsure, and Superb were complete, whilst the others were laid up. Minotaur was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Ontario. While the basic specifications and original armament were only a slight enlargement of the Fiji class with an extra twin 4-inch turret, the Minotaurs did represent a substantial advance towards more sophisticated weapon control and integration of command and control and Action Information Office and developments towards operation room control of fighting ships. By 1944 the seven Minotaurs under construction represented four distinct groups, which were so significantly different that they could probably be regarded as four separate classes of cruiser. Swiftsure introduced the reliable Type 274 lock-and-follow radar, which increased the accuracy of the main armament to get on target quickly. The second Superb extended this more advanced radar with the addition of Type 275 for anti-aircraft fire control, although Superb's version lacked the flyplane or the accurate finishing in the version fitted to later Battle-class destroyers. The third group of Minotaurs, the Tigers, were being built from quite early in their evolution with a different main battery consisting of three triple Mk 24 6-inch turrets, which were dual purpose, elevating to 60 degrees, and which automatically tracked and followed targets under Type 274/275 radar control. These guns and those for Hawke, the fourth Tiger, were nearly complete by late 1946 and were stored at Rosyth until the late 1950s as alternatives to the Mk 26 automatic twin 6-inch guns that were eventually fitted. Hawke represented a further development, surprisingly scrapped on the slip in late 1945,[3] with its boilers and machinery complete, and its guns nearly finished.[4]
Three of the laid-up vessels were completed in the 1960s as Tiger-class cruisers. Two were given helicopter facilities and anti-aircraft missile systems to become "helicopter and command cruisers" during the 1970s.
Modificationsedit
Swiftsure was completed with sixteen twin and six single 20 mm guns, but had all the singles and eight of the twins removed in the summer of 1945, when she received, in lieu, eight 40 mm Bofors and five single 40 mm Bofors Mk III. HMCS Ontario (ex-Minotaur) was completed with the same close-range outfit as Swiftsure, and is reported to have had an outfit of six 40 mm and six 20 mm guns at the end of the war, all in single mountings. Superb was not completed until after the end of hostilities, and had a close-range outfit consisting of eight single 40 mm Mk III, two single 2-pounders, four twin hand-operated 20 mm and two single 20 mm guns.
After a collision between Swiftsure and the destroyer Diamond in the West Indies on 16 September 1953, Swiftsure was largely rebuilt to the pattern of the reconstruction of Belfast in 1956–59. The work on Swiftsure was largely completed but it was placed in reserve rather than fitted out with the only available armament, which was its original and labour-intensive triple 6-inch guns, two twin 4-inch guns, and a pair of L/60 Bofors which would have been controlled by a six-channel MRS8 US supplied fire control system.[5] The 1953 plan to modernize the ship with the new twin 3-inch 70 calibre guns [5] was rejected around 1954 because Swiftsure′s beam of 63 feet (19 m) did not allow enough space, and the cost of a full reconstruction of Superb as a fourth Tiger with full new armament was considered too expensive. The new 70 calibre twin 3-inch mounts were experimental, and it was far from clear that they would ever be reliable enough to be effective. A more limited update of the Swiftsure and Superb with new L/70 Bofors firing proximity fused shells was approved and then cancelled,[6] because the time and cost of Swiftsure′s modernisation was proving too great and the necessary conversion from DC to AC power was considered too expensive on half-life ships. Options of the Type 965 radar on its new lattice mast and a data link were considered. The cost of finishing the Tiger-class cruisers (£35 million) was a major political issue, as was the new automatic guns jamming. The jamming issue was partly rectified by 1958, but only after inflicting terminal damage to the credibility of the project. The completion of Lion and Blake was in real danger of being stopped in early 1960, and automatic gun cruisers were considered obsolete in the United States and the Soviet Union. Problems with cracking that occurred in the update of Swiftsure as a result of the collision with the destroyer Diamond slowed the refit, raised costs, and made recommissioning at the same time as Belfast impossible.[b] Re-entering service in 1960 with only Second World War-era cruiser weapons was too expensive, but there were no suitable modern weapons to fit. About £1 million was spent on the Swiftsure 'reconstruction' project by 1961, "under a half" of that on new construction.[7] In 1959-60, the Royal Navy fought hard to retain Swiftsure as a new modernization pattern of a cruiser - helicopter carrier.[8] This design was largely implemented a decade later on its half-sisters Tiger and Blake. This was intended to allow more space on carriers for fighters and strike aircraft.
^which used half the Fiji/Swiftsure 80,000 shp (60,000 kW) power train in split form
^Swiftsure's refit was started in February 1956 with planned conclusion of December 1959.[5]
Citationsedit
^ abBrown, David (2000). Nelson to Vanguard.Warship Design & Development 1923-1945 (1st ed.). London: Chatham. pp. 58–9, 91, 206. ISBN1-86176-1368.
^Hobbs, David (2005). "Naval Aviation, 1930–2000". The Royal Navy, 1930–2000. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis. pp. 69–88. doi:10.4324/9780203337684_chapter_3. ISBN978-0-203-33768-4. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
^S. Courtenay & B.Patterson. Home of the Fleet.RN Museum Publications (2005) Portsmouth, p 71
Referencesedit
Brown, D. K. & Moore, George (2003). Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-59114-705-0.
Campbell, N.J.M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85. ISBN0-8317-0303-2.
Colledge, J. J.; Wardlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-5267-9327-0.
minotaur, class, cruiser, 1943, minotaur, class, world, minotaur, class, cruiser, 1906, minotaur, class, design, after, world, minotaur, class, cruiser, 1947, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citatio. For the Minotaur class of World War I see Minotaur class cruiser 1906 For the Minotaur class design after World War II see Minotaur class cruiser 1947 This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Minotaur class also known as the Swiftsure class after the lead ship was sold to Canada and renamed were a group of light cruisers of the British Royal Navy built during the Second World War They were designed as a modified version of the Fiji class incorporating war modifications and authorised in 1941 However in spite of the heavy toll of cruisers in that year and the following one the building of this new class had a relatively low priority and only three of the planned twelve were completed by end of World War II They played no significant part in the Second World War though Swiftsure as flagship of the British Pacific Cruiser Squadron was selected by Admiral Cecil Harcourt to hoist his flag for the Japanese surrender at Hong Kong HMS SwiftsureClass overviewNameMinotaur classOperators Royal Navy Royal Canadian NavyPreceded byFiji classSucceeded byNeptune class planned Tiger class actual Built1941 1945In commission1944 1958Planned9Completed3Cancelled6Scrapped3General characteristicsTypeLight cruiserDisplacement8 800 tons standard 11 130 tons full Superb 8 885 tons standard 11 560 tons full Length555 5 ft 169 3 m Beam63 ft 19 m Superb 64 ft 20 m Draught17 25 ft 5 26 m Installed power72 500 shp 54 1 MW PropulsionFour Admiralty type three drum boilers Four shaft Parsons steam turbinesSpeed31 5 knots 58 3 km h Range2 000 nautical miles 3 700 km at 30 knots 60 km h 8 000 nautical miles 15 000 km at 16 knots 30 km h 1 850 tons fuel oilComplement867Armament3 triple BL 6 inch Mk XXIII guns 152 4 mm 5 dual 4 inch 45 QF Mk 16 HA guns 4 quad QF 2 pdr guns 6 single 40 mm anti aircraft guns 2 triple 21 inch 533 mm torpedo tubes Armour3 25 3 5 inch 83 89 mm belt 2 inch 51 mm deck 1 2 inch 25 51 mm turrets 1 5 2 inch 38 51 mm bulkheadsSuperb was completed to a slightly different design than the first two ships work on another three was cancelled and the last three were eventually built to a different design as the Tiger class Contents 1 Design 2 Modifications 3 Ships 4 Notes 5 Citations 6 References 7 External linksDesign editThe class was originally to have consisted of twelve ships 1 six were laid down in 1941 1942 and the seventh unit Hawke in 1943 Four of the ordered cruisers were cancelled almost immediately three in March 1942 being replaced by the first light fleet carrier order a and another probably Mars was cancelled in November 1942 An eighth cruiser Bellerophon started in early 1944 and then stopped and cancelled its already constructed boilers and turbines were installed in the light fleet carriers 1 Colossus and Perseus 2 ex Edgar being constructed in the same Vickers Armstrong yard as Bellerophon had been started It appears Bellerophon was then reordered as a Neptune class cruiser but by the end of World War II only Minotaur Swiftsure and Superb were complete whilst the others were laid up Minotaur was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Ontario While the basic specifications and original armament were only a slight enlargement of the Fiji class with an extra twin 4 inch turret the Minotaurs did represent a substantial advance towards more sophisticated weapon control and integration of command and control and Action Information Office and developments towards operation room control of fighting ships By 1944 the seven Minotaurs under construction represented four distinct groups which were so significantly different that they could probably be regarded as four separate classes of cruiser Swiftsure introduced the reliable Type 274 lock and follow radar which increased the accuracy of the main armament to get on target quickly The second Superb extended this more advanced radar with the addition of Type 275 for anti aircraft fire control although Superb s version lacked the flyplane or the accurate finishing in the version fitted to later Battle class destroyers The third group of Minotaurs the Tigers were being built from quite early in their evolution with a different main battery consisting of three triple Mk 24 6 inch turrets which were dual purpose elevating to 60 degrees and which automatically tracked and followed targets under Type 274 275 radar control These guns and those for Hawke the fourth Tiger were nearly complete by late 1946 and were stored at Rosyth until the late 1950s as alternatives to the Mk 26 automatic twin 6 inch guns that were eventually fitted Hawke represented a further development surprisingly scrapped on the slip in late 1945 3 with its boilers and machinery complete and its guns nearly finished 4 Three of the laid up vessels were completed in the 1960s as Tiger class cruisers Two were given helicopter facilities and anti aircraft missile systems to become helicopter and command cruisers during the 1970s Modifications editSwiftsure was completed with sixteen twin and six single 20 mm guns but had all the singles and eight of the twins removed in the summer of 1945 when she received in lieu eight 40 mm Bofors and five single 40 mm Bofors Mk III HMCS Ontario ex Minotaur was completed with the same close range outfit as Swiftsure and is reported to have had an outfit of six 40 mm and six 20 mm guns at the end of the war all in single mountings Superb was not completed until after the end of hostilities and had a close range outfit consisting of eight single 40 mm Mk III two single 2 pounders four twin hand operated 20 mm and two single 20 mm guns After a collision between Swiftsure and the destroyer Diamond in the West Indies on 16 September 1953 Swiftsure was largely rebuilt to the pattern of the reconstruction of Belfast in 1956 59 The work on Swiftsure was largely completed but it was placed in reserve rather than fitted out with the only available armament which was its original and labour intensive triple 6 inch guns two twin 4 inch guns and a pair of L 60 Bofors which would have been controlled by a six channel MRS8 US supplied fire control system 5 The 1953 plan to modernize the ship with the new twin 3 inch 70 calibre guns 5 was rejected around 1954 because Swiftsure s beam of 63 feet 19 m did not allow enough space and the cost of a full reconstruction of Superb as a fourth Tiger with full new armament was considered too expensive The new 70 calibre twin 3 inch mounts were experimental and it was far from clear that they would ever be reliable enough to be effective A more limited update of the Swiftsure and Superb with new L 70 Bofors firing proximity fused shells was approved and then cancelled 6 because the time and cost of Swiftsure s modernisation was proving too great and the necessary conversion from DC to AC power was considered too expensive on half life ships Options of the Type 965 radar on its new lattice mast and a data link were considered The cost of finishing the Tiger class cruisers 35 million was a major political issue as was the new automatic guns jamming The jamming issue was partly rectified by 1958 but only after inflicting terminal damage to the credibility of the project The completion of Lion and Blake was in real danger of being stopped in early 1960 and automatic gun cruisers were considered obsolete in the United States and the Soviet Union Problems with cracking that occurred in the update of Swiftsure as a result of the collision with the destroyer Diamond slowed the refit raised costs and made recommissioning at the same time as Belfast impossible b Re entering service in 1960 with only Second World War era cruiser weapons was too expensive but there were no suitable modern weapons to fit About 1 million was spent on the Swiftsure reconstruction project by 1961 under a half of that on new construction 7 In 1959 60 the Royal Navy fought hard to retain Swiftsure as a new modernization pattern of a cruiser helicopter carrier 8 This design was largely implemented a decade later on its half sisters Tiger and Blake This was intended to allow more space on carriers for fighters and strike aircraft Ships editConstruction data Name Pennant Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned FateMinotaur 53 Harland amp Wolff 20 November 1941 29 July 1943 Transferred to Royal Canadian Navy July 1944 commissioning on 25 May 1945 as HMCS Ontario Broken up at Osaka 1960Swiftsure 08 Vickers Armstrong 22 September 1941 4 February 1943 22 June 1944 Broken up at Inverkeithing 1962Superb 25 Swan Hunter 23 June 1942 31 August 1943 16 November 1945 Broken up at Dalmuir 1960Hawke 27 HM Dockyard Portsmouth 1 July 1943 Cancelled March 1946 9 broken up on slipwayBellerophon ex Tiger ex Blake 50 Vickers Armstrong August 1944 Cancelled 1946 broken up on slipwayBlake ex Tiger Fairfield 17 August 1942 20 December 1945 Redesigned and built as Tiger class cruiserDefence Scotts 24 June 1942 2 September 1944Bellerophon ex Blake John Brown 1 October 1941 25 October 1945Mars Cancelled 1946Notes edit which used half the Fiji Swiftsure 80 000 shp 60 000 kW power train in split form Swiftsure s refit was started in February 1956 with planned conclusion of December 1959 5 Citations edit a b Brown David 2000 Nelson to Vanguard Warship Design amp Development 1923 1945 1st ed London Chatham pp 58 9 91 206 ISBN 1 86176 1368 Hobbs David 2005 Naval Aviation 1930 2000 The Royal Navy 1930 2000 Abingdon UK Taylor amp Francis pp 69 88 doi 10 4324 9780203337684 chapter 3 ISBN 978 0 203 33768 4 Retrieved 13 January 2023 Brown amp Moore 2003 p 19 47 Brown amp Moore 2003 p 19 a b c Friedman p 259 Murfin p 57 Orr Ewing 6 February 1961 HMS Swiftsure Written Questions in House of Commons Hansard vol 634 column 11 Murfin p 56 S Courtenay amp B Patterson Home of the Fleet RN Museum Publications 2005 Portsmouth p 71References editBrown D K amp Moore George 2003 Rebuilding the Royal Navy Warship Design Since 1945 Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 59114 705 0 Campbell N J M 1980 Great Britain In Chesneau Roger ed Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1922 1946 New York Mayflower Books pp 2 85 ISBN 0 8317 0303 2 Colledge J J Wardlow Ben amp Bush Steve 2020 Ships of the Royal Navy The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present 5th ed Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 5267 9327 0 Friedman Norman 2010 British Cruisers Two World Wars and After Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 59114 078 8 Murfin David 2010 AA to AA The Fijis Turn Full Circle In Jordan John ed Warship 2010 Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 84486 110 1 Raven Alan amp Roberts John 1980 British Cruisers of World War Two Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 922 7 Whitley M J 1995 Cruisers of World War Two An International Encyclopedia London Cassell ISBN 1 86019 874 0 External links editMinotaur class at Uboat net WWII cruisers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Minotaur class cruiser 1943 amp oldid 1173560927, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
