John's History of British Warships

HMS C.19 Birmingham (Town Class)




Nationality British
Type Light Cruiser
Builder Devonport Dockyard (Plymouth). United Kingdom
Laid down 18 July 1935
Launched 1 September 1936
Commissioned 18 November 1937
Fate Decomissioned December 1959
Sold for scrap September 1960

Displacement
Standard 9.320 tons
Full Load 11.540 tons

Dimensions
Lenght (waterline) 178 m (584')
Lenght (Overall) 180 m (591,6')
Beam 19.5 m (64,02')
Draft 6 m (20') (Average)

Armament (Design 1939)
Main Battery 12 x 152 mm (6") 50 cal BL Mark XXIII (4x3)
2 forward 2 aft
Secondary Battery 8 x 102 mm (4") 45 cal QF HA MkXVI (4x2)
AA 8 x 40,5 mm (2pdr)/40 cal Vickers MkII PomPom (2x4)
8 x 12,7 mm (0.5") 62 cal Vickers MkIII MG (3x4)
Torpedoes 6 x 533 mm (21") above water in 2 triple mounts
Armament (1945)
Main Battery 12 x 152 mm (6")/50 cal BL Mark XXIII (4x2)
2 forward 2 aft
AA 16 x 40,5 mm (2pdr)/40 cal Vickers MkII PomPom (4x4)
8 x 40 mm/56.3 cal Bofors (2x4)
5-24 x 20 mm/65 cal Oerlikon

Armament (Postwar)
Main Battery 12 x 152mm (6") 50 cal BL Mark XXIII (4x2)
2 forward 2 aft
AA 18 x 40 mm/56,3 cal Bofors (6x2,6x1)
Radars
Air Warning 1 x HA.DCT
Air Search Type 284/286
Surface Search Type 273
Type 271
Fire Control Air recognition (AR) type 285
Air recognition (AR) type 282 (2pdr)

Aircraft
Fixed Wing 2-3 Supermarine Walrus amphibians, removed late WWII
Hangar located starboard of forward funnel
Used as messdecks and cinemas late in WWII

Armour
Belt 124 mm (4,88") main belt
124-63,5 mm (4,88"-2.5") magazines
63,5-38 mm (2,5"-1,5") ends
Deck 51-32 mm (2"-1,25")
Bulkheads 63,5 mm (2,5")
Turrets 25 mm (1")
Barbettes 51-25 mm (2"-1")
Conning Tower N/A

Propulsion
Boilers 4 Admiralty 3 drum-type
Turbines Parsons geared turbines
Horsepower 75.000 shp
Shafts 4
Endurance 9.000 nm at 15 knots
Max Speed 32,5 knots
31,25 knots (standard)
Oil Bunkerage 2.070 tons

Complement
Usual 750

Unfortunately there is not much recorded about this ship. I have spent hours trying to gather some information on her. I hope that anyone viewing this page, and if you were in the Royl Navy and know anything on this ship that you will email us with what you have.

The first HMS Birmingham had been built in 1913 at Elswick. She saw service at the battles of Heligoland Bight and the Battle of Jutland where some damage was sustained. With a top speed of 25 knots and a range of 4000 nautical miles she was armed with nine 6 inch guns, four 3 pounder guns and two 21 inch torpedo tubes.On 9th August 1914 HMS Birmingham sank the first German submarine of the first World War. Six shots from the Birmingham had badly crippled the German U-15 vessel. Captain Aruthur Duff then issued instructions that the Birmingham should ram the U Boat at full speed. The German submarine sank with a loss of 23 members of its crew.

The second HMS Birmingham C19, a Southhampton class as she was called owing to the fact that HMS Southampton was the first in this class to be built an thus they were refered to as this class as opposed to there original Town class.

The first Town-class ship were launched in 1936 and commissioned in 1937, just two years before the outbreak of war. The Town-class saw much service during the Second World War and took in many famous actions, such as the sinking of the scharnhorst. Four of the Town-class were sunk during the war: HM Ships Edinburgh, Gloucester,Manchester and Southampton. Many of the surviving ships saw successful service during the Korean war The last Town-class ship to decommission was HMS Sheffield in 1967.We have a featured article on HMS Sheffield in our warship pages on our Maritime site. One Town-class warship remains, HMS Belfast, moored on the River Thames in London as a Museum-ship of the Imperial War Museum, a role she has performed since 1971.

HMS Birmingham a light Cruiser was built in Plymouth and commissioned in November 1937. This 9000 ton cruiser had a maximum speed of 32 knots with a range of 9000 nautical miles. I am at this moment in time trying to piece together the history of this ship and her various commisions, I was fortunate to serve on her from 1951 - 1954. She was eventualy decomissioned December 1959. Sold for scrap September 1960.

Improvements made at various points in their service:All were heavily modified during WWII and after the Korean War, HMS Glasgow, Sheffield and Newcastle had one aft turret replaced by two quad 40 mm Bofors guns during WWII, since there was insufficient space to fit the needed extra anti-aircraft guns and retain the turret. This was not a problem in the Edinburghs, being longer they had more room. They still had substantial modifications to their weaponry, including addition of 40 mm Bofors guns. Radar equipment was also added during WWII.

Town-class cruiser Southampton sub class

Birmingham | Glasgow | Newcastle | Sheffield | Southampton

Gloucester sub class

Gloucester | Liverpool | Manchester

Edinburgh sub class

Belfast | Edinburgh

BIRMINGHAM HMS cruiser 9100dis std/1935 in 1941 (1960 scrapped)

Chatham Barracks memorials-5: HMS Birmingham
Date: 5 Dec 1998 06:20:06 GMT

There are three CHURCH BELLS at St George's Centre, the former church
attached to the erstwhile HMS Pembroke Barracks at Chatham RN Dockyard
(also now closed, and renamed Chatham Maritime).
The tenor bell was given by the officers and crew of HMS BIRMINGHAM.
A plaque within the entrance to the building explains that it was given "as
a memorial to:
Vice Admiral Sir Maurice S. Fitzmaurice CD, CMG (Commander in Chief),
P/O Alfred Mitchell
ERA Clifford L Bristow
Stoker Arthur L Garrett
Stoker John A Ansell