HMS Gloucester (1909)

Gloucester at anchor, 1918
History
United Kingdom
Name	Gloucester
Namesake	Gloucester
Builder	William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir
Laid down	15 April 1909
Launched	28 October 1909
Commissioned	October 1910
Out of service	March 1920
Fate	Sold for scrap, 9 May 1921
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Town-class light cruiser
Displacement	4,800 long tons (4,877 t)
Length	430 ft (131.1 m) p/p 453 ft (138.1 m) o/a
Beam	47 ft (14.3 m)
Draught	15 ft 3 in (4.65 m) (mean)
Installed power	22,000 shp (16,000 kW) 12 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 2 × Parsons steam turbines
Speed	25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	5,830 nautical miles (10,800 km; 6,710 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	480
Armament	2 × single BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk XI guns 10 × single BL 4 in (102 mm) Mk VII guns 4 × QF 3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 2 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: .75–2 in (19–51 mm) Conning Tower: 6 in (150 mm)

HMS Gloucester was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet upon commissioning in 1910 and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913. She was involved in the hunt for the German ships Goeben and Breslau after World War I began in August 1914. Gloucester was detailed several times during the war to search for German commerce raiders, but her only success was the capture of one supply ship in early 1915. She played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916 and then spent most of the rest of the war in the Adriatic Sea. The ship was placed in reserve in 1919 and was sold for scrap in 1921.