Comus at Wallsend shipyard
History
United Kingdom
Name	Comus
Namesake	Comus
Builder	Swan Hunter,Wallsend
Laid down	13 November 1913
Launched	16 December 1914
Completed	May 1915
Commissioned	15 May 1915
Decommissioned	December 1924
Recommissioned	September 1925
Decommissioned	December 1933
Identification	Pennant number: 5C (1914); A7 (Mar 16); 45 (Jan 18);[2] 02 (Apr 18); 70 (Nov 19)[3]
Fate	Sold forscrap, 28 July 1934[1]
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	C-classlight cruiser
Displacement	4,219long tons (4,287 t)
Length	446 ft (135.9 m) (o/a)
Beam	41 ft 6 in (12.6 m)
Draught	16 ft (4.9 m) (mean)
Installed power	8 ×Yarrow boilers 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 ×steam turbines
Speed	28.5knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph)
Complement	301
Armament	2 × single6 in (152 mm) guns 8 × single4 in (102 mm) guns 1 × single6 pdr (2.2 in (57 mm))AA gun 2 × twin21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 1–3 in (25–76 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Conning tower: 6 in

The fourthHMSComus was aC-classlight cruiser of theRoyal Navy that saw service inWorld War I. She was part of theCaroline group of the C class.

Built bySwan Hunter atWallsend,Comus waslaid down on 13 November 1913 andlaunched on 16 December 1914.

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy on 15 May 1915,Comus was assigned to the4th Light Cruiser Squadron in theGrand Fleet. She and thedestroyerHMS Munster sank theImperial German Navymerchant raiderGreif in theNorth Sea on 29 February 1916, and she fought in theBattle of Jutland on 31 May-1 June 1916^[4] under the command ofCaptainAlan Hotham. During the battle, at about 8:40 p.m. 31 MayComus sent information to the Grand Fleet Commander,Admiral John Jellicoe, about the location of the German fleet. This information coupled with additional information from HMSFalmouth,Southampton andLion gave Jellicoe the information he needed to decide on his nighttime fleet movements on the night of 31 May-1 June 1916.^[5]

After the conclusion of World War I,Comus served in the1st Light Cruiser Squadron from March to April 1919, then underwent a refit atRosyth,Scotland. She recommissioned in October 1919 for another tour of duty with the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron, and served on theEast Indies Station until June 1923, temporarily serving as the station'sflagship in 1921. While still assigned to the East Indies Station in November 1922, she began a refit atPortsmouth that lasted until July 1923. She then was attached to the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron in theMediterranean Fleet until December 1924, when she entered theNoreReserve.^[4]

Comus left the reserve in September 1925 to commission for service in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in theAtlantic Fleet. After a refit, she recommissioned for the same service in August 1927. The newheavy cruiserHMS Norfolk relieved her in May 1930, and she went into reserve atDevonport, becoming the Senior Naval Officer's flagship there in April 1931 and remaining flagship until being decommissioned in December 1933 and placed under dockyard control.^[4]

Comus was sold on 28 July 1934 toThos. W. Ward ofBarrow-in-Furness forscrapping.

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, 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 revised and updated ed.). Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Corbett, Julian (1997).Naval Operations. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol. III (reprint of the 1940 second ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum in association with the Battery Press.ISBN 1-870423-50-X.
• Friedman, Norman (2010).British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
• Harper, J. E. T. (2016)The Jutland Scandal: The Truth about the First World War's Greatest Sea Battle. New York: Skyhorse Publishing,ISBN 978-1-5107-0871-6.
• Newbolt, Henry (1996).Naval Operations. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents. Vol. IV (reprint of the 1928 ed.). Nashville, Tennessee: Battery Press.ISBN 0-89839-253-5.
• Newbolt, Henry (1996).Naval Operations. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents. Vol. V (reprint of the 1931 ed.). Nashville, Tennessee: Battery Press.ISBN 0-89839-255-1.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104.ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980).British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-922-7.

• Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMSComus Crew List

• C-class cruisers
• Ships built on the River Tyne
• 1914 ships
• World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2017
• Use British English from August 2017