History
United Kingdom
Name	HMSCurlew
Builder	Vickers Limited,Barrow in Furness
Laid down	21 August 1916
Launched	5 July 1917
Commissioned	14 December 1917
Identification	Pennant number: 80 (Aug 17); 3C (Jan 18);[1] 48 (Apr 18); 42 (Nov 19); I.42 (1936); D.42 (1940)[2]
Fate	Sunk by air attack, 26 May 1940
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	C-classlight cruiser
Displacement	4,190 long tons (4,257 t)
Length	425 ft (129.5 m)p/p 450 ft (137.2 m)o/a
Beam	43 ft (13.1 m)
Draught	14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Installed power	40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 6 ×Yarrow boilers
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × gearedsteam turbines
Speed	29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Complement	460
Armament	5 × singleBL 6 in (152 mm) Mk XII guns 2 × singleQF 3 in (76 mm) 20-cwt[Note 1]anti-aircraft guns 4 × twin21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 1.25–3 in (32–76 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Conning tower: 3 in

HMSCurlew was aC-classlight cruiser built for theRoyal Navy during World War I. She was part of theCeressub-class of the C class. The ship survived World War I to be sunk by German aircraft during theNorwegian Campaign in 1940.

TheCeres sub-class was redesigned to move one of the amidships guns to asuperfiring position in front of thebridge to improve its arcs of fire. This required moving the bridge and tripod mast further aft and rearranging the compartments forward of the aft boiler room. The ships were 450 feet 6 inches (137.3 m)long overall, with abeam of 43 feet (13.1 m)^[3] and a meandraught of 14 feet 8 inches (4.5 m).Displacement was 4,190long tons (4,260 t) at normal and 5,020 long tons (5,100 t) atdeep load.Curlew was powered by twoParsonssteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft, which produced a total of 40,000indicated horsepower (30,000 kW). The turbines used steam generated by sixYarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about 29knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). She carried 935 long tons (950 t) tons offuel oil. The ship had a crew of about 460 officers andratings.^[4]

The armament of theCeres sub-class was identical to that of the precedingCaledon sub-class and consisted of fiveBL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline. One superfiring pair of guns was forward of the bridge, one was aft of the twofunnels and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. The twoQF 3-inch (76 mm) 20-cwtanti-aircraft guns were positioned abreast of the fore funnel. TheCeress were equipped with eight21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes in four twin mounts, two on eachbroadside.^[4]

She was laid down byVickers Limited on 21 August 1916, and launched on 5 July 1917, being commissioned into the navy on 14 December 1917.

Curlew left Devonport,^[5] under command of Captain Holbrook,^[6] on the 9 December, 1922, for theImperial fortresscolony ofBermuda to replace HMSConstance in the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron on theAmerica and West Indies Station, based at theRoyal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, onIreland Island. Expected to arrive there on the 17th of December,^[7] foul weather delayed her arrival 'til the 19th.^[8]

She was hove to offshore, outside Bermuda's encircling reefline, when the1926 Havana–Bermuda hurricane reached Bermuda on 22 October 1922. Vessels in the Bermudian dockyard at the time includedAdmiralty Floating Dock No. 1 (AFD1), the cruisersHMSCalcutta, flagship of theAmerica and West Indies Station, andHMSCapetown, the sloopHMS Wistaria (which was in the submerged AFD1 in the South Yard),RFA Serbol, thetugboats St. Abbs, St. Blazey, and Creole, and No. 5 Battle Practice Target.^[9] The dockface (or 'the wall') in the South Yard and old North Yard of the dockyard are on the eastern (Great Sound) shore of the island ofIreland (with the western shore on the open North Atlantic).Calcutta was torn free of the wharf, with all forty hawsers that had tethered her snapping, when the windspeed reached 138 mph (the highest speed recorded before the storm destroyed the dockyard's anemometer) and was saved only by the most desperate actions of her crew and other personnel, including Sub-LieutenantsStephen Roskill ofWistaria and Conrad Byron Alers-Hankey ofCapetown, who swam to attach new lines to the oil wharf.^[10][11][12]

Meanwhile,Curlew, which had sustained damage to her upper deck ("No. 1 gun, bent shield and stay Forecastle Deck torn and supporting stanchions bent. Other slight damage to material, fittings etc. Motor Boat badly damaged. Both whalers and 3 Carley Floats lost") while she rode out the storm offshore, was instructed at 16:10 on the 22nd to attempt to make contact withHMSValerian, which had signalled "Am hove-to 5 miles south ofGibb's Hill" at 08:30 (and which had already gone down at 13:00).^[13] The dockyard received wirelessSOS transmission fromEastway at 17:52. SSLuciline and SSFort George made way to the position ofEastway. Although a wireless signal was sent toCurlew at 18:40 by the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies, to continue searching forValerian as the two merchant ships were going to aidEastway,Curlew signalled the Commander-in-Chief a minute later that she was heading towardsEastway.Eastway signalled at 18:45, "W/T signals are weak. Am shorting with water here. Cannot last long old man. Am listing more every few minutes. Port lifeboats gone. Urgent assistance required. Radio giving out and stokehold flooding". The Commander-in-Chief signalledCurlew at 18:54 to cancel the previous instruction and go to the aid ofEastway. At 19:00, this message was cancelled andCurlew ordered to resume the search forValerian.Capetown was ordered to put to sea to join the search forValerian at 20:03.^[14] The following day, 23 October,Capetown signalled that two men had been sighted on a raft at 31.59 North, 64.45 West. These were the first survivors fromValerian to be rescued. Two officers and seventeen men would be plucked from the ocean by 11:33.Luciline rescued twelve survivors from the crew of theEastway by 12:34 and took them to Bermuda.^[15]

In common with most of her sistersCurlew was rearmed to become ananti-aircraft cruiser in 1935–36.

On the outbreak of war, she served with theHome Fleet. She participated in the Norwegian Campaign, and whilst operating off the Norwegian coast on 26 May 1940, she came under attack from GermanJunkers Ju 88 bombers ofKampfgeschwader 30 and was sunk in Lavangsfjord,Ofotfjord nearNarvik.^[16] Nine sailors were lost with the ship.^[17]

• 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.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.OCLC 67375475.
• Dunn, Steve R. (2022).The Harwich Striking Force: The Royal Navy's Front Line in the North Sea, 1914-1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-3990-1596-7.
• Friedman, Norman (2010).British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-59114-078-8.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998).British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• 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.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Stranack, Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D (1990) [1977]. Written at HM Naval Base Bermuda (HMS Malabar), oldRoyal Naval Dockyard,Ireland Island, Bermuda.The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975 (2nd ed.). Royal Naval Dockyard,Ireland Island,Sandys Parish, Bermuda: Bermuda Maritime Museum Press.ISBN 9780921560036.
• Whitley, M. J. (1995).Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell.ISBN 1-86019-874-0.

• HMS Curlew in WW2 at Naval-History.net
• HMSCurlew at Uboat.net

68°33′32″N16°33′29″E / 68.559°N 16.558°E /68.559; 16.558

• C-class cruisers
• Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
• 1917 ships
• World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom
• World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
• World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea
• Maritime incidents in May 1940
• Cruisers sunk by aircraft
• Ships sunk by German aircraft
• Shipwrecks of Norway

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