History
United Kingdom
Name	HMSCalliope
Namesake	Calliope
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	1 January 1914
Launched	17 December 1914
Commissioned	June 1915
Identification	Pennant number: 76 (1914); 23 (Jan 18);[1] 78 (Apr 18); 80 (Nov 19)[2]
Honours and awards	Jutland 1916
Fate	Sold for scrap 28 August 1931
General characteristics
Class and type	C-classlight cruiser
Displacement	3,750 tons (3,810 t)
Length	446 ft (136 m)
Beam	41.5 ft (12.6 m)
Draught	14.5 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion	Two Parsons turbines Eight Yarrow boilers Four propellers 37,500 shp
Speed	28.5 knots (53 km/h)
Range	carried 405 tons (772 tons maximum) of fuel oil
Complement	324
Armament	4 ×BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) Mk XII guns 2 ×QF 3 inch 20 cwt AA guns 1 × machine gun 2 ×21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes (another 4 added in 1919)
Armour	4 inches (100 mm) side (amidships) 2.25–1.5 inches (57–38 mm) side (bows) 2.5–2 inches (64–51 mm) side (stern) 1 inch (25 mm) upperdecks (amidships) 1 inch (25 mm) deck over rudder

HMSCalliope was aC-classlight cruiser of theRoyal Navy under construction at the outbreak of theFirst World War. BothCalliope and hersister shipChampion were based on the earlier cruiserCaroline. They were effectively test ships for the use of geared turbines which resulted in the one less funnel. They also received slightly thickerarmour. They led into the first of theCambrian subclass.

Eight light cruisers were ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1913 budget. The six ships of theCaroline class used conventional direct drive turbine engines butCalliope andCaroline each had a different engine design using geared reduction to match optimum working speeds of turbines and propellers. This followed experimental designs ordered in 1911 using geared high pressure turbines for thedestroyersBadger andBeaver and in 1912 using gearing for both high pressure and low pressure turbines in destroyersLeonidas andLucifer.^[3]

Calliope was built atHM Dockyard, Chatham. She was laid down in January 1914, launched on 17 December 1914, and completed in June 1915.^[4]

Calliope had four shafts as used in theCaroline design but unlike the two used inChampion. Gearing increased the efficiency of power transmission to the water so allowed smaller boilers and turbines to be used than otherwise would be the case. Nominal design power for the same target speed was therefore reduced from 40,000 shp in theCaroline class to 37,500 shp. Propeller speed was 480 rpm.^[3]

Commissioned in June 1915,Calliope was assigned to theGrand Fleet for service asflagship of the4th Light Cruiser Squadron.^[5] She was badly damaged by afuel oil fire in herboiler room while at sea on 19 March 1916, but was repaired in time to be one of the five ships in the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron at theBattle of Jutland on 31 May-1 June 1916. Under the command of Commodore Charles E. Le Mesurier, HMSCalliope received a number of hits just before nightfall on 31 May (notably by the GermanbattleshipsKaiser andMarkgraf), and 10 of her crew were killed.^[6]

In September 1917,Calliope helped to sink four Germantrawlerminesweepers in theNorth Sea off the coast ofJutland.^[5]

In March 1919,Calliope was commissioned for service with the8th Light Cruiser Squadron on theNorth America and West Indies Station, based at theRoyal Naval Dockyard in theImperial fortresscolony ofBermuda, with which she suffered anotherengine room fire in theAtlantic Ocean off theAzores in October 1919.^[7] She returned toDevonport for repairs, which were carried out between November 1919 and March 1920, and then recommissioned for continued service on the North America and West Indies Station. She returned to the United Kingdom in December 1920 for a refit and paid off at theNore in January 1921. She was in theNore Reserve from October 1921 to May 1924, when she was commissioned for service with the2nd Cruiser Squadron in theAtlantic Fleet.^[5]

Between 1925 and 1926,Calliope was used to transport troops before paying off into dockyard control at the Nore in April 1926 for a refit. Between 1927 and 1928 she was used for trooping runs again, becoming the Senior Naval Officer's ship in the Nore Reserve in December 1927. In September 1928 received her last commission, this time with the3rd Cruiser Squadron in theMediterranean Fleet, which ended in January 1930 when she paid off into reserve atPortsmouth Dockyard.

Calliope was transferred to dockyard control in January 1931. She was sold for scrap on 28 August 1931 toThos. W. Ward ofInverkeithing,Scotland.^[5][8]

Calliope received onebattle honour, for the Battle of Jutland in 1916.^[5]

• Brown, David K. (1999).The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-315-X.
• 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, 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.
• 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.

• Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMSCalliope Crew List

• C-class cruisers
• Ships built in Chatham
• 1914 ships
• World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2018
• Use British English from March 2018