Броненосные крейсера типа "Минотавр"

British class of armoured cruisers

The Minotaur class was a three ship class of armoured cruisers built in the first decade of the twentieth century for the Royal Navy. These were the last class of armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy, with that role being substantially replaced by the first battlecruisers. These initially served with the Home Fleet, generally as the flagships of cruiser squadrons. Minotaur became flagship of the China Station in 1910 and Defence served as flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean from 1912; Shannon remained at home as flagship of several different squadrons. When World War I began in August 1914, Defence participated in the pursuit of the German ships and and Minotaur hunted for the German East Asia Squadron and German commerce raiders in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Shannon remained with the Grand Fleet, as the Home Fleet was renamed, for the entire war. All three were present at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, where Defence was sunk with the loss of all men on board. The surviving pair spent most of the rest of the war assigned to the Northern Patrol unsuccessfully searching for German warships and commerce raiders. The pair were scrapped after the war.

The Minotaur class ships were the last armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy. They were significantly larger and more heavily armed than their predecessors, although their armour was reduced in an attempt to compensate for the additional weight of the armament. The design was criticized for this weakness as well as the wide dispersal of the turrets along the length of the ship. They have been described by naval historian R. A. Burt as "cruiser editions of the ", and by E. H. H. Archibald of the Greenwich National Maritime Museum as "armed in a manner that presented one of the most ferocious sights in the fleet". A planned fourth ship of the class, Orion, was cancelled due to financial pressures arising from the purchase of the Swiftsure class battleships. The Minotaur class displaced as built and at deep load. Defence and Minotaur had an overall length of 519 feet (158 m), a beam of 74 feet (23 m) and a mean draught of 26 feet (8 m). Shannon had 1 feet (0 m) more beam and one foot less draught than her sister ships to evaluate the theory that she might be faster with these proportions than her sisters. The class displaced more, was 13 feet (4 m) longer overall, was one foot broader in beam and had more freeboard than their predecessors of the At normal load they had a metacentric height of 3.05 feet (1 m), and at deep load, 3.25 feet (1 m). The Minotaurs were designed to carry 779 officers and enlisted men, but mustered 802–842 between 1908 and 1912. The ships were powered by a pair of four cylinder triple expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which developed a total of intended to give a maximum speed of The engines were powered by 24 water tube boilers with a working pressure of They carried a maximum of of coal and an additional of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, the ships could steam for at a speed of During her sea trials on 6 December 1907, Minotaur made her designed speed when she reached 23.01 knots from during her eight hour full power test. Shannon proved to be the slowest of the three and only reached from during her trial three days before Minotaurs.

The Minotaurs carried only four 50 calibre BL 9.2 inch Mk XI guns, compared to the six of the earlier ships, but the guns were mounted in twin hydraulically powered centreline turrets, which gave them the same four gun broadside as the Duke of Edinburghs. The guns had an elevation range of −5°/+15°. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of ; this provided a maximum range of with armour piercing (AP) shells. The rate of fire of these guns was up to four rounds per minute and the ships carried 100 rounds per gun. The secondary armament was much heavier than the older ships, with five single hydraulically powered turrets equipped with 50 calibre BL 7.5 inch Mk II guns mounted on each side. The guns could be depressed to −7.5° and elevated to +15°. Using 4crh AP shells, they had a maximum range of Their projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of at four rounds per minute. Each gun was provided with 100 rounds. They also mounted five submerged 18 inch torpedo tubes, two on each broadside, plus one mounted in the stern.

Armour in the Minotaur class was reduced compared to the earlier ships. The upper belt, considered superfluous after the elimination of the main deck casemates, was eliminated as were the transverse bulkheads that connected the waterline belt to the barbettes that protected the ships from raking fire. The waterline armour belt of Krupp cemented armour extended past the fore and aft 7.5 inch gun turrets; its lower edge was about 5 feet (2 m) below the waterline at normal load. Forward the armour was up to about 50 feet (15 m) from the bow when it was reduced to three inches; aft the belt armour was three inches thick all the way to the stern. In addition to this, the engine cylinders were protected by armour plates thick. The faces of the primary gun turrets were thick and they had sides. The face armour for the 7.5 inch turrets was also eight inches thick, but their sides were only thick. The main barbettes were protected by seven inches of armour as were the ammunition hoists, although the armour for those thinned to two inches between the lower and main decks. The thickness of the lower deck ranged from 1.5 inches on the flat amidships to two inches on the slope connecting it to the lower edge of the waterline belt for the length of the ship. At the ends of the ship, the thickness of the deck armour increased to two inches. The sides of the forward conning tower were 10 inches thick while those of the rear conning tower were three inches in thickness.

The funnels were raised 15 feet (5 m) in 1909 to eliminate smoke interference with the bridge. During 1915–16, a 12 pounder was fitted to the rear superstructure and a three pounder to the quarterdeck, both guns on high angle mounts for anti aircraft defence. In 1916, reinforcing legs were added to the foremast to support the weight of a fire control director; Shannon received her director that same year and Minotaur in 1917–18. In the last year of the war, the reinforced foremast was replaced by a stronger tripod mast and the 12 pounder was moved to the top of the forward turret.