Design
Australia was one of seven warships built to the Kent design of County-class heavy cruiser, which were based on design work by Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt. She was designed with a standard displacement of 10,000 tons, a length between perpendiculars of 590 feet (180 m), a length overall of 630 feet 4 inches (192.13 m), a beam of 68 feet 3 inches (20.80 m), and a maximum draught of 21 feet 4 inches (6.50 m).
The propulsion machinery consisted of eight Yarrow superheated boilers feeding Curtis high-pressure and Parsons low-pressure geared turbines. This delivered up to 80,000 shaft horsepower to the cruiser's four three-bladed propellers. The cruiser's top speed was 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), with a range of 2,270 nautical miles (4,200 km; 2,610 mi), while her economical range and cruising speed was 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).
The ship's company consisted of 64 officers and 678 sailors in 1930; this dropped to 45 officers and 654 sailors from 1937 to 1941. While operating as flagship, Australia's company was 710. During wartime, the ship's company increased to 815.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Australia (D84)
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