Design and Construction
Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser. The ship had a standard displacement of 5,400 tons, was 456 feet 103⁄8 inches (139.252 m) long overall and 430 feet (130 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 49 feet 10 inches (15.19 m), a maximum draught of 19 feet 7 inches (5.97 m), and a mean draught of 15.75 feet (4.80 m). The ship's company consisted of 485: 31 officers, and 484 sailors.
The propulsion machinery consisted of Yarrow boilers feeding Parsons steam turbines, which supplied 25,000 shaft horsepower to the ship's four propellers. Although only designed to reach 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), Melbourne was capable of sailing at 25.7 knots (47.6 km/h; 29.6 mph).
The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England on 4 April 1911. She was launched on 30 May 1912 by Mrs. F. F. Braund, daughter of Australian philanthropist Robert Barr Smith. Construction was completed on 18 January 1913, the same day Melbourne was commissioned into the RAN. The ship cost 405,000 pounds to build.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Melbourne (1912)
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