C Class Cruiser - The Calliope Class

The Calliope Class

The two ships of the Calliope sub-class - HMS Calliope and HMS Champion - were the last pair of the eight "light armoured cruisers" to be ordered in July to August 1914 under the 1913 Programme. They had all geared turbines, the first RN cruisers to be fitted with them. They also had increased belt armour and, Champion had just two screws. They were commissioned in mid to late 1915, as modifications to the Caroline with higher speeds and a more efficient boiler layout and the reduction in the number of funnels to two. The two ships had different machinery types for comparative purposes. Calliope and Champion underwent similar gun armament modifications to the Caroline class. They also had underwater tubes rather than the deck mounted weapons of the Caroline class and were given two twin deck mounted torpedo tubes during the war but these were later removed to reduce top weight.