Forward-class cruiser

*Forward* class
Class overview
HMS Forward
Name:	Forward
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Adventure class
Succeeded by:	Pathfinder class
Built:	1903–05
In commission:	1905–21
Completed:	2
Scrapped:	2
General characteristics (as built)
Type:	Scout cruiser
Displacement:	2,850 long tons (2,896 t)
Length:	365 ft (111.3 m) (p/p)
Beam:	39 ft 2 in (11.9 m)
Draught:	14 ft 3 in (4.3 m)
Installed power:	16,500 ihp (12,300 kW) 12 Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	2 Shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement:	289
Armament:	10 × QF 12-pounder (76 mm) 12 cwt guns^{[Note 1]} 8 × QF 3-pounder (47 mm) guns 2 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Waterline belt: 2 in (51 mm) Deck: 0.375–1.125 in (9.5–28.6 mm) Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm)

The Forward-class cruiser was a pair of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Both ships participated in World War I; the vessels consisted of HMS Forward and HMS Foresight. Both ships survived the war, but were scrapped shortly after its end.

Background and design

In 1901–02, the Admiralty developed scout cruisers to work with destroyer flotillas, leading their torpedo attacks and backing them up when attacked by other destroyers. In May 1902, it requested tenders for a design that was capable of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), a protective deck, a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) and an armament of six quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 18 cwt guns, eight QF 3-pounder (47 mm) guns and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. It accepted four of the submissions and ordered one ship from each builder in the 1902–03 Naval Programme and a repeat in the following year's programme.^[1]

The two ships from Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company became the Forward class. Four more 12-pounders were added to the specification in August. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 365 feet (111.3 m), a beam of 39 feet 2 inches (11.9 m) and a draught of 14 feet 3 inches (4.3 m). They displaced 2,850 long tons (2,896 t) at normal load and 3,100 long tons (3,150 t) at deep load. Their crew consisted of 289 officers and other ranks.^[2]

The Forward-class ships were powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by a dozen Thornycroft boilers that exhausted into three funnels. The engines were designed to produce a total of 16,500 indicated horsepower (12,300 kW) which was intended to give a maximum speed of 25 knots.^[3] The scout cruisers soon proved too slow for this role as newer destroyers outpaced them. The ships carried a maximum of 500 long tons (508 t) of coal.^[4]

The main armament of the Forward class consisted of ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 18-cwt guns.^[5] Three guns were mounted abreast on the forecastle and the quarterdeck, with the remaining four guns positioned port and starboard amidships. They also carried eight 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.^[3] The ships' protective deck armour ranged in thickness from .375 to 1.125 inches (10 to 29 mm) and the conning tower had armour 3 inches (76 mm) inches thick. They had a waterline belt 2 inches (51 mm) thick.^[3]

Ships

HMS Forward - launched on 27 August 1904 and sold for scrap on 27 July 1921.
HMS Foresight - launched on 8 October 1904 and sold for scrap on 3 March 1920.

Notes

↑ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Footnotes

↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 99–101
↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 100, 294, 301
1 2 3 Chesneau & Kolesnik, pp. 84–85
↑ Friedman 2009, pp. 101, 294
↑ Friedman 2011, p. 112

Bibliography

Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
Corbett, Julian. Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. I (2nd, reprint of the 1938 ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum and Battery Press. ISBN 0-89839-256-X.
Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forward class cruiser.

Forward-class cruisers

Foresight Forward

Preceded by: Adventure class Followed by: Pathfinder class List of cruisers of the Royal Navy

British naval ship classes of the First World War

Aircraft/Seaplane carriers	Empress^S^V Riviera^S^V Engadine^S^V Ark Royal^S Ben-my-Chree^S^V Campania^S^V Raven II^S^V Anne^S^V Vindex^S^V Manxman^S^V Furious^M Pegasus^S^V Nairana^S^V Argus^S^V Vindictive^S^V

Dreadnought battleships	Dreadnought^S Bellerophon St Vincent Neptune^S Colossus Orion King George V Erin^S Agincourt^S Iron Duke Canada^S Queen Elizabeth Revenge

Pre-dreadnought battleships	Royal Sovereign Majestic Canopus Formidable Duncan King Edward VII Swiftsure Lord Nelson

Battlecruisers	Invincible Indefatigable Lion Queen Mary^S Tiger^S Renown Courageous Admiral^S^C Incomparable^X

Armoured cruisers	Cressy Drake Monmouth Devonshire Duke of Edinburgh Warrior Minotaur

Heavy cruisers	Hawkins

Light cruisers	Town^G Arethusa C^{G, C} Danae^C Emerald^A

Protected cruisers	Apollo Astraea Eclipse Blake Pearl Edgar Powerful Diadem Arrogant Pelorus Highflyer Challenger Topaze

Scout cruisers	Adventure Forward Pathfinder Sentinel Boadicea Blonde Active

Destroyer flotilla leaders	Swift^S Faulknor Marksman Parker Admiralty (or Scott)^C Thornycroft (or Shakespeare)^C

Destroyers	A^G B^G C^G D^G E^G F Cricket^G G H I K L Admiralty M Hawthorn M Thornycroft M Yarrow M Yarrow Later M R^G S^{G, C} Talisman V and W^{G, C}

Monitors	Marshal Ney Abercrombie Lord Clive Humber Gorgon M15 M29 Erebus

Minesweepers	Flower Racecourse Hunt 24^C

Gunboats	Fly Insect

Submarines	A B C D E F G H^C J K L^C M^C R^C Swordfish^S V

A All completed after the war C One or more completed after the war G Grouping of several classes M converted from Courageous class S Single ship of class V Conversions X Cancelled

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