View source for HMS Centaur (1916)

{{other ships|HMS Centaur}}
{{short description|Royal Navy C-class light cruiser}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Centaur (1916).jpg
|Ship caption=''Centaur'' sometime between 1916 and 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship class=[[C class cruiser|C-class]] [[light cruiser]]
|Ship name=''Centaur''
|Ship namesake=[[centaur]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers Limited]]
|Ship laid down=24 January 1915
|Ship launched=6 January 1916
|Ship completed=August 1916
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=August 1916
|Ship decommissioned=October 1923
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=8 April 1925
|Ship decommissioned=March 1932
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sold February 1934 for [[Ship breaking|scrapping]]
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: 36 (Sep 15); 34 (Jan 18);<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J J |title=British Warships 1914–1919 |date=1972 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |page=48}}</ref> 10 (Apr 18); 63 (Nov 19)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |title=The Development of the British Royal Navy’s Pennant Numbers Between 1919 and 1940 |journal=Warship International |date=2024 |volume=61 |issue=2 |page=134–66}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship displacement=3,750 tons
|Ship length={{convert|446|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|42|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught={{convert|14.6|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*Parsons turbines
*Eight Yarrow boilers
*Four propellers
*40,000 shp
|Ship speed=28.5 knots
|Ship range=carried 300 tons (824 tons maximum) of fuel oil
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=329-336
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*5 × [[BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun|{{convert|6|in|adj=on|0}}]] (152 mm) guns
*2 × [[QF 3 inch 20 cwt|{{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on|0}}]] (76 mm) guns
*2 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|2-pounder]] (907g) guns
*1 × machine gun
*2 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=*3 inch side (amidships)
*2¼-1¼ inch side (bows)
*2-2½ inch side (stern)
*1 inch upper decks (amidships)
*1 inch deck over rudder
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
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}}
|}

'''HMS ''Centaur''''' was a [[C class cruiser|C-class]] [[light cruiser]] of the [[Royal Navy]] that served in the [[World War I|First World War]] and the [[Russian Civil War]].  She was the name ship of the ''Centaur'' group of the C-class of cruisers.

==Construction==
The [[Ottoman Empire]] had ordered a pair of [[scout cruiser]]s in 1914.  When the First World War started, construction was halted. A considerable amount of material had already been prepared, and much of this was used in the construction of HMS ''Centaur'' and her sister {{HMS|Concord|1916|6}}. Built by [[Vickers Limited]], ''Centaur'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] in January 1915 and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 1 January 1916.

==Service history==

===World War I===
Upon being [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] into the Royal Navy in August 1916, ''Centaur'' was assigned to the 5th Light Cruiser [[Squadron (naval)|Squadron]], which operated as a part of [[Harwich Force]] in the [[North Sea]] to defend the eastern approaches to the [[Strait of Dover]] and [[English Channel]]. On 5 June 1917 she and the light cruisers {{HMS|Canterbury|1915|6}} and {{HMS|Conquest|1915|6}} sank the German [[torpedo boat]] ''S20'' in the [[North Sea]] near the [[Geography of the North Sea|Schouwen Bank]] off [[Zeebrugge]], [[Belgium]]. On 13 June 1918 she struck a [[Naval mine|mine]] and had to undergo repairs at [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]].<ref>Preston, pp. 57, 59, 60</ref>

===Postwar===
After the First World War, ''Centaur'' was sent to the [[Baltic Sea]] in December 1918 to take part in the [[British campaign in the Baltic (1918-1919)|British campaign]] there against [[Bolshevik]] and German forces during the [[Russian Civil War]]. In March 1919, she was reassigned from Harwich Force to the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron in the [[Mediterranean Fleet]], recommissioning at [[Malta]] in June 1920 and [[Gibraltar]] in October 1922 to continue that service.<ref name="conways">Preston, p. 60</ref>

In October 1923, ''Centaur'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]], transferred to the [[Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)|Reserve Fleet]], and placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport Dockyard]]. After undergoing a refit in 1924 and 1925, she was recommissioned at [[Portsmouth]] on 8 April 1925 to serve as the [[flagship]] of [[Commodore (Royal Navy)#Historical|Commodore (D)]] – the officer in command of all [[destroyer]]s – in the [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Atlantic Fleet]], recommissioning in February 1928 and September 1930 to continue in this role. She was decommissioned again in March 1932 and placed in reserve at Portsmouth.<ref name="conways"/>

==Disposal==
''Centaur'' was placed on the sale list in 1933 and sold in February 1934 to King, of [[Troon]], [[Scotland]], for [[Ship breaking|scrapping]]. She arrived at their yards on 6 March 1934 to be scrapped.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-5267-9327-0 |edition=5th revised and updated|first2=Ben|last2=Warlow|first3=Steve|last3=Bush|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book |last1=Dunn |first1=Steve R. |title=The Harwich Striking Force: The Royal Navy's Front Line in the North Sea, 1914-1918 |date=2022 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-3990-1596-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After|year=2010|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-59114-078-8 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|first1=Antony|last1=Preston|author-link=Antony Preston|pages=1–104}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|HMS Centaur (1916)}}
*[http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Centaur.html Ships of the ''Centaur'' class]

{{C class cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centaur}}
[[Category:C-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:1916 ships]]
[[Category:World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom]]