by L.N.R.S. Member Glyn L. Evans
and Member, Honourable Company of Master Mariners
HMS Caroline in Alexander Dock, Belfast
The second ship to see, in Belfast’s Alexandra Dock, a short walk from Nomadic is the
decommissioned C-class light cruiser HMS Caroline. She too was built in 1914, not in Belfast, but on
the south bank of the River Mersey by Cammell, Laird Shipbuilders and Engineers, Birkenhead. In
what remains a record time (and unlikely to be beaten, judging by current performance levels) for a
British warship, her keel was laid down on 28th January, her launch took place on 29th September
and she was completed in December 1914. We can see her just prior to completion in dry dock, in a
contemporary advertisement for her builders, Cammell, Laird.
Caroline served in the North Sea throughout World War I, firstly joining the Grand Fleet at
Scapa Flow as leader of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla then becoming part of the 1st Light Cruiser
Squadron. With Captain Crooke in command, Caroline later joined the Grand Fleet’s 4th Light Cruiser
Squadron led by Commodore C E Le Mesurier in HMS Calliope. In this capacity Caroline saw action
at the Battle of Jutland, 31st May – 1st June 1916, and as such she is the last survivor of this action
still afloat. In June, 1919 she served on the East Indies Station until being placed in reserve in
February 1922. Coming out of reserve two years later she became the HQ and training ship for the
RNVR’s Ulster Division at Belfast. There, in 1924, her guns and boilers were removed by Harland &
Wolff.
Her usefulness to the Nation at large was not yet finished there as from 1939 until 1945
Caroline served as the Royal Navy’s HQ in Belfast Harbour,
being returned to the RNVR at the end of hostilities. She
was finally decommissioned in March 2011, her flag being
laid up at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.
Now part of the National Museum of the Royal
Navy, the ship has recently received a £12 million Heritage
Lottery Fund restoration grant. Externally, as you can see
from this photograph, she looked in remarkably good
shape when I saw her last year; a testament to her
Birkenhead builders, Cammell, Laird.
Extract from THE BULLETIN
Volume 59 No.4,
March, 2016