H.M.S. CHATHAM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16336, 27 January 1921, Page 7

H.M.S. CHATHAM.

ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND. [Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND. January 26. The light cruiser Chatham, flagship of the New Zealand Division, arrived from Kngland this morning. Later in the afternoon Commodore Captain Alan G. Hotham, C.M.G., in full uniform, came ashore in the Harbour Board launch and was formally ■welcomed by Commander Williams, naval adviser to the New Zealand Government, representing t-lie naval authorities, and bv Air Heather, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board. Tlio party entered waiting motor-cars and were driven to Government House, where they were received by the Governor-General, and by Air Massey, on behalf of the Government. Subsequently Lord Jellicoe went aboard the Chatham, being received with the customary salute. The Chatham is one of several sister ships built at Chatham under the provisions, of the naval programme of 1911-12. The type was specially designee! to meet certain requirements of the oversea stations where cruisers of fair speed, quick-firing armament and economical coal consumption could bo advantageously employed, or alternatively kept in British waters to act as screens to the bigger ship squadrons, do scouting and patrol work, all of which duties the Chatham carried out during the war. She measures 430 ft in length, has a i beam.of 493 ft, a draught of 163 ft, and ' a displacement of 5400 tons at the load | line. At her speed trials she easily ran ! her contract speed of 25.9 knots, with J a little in hand for contingencies—all I of which she needed in the late war. when she ifas frequently put on her mettle. j With regard to protection, a. 3in steel i deck encloses her vitals. The main armament of the Chatham comprises eight Gin guns, and 'her secondary or j anti-iorrpedio armament includes four three-pounders, and during the war she was fitted with a 3in gun for antiaircraft work. During the war the boilers of the Chatham wore altered so as to allow a proportion of them being oil fired. 'Her bunkers have now space for 260 tons and her double bottom space for 1200 tons of oil. She has a torpedo equipment for the 12in weapon. Her keel was laid down on January 3. 1911, and she was completed for sen iu twenty months, at a cost of £349.538. When in full commission the Chatham carried a crew of 400 officers and men all told. She was remitted in August, 1920, at a cost of £170,000-