page_title: Town-class cruiser (1910)
section_title: Operational service
hierarchical_section_title: Town-class cruiser (1910) / Operational service
caption_attribution_description: IWM caption&#160;: Battle of Jutland 1916. In the distance the light cruiser HMS BIRMINGHAM can be see under fire from the German High Seas Fleet. She suffered only splinter damage.
context_page_description: The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy. These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire. These ships, initially rated as second class cruisers, were built to a series of designs, known as the Bristol, Weymouth, Chatham, Birmingham and Birkenhead classes – all having the names of British towns except for the RAN ships, which were named after Australian cities.
context_section_description: The class saw much service in the First World War and many of the ships left their mark on history. Ships of the class saw action at the Battles of Coronel, the Battle of the Falkland Islands and the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914. That same year, Sydney attacked SMS Emden in an action that lasted over an hour and resulted in the German warship being beached by her captain to avoid his ship sinking. Also that year, Birmingham became the first ship to sink a submarine when she rammed the German submarine U-15 on 9 August.
  In 1915, HMS Glasgow found SMS Dresden, which had escaped from the engagement at the Falkland Islands the previous year, in which Glasgow had helped in sinking SMS Leipzig. Dresden was eventually scuttled by her own crew after a short engagement. Ships of the class also took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915.
  In 1916, ships of the class also saw action at the Battle of Jutland, the largest surface engagement of the First World War . In 1917, a Sopwith Pup from HMS Yarmouth became the first aircraft from a cruiser to shoot down an aircraft, specifically the Zeppelin L23. The ships of the class saw more service than mentioned above, including action against German merchant ships. During the course of the war, two ships of the class were sunk: these were HMS Falmouth and HMS Nottingham, both torpedoed by German submarines.
  After the end of the First World War, the surviving ships performed a variety of duties, including service on foreign stations. All ships, except Adelaide, were scrapped by the 1930s. Adelaide saw an extensive refit between 1938 and 1939. However, Adelaide was obsolete when the Second World War began, and she saw limited service, performing patrol and escort duties in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. She was decommissioned in 1945, but recommissioned to become a tender at Sydney. She was broken up in 1949.
caption: HMS Birmingham under fire at the Battle of Jutland
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