York - class cruiser The " York " class was the second and final class of – gunned heavy cruiser s built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty . They were essentially a reduced version of the preceding County class , scaled down to enable more cruisers to be built from the limited defence budgets of the late 1920s . It was initially planned to build seven ships of this class , though in the end only two were constructed — HMS " York " , started in 1927 , and HMS " Exeter " , started in 1928 . " Exeter " differed in appearance from " York " because of late changes in her design . The remaining ships were delayed due to budget cuts , and then following the London Naval Treaty of 1930 the Royal Navy decided its cruiser needs were best met by building a greater number of yet smaller cruisers with 6 – in guns . Both ships served in vigorously in the first few years of World War II . Most famously , " Exeter " took part in the Battle of the River Plate against the German raider " Graf Spee " , and was badly damaged , though later repaired and extensively modernized . Ultimately , both ships were lost in action by early 1942 . Design . The Royal Navy had a need for smaller cruisers than the County class , the largest design possible under the Washington limits , in order that more could be built under the strict defence economies of 1920s Britain . From 1925 the Royal Navy planned a " Class B " cruiser ( as against the 10 , 000 - ton cruisers of Class A , such as the Counties . ) The new design was to have a displacement of 8 , 500 tons , as opposed to the 10 , 000 tons of the County class . This weight saving was mainly to be accomplished by reducing the armament to six 8 - in guns ( as opposed to the 8 guns on the County class ) , and also by using a new Mark II mounting for the guns . Otherwise the new ships were to share all the main features of the preceding class . Propulsion . The economies in size allowed for a reduction in length and in beam over the Counties . Their engines were identical - four boilers in two boiler rooms providing steam for four Parsons geared turbines , generating 80 , 000 shaft horsepower . The design speed was , one knot faster than the County class . Protection . As the preceding County class cruiser s had virtually no armour , protection was added into the design and included a , main belt and an armoured lower deck joining at its top edge . Over the magazine spaces , the belt thickened to 4in , and the armour extended above the belt , with a 2 . 5 - in magazine crown The turrets had 2in armour to the face and crown , 1 . 5in on sides and rear , and the barbettes on which the turrets sat had 1in armour . The transmitting station was also covered by 1in armour . To shorten the belt length , the amidship magazine found on the Counties was removed ( reduced armament required less magazine space anyway ) . This armour scheme was generally equivalent to that of the County class , though thicker over the machinery spaces . Armament . The six 8 inch Mark VIII guns were mounted in three turrets . " York " used the Mark II mounting , which was intended to be 20 tons lighter than the Mark I mounting used on the earlier County class ships ; however , in fact it turned out to be heavier . The Mark II mounting was capable of firing at up to 80 degrees elevation for anti - aircraft barrage fire . However , this feature , which was also shared with the Mark I mounting , turned out to produce more mechanical headaches than were justified by its very marginal military utility . " Exeter " used a modified Mark II * mounting , limited to 50 degrees elevation . The secondary armament consisted of four 4in QF Mark V guns and two 2pdr guns . Two triple 21 - in torpedo tubes were carried . This was similar to the County class , with the exception that the Yorks carried two fewer torpedo tubes , because of the narrower beam . Appearance . As a result of the magazine changes , and to keep the funnels distant from the bridge , only two funnels were required ; the forward boiler room uptakes trunked up into a large fore - funnel . This was raked in " York " to clear the flue gasses from the bridge , but was straight in " Exeter " owing to an altered bridge design and more extensive trunking . To maintain homogeneity of appearance , " York " stepped raked masts and " Exeter " vertical ones . " York " had a tall " platform " style bridge as seen in the Counties , which was somewhat distant from ' B ' turret . This was because it had been intended to fit a catapult and floatplane to the roof of the turret , which needed clearance distance and required a tall bridge to provide forward view . The roof of the turret , however , was not sufficiently strong to carry this catapult and it was never fitted . " Exeter " was ordered two years later and the bridge was redesigned in light of this , being lower , further forward and fully enclosed , as later seen in the " Leander " and " Arethusa " classes . " York " eventually received a rotating catapult amidships behind the funnels , and " Exeter " had a fixed pair in the same location , firing forwards and angled out from the centreline . A crane for recovery was located to starboard and one aircraft could be carried , initially a Fairey Seafox and later , in " Exeter " , a Supermarine Walrus . Compared to the " County ' s " , the " Yorks " saved 1 , 750 tons in net weight , but the reductions in cost of £250 , 000 and manpower of 50 was something of an uneconomical saving .