The Boadicea class was a two ship class of scout cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, consisting of HMS Bellona

HMS Bellona (1909)

HMS Bellona was one of two Boadicea class scout cruisers which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched from Pembroke Dockyard on 20 March 1909 and completed in February 1910....

 and HMS Boadicea

HMS Boadicea (1908)

HMS Boadicea was the lead ship of the Boadicea-class scout cruisers which served with the British Royal Navy. She was built at Pembroke Dockyard, being laid down in June 1907, launched on 14 May 1908 and commissioned in June 1909.-Design:...

. They were the first class to be fitted with turbine machinery, propulsion which became standard for all future cruisers . They were larger and heavier than the commercially designed pairs of the Adventure

Adventure class cruiser

The Adventure class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Adventure and HMS Attentive.-Design:...

, Forward

Forward class cruiser

The Forward class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Forward and HMS Foresight.-Design:...

, Pathfinder

Pathfinder class cruiser

The Pathfinder class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Pathfinder and HMS Patrol....

 and Sentinel

Sentinel class cruiser

The Sentinel class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy, and consisting of the ships HMS Sentinel and HMS Skirmisher.-History:...

 classes yet carried less armour and weaponry. Deck protection was limited to a partial plating over the machinery spaces.

Design

They were designed to serve with flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

s of destroyers, theoretically offering the ability to scout

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 ahead of the group and engage and destroy enemy destroyers with their heavier weaponry. The ships sported a four inch (102 mm) main armament, two guns in front of the bridge, two port and starboard just behind it and two more on the centre line towards the stern. HMS Boadicea was refitted during 1916 with four more 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns added to the waist of the ship and a three inch (76 mm) anti aircraft gun to counter the new threats from the air. This was later replaced with a 4 inch A/A gun.

Career

However elegant the theory, it proved flawed in practice. The cruisers lacked the speed of the destroyers they were supposed to escort. This negated the one great advantage of the destroyers - their relative speed - without increasing their hitting power. HMS Bellona was attached to the 2nd Flotilla from 1909 to 1912 but her top speed of 25 knots (49 km/h) was sluggish compared to the 27 knots (52.9 km/h) of the Acorn class

Acorn class destroyer

The Acorn class was a class of twenty destroyers of the Royal Navy all built under the 1909-1910 Programme, and completed between 1910 and 1911...

 destroyers she was supposedly scouting for. HMS Boadicea lagged even further behind her Acheron class

Acheron class destroyer

The Acheron class was a class of twenty-three destroyers of the British Royal Navy, all built under the 1910-11 Programme and completed between 1911 and 1912, which served during World War I. A further six ships were built to the same design for the Royal Australian Navy as River-class destroyers...

 destroyers, capable of up to 32 knots (62.7 km/h).

Both ships served during the First World War, fighting in the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

. Both were later converted to minelayer

Minelayer

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...

s. The class was followed by the two ships of the Blonde class

Blonde class cruiser

The Blonde class cruisers were a two ship class of light scout cruisers of the British Royal Navy. They were developments of the earlier Boadicea class class, though were slightly bigger with ten 4 inch guns as their main armament.-History:...

 of 1909 to 1911 - which proved to be even slower.

Ships

• Bellona
  HMS Bellona (1909)
  HMS Bellona was one of two Boadicea class scout cruisers which served with the Royal Navy. She was launched from Pembroke Dockyard on 20 March 1909 and completed in February 1910....
  
   - launched on 20 March 1909, converted to minelayer in June 1917 and sold on 9 May 1921.
• Boadicea
  HMS Boadicea (1908)
  HMS Boadicea was the lead ship of the Boadicea-class scout cruisers which served with the British Royal Navy. She was built at Pembroke Dockyard, being laid down in June 1907, launched on 14 May 1908 and commissioned in June 1909.-Design:...
  
  - launched on 14 May 1908, converted to minelayer in December 1917, on harbour service from January 1921, and sold on 13 July 1926.