HMS Dublin, alongside Chatham

HMS Chatham (1911)

HMS Chatham was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 9 November 1911 from Chatham Dockyard. She was the lead ship of the Chatham subgroup....

 and Southampton

HMS Southampton (1912)

HMS Southampton was a Royal Navy warship that served in the First World War.Southampton was one of the third batch of "Town" class light cruisers, her sister ships were Dublin and Chatham...

, was a Town class

Town class cruiser (1910)

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...

 light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

 of the Chatham subgroup, each costing an average £334,053. She was laid down on 11 April 1911 by Wm. Beardmore & Company

William Beardmore and Company

William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...

 in Dalmuir

Dalmuir

Dalmuir is an area on the western side of Clydebank, in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.-Location:It is neighboured by the village of Old Kilpatrick, the Mountblow and Parkhall areas of Clydebank, as well as the town centre...

 (near Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

) Scotland. HMS Dublin was launched on 30 April 1912 and completed in March 1913.

Pre-war career

She was initially assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron in 1913 and then to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron in July 1913, operating in the Mediterranean. She was then reassigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron from September 1913 to the end of 1914.

Pursuit of the Goeben

Captain John Kelly pursued the German cruiser Goeben

SMS Goeben

SMS Goeben was the second of two Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben...

 to Messina (off the north coast of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

) on 4 August 1914 just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. On 6 August after having completed coaling, Dublin left Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 at 14:00 to join Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge

Ernest Troubridge

Admiral Sir Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge KCMG, MVO was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the First World War, later rising to the rank of admiral....

's squadron. At 20:30 she received orders to obtain the Goebens course and sink her during the night, by torpedoes if possible. Observing at a distance, Kelly expected to engage around 03:30 but the Goeben had unexpectedly altered course to the north. The chase was lost as a daylight attack would be suicidal; Goeben’s largest guns could accurately fire explosive shells up to 15 miles away.

Gallipoli and torpedoing

In February 1915, Dublin was sent to the Dardanelles

Dardanelles

The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...

 and subsequently assisted Implacable's

HMS Implacable (1899)

HMS Implacable was a Formidable-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, the second ship of the name.-Technical Description:HMS Implacable was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 13 July 1898 and launched on 11 March 1899 in a very incomplete state to clear the building way for construction of...

 landing assault upon Gallipoli

Battle of Gallipoli

The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...

, on 25 April 1915 at X Beach

Landing at Cape Helles

The landing at Cape Helles was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on April 25, 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, was the main landing area. With the support of the guns of the Royal Navy, a British division...

. She was then sent to Brindisi

Brindisi

Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...

 in May 1915. While taking part in a sweep off the Albanian coast, and whilst escorted by French and Italian destroyers, Dublin was hit and damaged by a torpedo from Austrian submarine U-IV

SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary)

SM U-4 or U-IV was a U-3-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War...

 on 9 June 1915. Dublin was able to get underway at 17 knots and to return to Brindisi but was out of action for several months and had to return to the UK for refit.

In home waters

Dublin served in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron alongside Southampton

HMS Southampton (1912)

HMS Southampton was a Royal Navy warship that served in the First World War.Southampton was one of the third batch of "Town" class light cruisers, her sister ships were Dublin and Chatham...

, Birmingham

HMS Birmingham (1913)

HMS Birmingham was lead ship of the Birmingham group of three ships of the "Town" class of light cruisers built by the Royal Navy. Her sister ships were and...

 and Nottingham

HMS Nottingham (1913)

The fifth HMS Nottingham was launched in 1913 and commissioned in 1914. A light Town class light cruiser of , in length and a complement of 401 men, she had thick armour plating and was armed with nine guns, one 13-pounder anti-aircraft gun and two torpedo tubes...

 with the Grand fleet (Home) from 1916 to 1919. Now under Captain Albert Charles Scott

Albert Charles Scott

Albert Charles Scott CBE , was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy.Scott was born in 1872 and was educated at Burgoyne House Academy. He subsequently entered the Royal Navy....

 1872-1969, later Vice Admiral; HMS Dublin 1916-1918), she participated 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...

 on 31 May 1916. During the subsequent night actions, Dublin fired 117 6-inch shells and along with Southampton, attacked and sank a destroyer. Both ships however sustained severe damage and three crew members were killed and 27 wounded when Dublin received five 5.9 shell inch hits from the SMS Elbing

SMS Elbing

The SMS Elbing was a German Pillau class light cruiser, named after the East Prussian city of Elbing. Intended for the Russian navy under the name Admiral Newelski , the ship was built at F. Schichau-Werft in Danzig in 1913-1914...

 and eight 4.1-inch shell hits from Stuttgart (possibly also Frauenlob

SMS Frauenlob

SMS Frauenlob was a Gazelle-class light cruiser in the German Imperial Navy. She was the second ship of that name, after a schooner launched in 1853.-History:Frauenlob was built at A.G. Weser in Bremen...

 and Hamburg). Subsequent repairs to Dublin were not completed until 17 June.

On 3 May 1917 in the North Sea, Dublin with HMAS Sydney

HMAS Sydney (1912)

HMAS Sydney was a Chatham class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . Laid down in 1911 and launched in 1912, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1913....

 and four destroyers (Nepean, Obdurate, Pelican, Pylades), left Rosyth

Rosyth

Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....

 for a sweep between the mouths of the Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 and the Humber

Humber

The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...

. At 10:25 Dublin observed the Zeppelin L43 about 17 miles away to the east, rapidly approaching a strange vessel; both cruisers promptly made for the enemy, opening fire on it at extreme range. At 10:54 Dublin saw the track of a torpedo passing ahead of her, at 11:12 a submarine was sighted, and at 11:15 another one was spotted, which fired two torpedoes at her. At 11:20 she sighted a third, which she engaged with her guns and on which she dropped a depth-charge. The Zeppelin made a direct attack: making for the stern of Dublin, and rising hastily as it flew, it endeavoured to obtain a position vertically above the cruiser in order to drop bombs on her - an attempt which was foiled by Dublins hurried swerve to starboard.

Post-war career

Dublin was then commissioned for the 6th squadron at the Africa Station from January 1920 until 1924, though she served for a short time in April with the 3rd squadron in the Mediterranean until being sent to the Reserve at Nore in 1924. She was sold to J.J. King at Troon

Troon

Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...

in July 1926 for scrapping, but Dublin ran aground on the way to the breakers. She was refloated in July 1927 and broken up later that year.