HMS Galatea (1914)

HMS Galatea was one of eight Arethusa-class cruiser (1913) light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She fought in the First World War, participating in the Battle of Jutland. Following the war, she was scrapped.

Design and description
The Arethusa-class cruisers were intended to lead destroyer flotillas and defend the fleet against attacks by enemy destroyers. The ships were 456 ft long overall, with a beam of 49 ft and a deep draught of 15 ft. Displacement was 5185 LT at normal and 5795 LT at full load. Arethusa was powered by four Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, which produced a total of 40000 ihp. The turbines used steam generated by eight Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about 28.5 kn. She carried 840 LT tons of fuel oil that gave a range of 5000 nmi at 16 kn.

The main armament of the Arethusa-class ships was two BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline fore and aft of the superstructure and six QF 4-inch Mk V guns in waist mountings. They were also fitted with a single QF 3-pounder 47 mm anti-aircraft gun and four 21 in torpedo tubes in two twin mounts.

Service history
She was launched on 14 May 1914 at William Beardmore and Company shipyard. On her commissioning she was assigned as the leader to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Harwich Force, guarding the eastern approaches to the English Channel. On 4 May 1916, she took part in the shooting down of Zeppelin L 7. At the Battle of Jutland, she was the flagship of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron under Commodore E.S. Alexander-Sinclair. She was the first ship to report the presence of German ships, triggering the battle. Galatea was also the first to receive a hit by the German light cruiser SMS Elbing, but no explosion occurred. She was sold for scrapping on 25 October 1921. Mount Galatea in Alberta, Canada is named after this ship.