H.M.S. Carlisle on the China Station

H.M.S. Carlisle was one of the five 'Capetown' class light cruisers ordered in 1917, none of which was completed in time to see service in the Great War. Carlisle was built by Fairfield's at Govan and, like her sisters, displaced 4,200 tons (5,220 fully loaded) and measured 451½ feet in length with a 43½ foot beam. Powered by two Brown Curtis SR geared turbines, she could make 29 knots at maximum speed and carried a main armament of 5-6 in. guns. Launched in July 1918 but not finished until that November, Carlisle served briefly in Home Waters before joining the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron in China in 1919 where she remained until her 1928 refit. Called out of Reserve in 1939, her Second World War service brought her numerous battle honours until her active service was brought to an end by Italian bombers in September 1943. Declared a constructive loss, she became a base ship at Alexandria until 1945 and was scrapped there in 1949.