H.M.S. Undaunted at Harwich

H.M.S. Undaunted was one of the eight 'Arethusa' class of light cruisers ordered in 1912 and whose completion broadly coincided with the outbreak of the Great War. The order for Undaunted went to Fairfields at Govan where she was launched in April 1914 and completed that same August, just as the War was getting underway. Displacing 4,400 tons (fully loaded), she measured 436 feet in length with a 39 foot beam and her powerful turbine engines gave her a maximum speed of 28½ knots. With a main armament of 2-6 in. and 6-4 in. guns, the entire 'Arethusa' class proved highly useful additions to the fleet and Undaunted herself was in action against German destroyers off the Flanders coast as early as 17th October 1914. Based at Harwich from 1915 until 1918, during which time she led first the 9th and then the 10th Destroyer Flotillas, she survived the War - despite two collisions - only to be sold for scrapping in 1923.