HMS Blake (C99)
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| Missing image HMS_Blake_(Tiger-class_cruiser)_.jpg HMS Blake HMS Blake post-conversion | ||
| Career | 
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|---|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1942 | |
| Laid down: | August 1942 | |
| Launched: | December 1945 | |
| Commissioned: | March 1961 | |
| Decommissioned: | December 1979 | |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap August 1982 | |
| General Characteristics | ||
| Displacement: | 11,700 tons (12,080 tons after conversion) | |
| Length: | 555.5 ft | |
| Beam: | 64 ft | |
| Draught: | 23 ft | |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 4 shafts, 4 boilers, 80,000 shp | |
| Speed: | 31.5 knots | |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles at 16 knots | |
| Complement: | 716 (885 after conversion) | |
| Armament: | 4 x 6-in guns (2 later removed after conversion)
6 x 3-in guns (4 later removed after conversion) 2 x Seacat quad missile launchers (added after conversion) | |
| Aircraft: | 4 helicopters (originally Wessex then Sea King) | |
HMS Blake (C99) was a guided missile cruiser, the only type to have ever served in Royal Navy, and the last cruisers of the RN, known as the Tiger class. She was ordered in 1941 originally part of the Minotaur class of light cruisers. Blake was laid down in 1942. In 1944, Blake was renamed Tiger, then Blake again in 1945, the year she was launched partially constructed at Govan. Construction of Blake was suspended in 1946.
In 1954, construction of the ship recommenced and in 1961, Blake finally commissioned into the Royal Navy, the last cruiser to do so. Just two two years later she was placed in reserve. In 1965, she underwent a major conversion to become a Helicopter and Commando Cruiser. The conversion was completed in 1969. In 1971 she was present during the emotional Withdrawal from Malta, and in 1977 took part in the, so far, last Fleet Review of the Royal Navy during the Silver Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II, which took place off Spithead, site of many Fleet Reviews.
The cruiser was host to the Westland Wessex HAS MK3 helicopters of No. 820 Naval Air Squadron from 1969 until Blake was withdrawn from service in 1979, when the ship became the last ship in the Royal Navy to fire a six-in gun. Blake was refitted in 1980 and became part of the Standby Squadron, before being sold for scrap in 1982 due to defence cuts.
The ship was named after Admiral Robert Blake. See HMS Blake for other ships of the same name.
| Tiger-class cruiser |
| Blake | Lion | Tiger |
| List of cruisers of the Royal Navy |