The York class was the second and final class of heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. They were essentially a reduced version of the preceding , scaled down to enable more cruisers to be built from the limited defence budgets of the late 1920s.
It was initially planned to build seven ships of this class, though in the end only two were constructed—, started in 1927, and , started in 1928. Exeter differed in appearance from York because of late changes in her design. The remaining ships were delayed due to budget cuts, and then following the London Naval Treaty of 1930 the Royal Navy decided its cruiser needs were best met by building a greater number of yet smaller cruisers with 6–in guns.
While both ships served extensively in the first few years of the Second World War, it was Exeter that had the more notable career. Exeter took part in the Battle of the River Plate against the German raider , and was badly damaged, though later she was repaired and modernized. She escorted a convoy to the Pacific in late 1941, and was again heavily damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea, then caught and overwhelmed a few days later by four Japanese heavy cruisers. York was sunk in Souda Bay, Crete, by Italian MT boats in 1941, and was raised in 1952 and towed away to be scrapped in Italy.
Design
The Royal Navy had a need for smaller cruisers than the , the largest design possible under the Washington limits, in order that more could be built under the strict defence economies of 1920s Britain. From 1925 the Royal Navy planned a "Class B" cruiser (as against the 10,000-ton cruisers of Class A, such as the Counties.)
Protection
The armour of the York-class was slightly inferior to the preceding County class heavy cruisers, which included a , main belt and an armoured lower deck joining at its top edge. Over the magazine spaces, the belt thickened to , and the armour extended above the belt, with a magazine crown The turrets had armour to the face and crown, on sides and rear, and the barbettes on which the turrets sat had armour. The transmitting station was also covered by 1-inch armour. Exeter used a modified Mark II* mounting, limited to 50 degrees elevation.
The secondary armament consisted of four QF Mark V guns and two 2-pounder guns. Two triple torpedo tubes were carried. This was similar to the County class, with the exception that the Yorks carried two fewer torpedo tubes, because of the narrower beam.
Appearance
As a result of the magazine changes, and to keep the funnels distant from the bridge, only two funnels were required; the forward boiler room uptakes trunked up into a large fore-funnel. This was raked in York to clear the flue gases from the bridge, but was straight in Exeter owing to an altered bridge design and more extensive trunking. To maintain homogeneity of appearance, York stepped raked masts and Exeter vertical ones. York had a tall "platform" style bridge as seen in the Counties, which was somewhat distant from 'B' turret. This was because it had been intended to fit a catapult and floatplane to the roof of the turret, which needed clearance distance and required a tall bridge to provide forward view. The roof of the turret, however, was not sufficiently strong to carry this catapult and it was never fitted. Exeter was ordered two years later and the bridge was redesigned in light of this, being lower, further forward and fully enclosed, as later seen in the and classes.
York eventually received a rotating catapult amidships behind the funnels, and Exeter had a fixed pair in the same location, firing forwards and angled out from the centreline. A crane for recovery was located to starboard and one aircraft could be carried on York, initially a Fairey Seafox (two on Exeter) and later, on Exeter, two Supermarine Walrus.
Compared to the Counties, the Yorks saved 1,750 tons in net weight, but the reductions in cost of £250,000 and manpower of 50 was something of an uneconomical saving.
Ships
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Construction data
!scope="col"|Name
!scope="col"|Pennant
!scope="col"|Builder
!scope="col"|Laid down
!scope="col"|Launched
!scope="col"|Completed
!scope="col"|Fate
|-
!scope="row"|
|90
|Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company, Jarrow
|16 May 1927
|17 Feb 1928
|6 June 1930
|Scuttled following sustained attacks by Italian explosive boats, 22 May 1941; salvaged and scrapped, February 1952
|-
!scope="row"|
|68
|HM Dockyard, Devonport
|1 August 1928
|13 July 1929
|31 July 1931
|Sunk by Japanese ships in the Java Sea, 1 March 1942
|}
Service history
York
York saw various peacetime patrol duties during the interwar period, before partaking in World War II. She saw convoy escorting duties, before intercepting the German blockade runner Skagerrak, who scuttled herself before she could be captured. Although York did not directly participate in the Battle of Cape Passero, she partook in the aftermath of the engagement where she sank the disabled and abandoned Italian destroyer Artigliere. Several 283 mm (11.1-inch) shells from the pocket battleship slammed into Exeter, leaving her heavily listing and with only her aft 8-inch (203 mm) gun turret operational, as well as wiping out half of her torpedo crews, her spotting aircraft, and communication systems. Two days later, the crippled Exeter alongside the destroyers USS Pope and HMS Encounter ran into Haguro again, supported by her three sisterships, Nachi, Myōkō, and Ashigara. Exeter was hit by numerous 8-inch (203 mm) shells, the first of which blew up the rest of her engines and left her dead in the water, which resulted in her scuttling. She sank at 13:30.