RKS Aiphaya (AC-1910)
The two Aiphaya class armoured cruisers were virtually obsolete before they were completed. They were like the semi-Dreadnoughts with four big (10") main guns with a decent secondary armament, eight 6.4". The problem was that the Invincible completed at the same time and made the two Aiphaya class look very ordinary. The years 1910-14 the ships were designated 'revenue cruisers' and operated in the Malacca Strait. The ships spent their war patrolling the Straits and with the anti-piracy patrols. Pretty much doing the same job their entire careers. 1924 and the two ships either had to be included in the Khmer Capital ship tonnage allocation or be scrapped/demilitarised. They were too big to be classed as heavy cruisers and Khmer did not have enough Capital ship tonnage to keep them. Worst of all they were the last big Khmer ships with triple expansion engines.
The two ships still had a part to play in the Khmer Empires defence of the realm. Palembang was the major oil port on Sumatra and would require defending against attack. These to ships were to be static defense units, tied up to the sea wall where their guns could cover the entrance to the port. The ships were then stripped of anything useful that would no longer be required. The big cranes were kept and used for maintaining long range flying boats and seaplanes.
By 1937 the ships were rotten. 15 years of bad maintenance had
taken its toll. The hulls were rusting out, with the sailors having a laugh "its
only the rust holding hands keeping the ship from falling apart" and "its the
hawsers and cables tied to the concrete mole that are stopping the ship from
sinking". Unfortunate comments but so very nearly true. The Navy command knew of
the problems but were loathe to spend any of the Navies hard won budget keeping
such old ships alive. By then (1937) new fortifications had been added around
the port utilising the 12" guns removed from the Liu class battleships. The
ships could be towed to Singapore and scrapped with the useful bits being
recycled to keep the budget keepers happy.
These two ships were stepping stones to the Seux and Cobra.
| Displacement | 13,500 tons std 16,800 tons full load |
| Length | 521 ft |
| Breadth | 71 ft |
| Draught | 27 ft |
| Machinery | 3 shaft, triple expansion engines, 28,000ihp |
| Speed | 25 knots |
| Range | 6000 miles at 10 knots |
| Armour | 6.7" side, 2.6" deck, 5.9" turrets |
| Armament | 4 x 10" (2x2) 8 x 6.4" (8x1) 8 x 75mm (8x1) replaced with 75mm AA 1930 8 x 25mm (8x1) replaced with 1925 model AA cannons |
| Torpedoes | 5 x 17.7" submerged |
| Complement | 825 |
| Notes | RKS Aiphaya RKS Thonglan |
Aiphaya was the Goddess of waterfalls. Her home was at Thee Lor Sue.
