RKS Seux (AC-1912)

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The Seux was the natural progression from the Aiphaya class cruisers. It was a one ship class as any sisters were deleted in favour of the Xiaowu class battleships. In the Khmer Navy this ship was always classed as a cruiser, titled as a Revenue Cruiser, as its main purpose was guarding and intercepting shipping using the Straits around Singapore for its tariff collections. From 1912 when the new term 'battlecruiser' was coined, Khmer continued to rate the ship as an armoured cruiser. Journals such as Janes Fighting Ships rated the Seux as a battlecruiser. The Seux was turbine engined and made its designed speed on a flat calm day with a following wind. The Seux and the two Aiphaya class made up the 1st (and only) Armoured Cruiser Squadron. At the start of World War One, the 1st Cruiser Squadron and the battlecruiser Cobra were held in the South China Sea in case Admiral Von Spee's cruisers came south. It was felt the 1st cruiser squadron and the Cobra would be more than enough to defeat Von Spee.

The Seux's 10" main guns were the same mark as those mounted in the Aiphaya class. The 10" gun in its twin turret was a very good weapon for a cruiser sized vessel. The Khmer weapon was based on the Italian 10" gun which in turn was taken from an Elswick UK weapon. The 10" was a 1908 model which could fire at about 2.5 rounds per minute of 550 pound, armor piercing, sized ammunition. The turrets allowed the guns to elevate to 25 degrees with a maximum range of 27,000 yards. Other weaponry carried by the Seux were single 5.5" shielded mountings, five a side. 75mm anti-torpedo boat guns, replaced in 1917 with 75mm AA guns. Finally six 25mm cannons. These had a low rate of fire compared to later models (1928 and 1938). Having the four torpedo tubes submerged in pairs, saved on deck space but meant the ship needed to be pointing in the right direction to fire the tubes.

Twin 10" under construction at the Singapore gun foundry.


The Seux went through to 1923 as Flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. It went in to dock for a much needed refit where the coal fired boilers were upgraded to oil fired boilers. It was during this phase that the importance of the Sumatran oil fields was recognised and steps were taken to defend Palembang which was the port where the oil flowed to and was transported from there to its final destinations. When the Seux emerged from its refit in 1924, the 1st Cruiser Squadron had become a one ship unit. The two Aiphaya class had been demilitarised and were now part of the Palembang defence force. Three light cruisers were added to the 1st CS to fill the gaps.



In 1929 after 17 years of service, the Seux was to be given a 15 year life extension refit. As with most of Khmer Navy rebuilds it was the command and control functions and tertiary armaments that got the bulk of the money spent on them. New bridge superstructures, tripod and gun directors gave the guns a much better chance of hitting their targets. It was the removal of the single 5.5" and their replacement with the twin 5.1" turrets that was the biggest change. The 5.1" was a new weapon and would go on to be fitted in dual purpose mountings just a few years later. The Seux was supposed to have had its low angle 5.1" replaced with the dual purpose weapons in a later refit, but the money was never made available to carry that work out. The 5.1" fitted had a barrage capability with 50 degree elevation but were not true AA guns. Because of this six of the 75mm AA guns were retained to provide a true AA weapon. The old 25mm 1914 model guns were removed and replaced with the latest 1928 model guns. The torpedo tubes were removed.

This was the condition of the ship when war broke out in 1939. All of the Khmer Navy were enforcing neutrality patrols in its waters through to Dec/1941 when Khmer was forced to take sides in the global conflict.
 

Seux in English is Tiger. Very appropriate for a ship with sharp claws..

 

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