RKS Singto (CL-1914)
The Singto (Lion) Class cruisers showed the world the inline cruiser advantage over the broadside cruiser. The Uthong required eight 5.5" guns to achieve a five gun broadside. The Singto, with all six guns on the centerline, had a full broadside of six guns, no wastage. 3" and 25mm cannons were the rest of the gun armament. Two pairs of the new 21" torpedo tubes completed the armament. The five ships of the class were to be fast as they were to be the scouts of the fleet. 30 knots was achieved with 40,000 shaft horse power. A 3" armoured belt was complemented with a 1.5" armoured deck, while the 5.5" had 1" gun shields.
The Singto class compared favourably with the UK 'C' classes.
The UK built 50, Khmer 5. The single 25mm on the bandstand in front of the
mainmast was replaced with a 3" AA gun in 1916/17. Otherwise not much was done
to the ships till 1934 when plans were made to upgrade the ships to AA cruisers
as escorts for the carrier force. More modern cruisers would take their place in
the 'revenue' gathering force. The rebuild would replace the 5.5", fore and aft,
with twin 4". Khmer did not have a heavy AA cannon till they bought the license
from Bofors for the 40mm in the later 1930's. Until then the single 3" and 1928
model 25mm were the next weapons down from the 4". The five ships retained the
twin torpedo tubes through to 1942 when they were removed to offset the
topweight added by the Radar aerials that started sprouting everywhere.
The ships started getting the 40mm refit in late 1939 and all five had completed
this by mid 1941. The first radar installations were also put aboard during this
period.
The big quad 40mm turrets were heavy and added to the topweight problems. What
made them able to be mounted was that the original guns in those positions were
the 5.5" guns which had the shell handling room underneath the guns. The endless
40mm clip-on belts could be handled in the area below the mounting. Some of the
topmast needed to be cut away to give some topweight relief.
| Displacement | 4,800 tons std 5,750 tons full load | ||
| Length | 453 ft | ||
| Breadth | 47 ft | ||
| Draught | 18 ft | ||
| Machinery | 4 shaft, steam turbines, 40,000shp | ||
| Speed | 30 knots | ||
| Range | 6000 miles at 10 knots | ||
| Armour | 3" side, 1.5" deck, 1" shields | ||
| Armament | 6 x 5.5" (6x1) 4 x 75mm (3x1) 1 x 75mm AA (1x1) swapped 1917 6 x 25mm mod 1910 (6x1) |
8 x 4" (4x2) 2 x 75mm AA (2x1) 16 x 25mm mod 1928 (16x1) |
8 x 4" (4x2) 8 x 40mm AA (2x4) 16 x 25mm mod 1938 (16x1) |
| Torpedoes | 4 x 21" (2x2) | 4 x 21" (2x2) | 4 x 21" (2x2) |
| Complement | 325 | 332 | 332 |
| Notes | RKS Singto RKS Seuxdaw RKS Cakawr RKS Seuxchitah RKS Chamd |
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The Singto (Lion) is a sign of Royalty in the Khmer Empire.
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Those are supposed to be Lions on the left and right of the shield.