The Eurylophe class showed that 6" twin turrets worked nicely on small cruisers. The Amazonian designers took the 6x6" inline design and redesigned it to take three twin 6" turrets, with a range of AA guns as the minor armaments. What came out was a nicely balanced design that other navies copied for their later light cruisers.
The first ships of the class were completed in early 1919 with the other five hitting peace time rates and not completing till 1921-23. Their first mission was to join the Eurylophe class in anti-piracy patrols. The Pirates had been active while the Fleet was away. The Sisterhood then warned those countries harbouring Pirate nests that if they did not clear them out themselves, then the Sisterhood may add their countries to the Empire. Not unsurprisingly piracy disappeared from the coast of Mu and Western South America.
The eight ships of the class went through various rebuilds and refits during the mid to late 1930's and all ended up, by 1941, with the same set of stats.
1940 and four of the ships join the two Antiope CV's and 2 x Phillipis BB's to go to the Mediterranean to join Admiral Cunningham's Fleet. The cruisers took part in the early battles against the Italians, screening the Fleet. This was through to 1941 when the Amazonian ships were withdrawn from the Med after receiving major damage, from Fliegerkorps X, to the capital ships. Once at Trincomalee two of the class went back to the Med and took part in the Crete debacle with one being sunk by German bombers carrying hundreds of troops from Crete. The Creusa was on its way back to the Amazonian ships in Sydney when it was diverted to join the ABDA cruiser force standing between the Japanese and Java. They did not stand for very long. The well drilled Japanese forces were too much for the ABDA force. At this stage the Allies had not learnt to be wary and on the lookout for the 24" Long Lance torpedoes. These torpedoes decimated the Allied line. Two hits on the Creusa and the old ship was ready to take the plunge. There were few survivors as the Japanese machine gunned the Amazon women in the water.
1942 and the remaining ships had their aircraft handling facilities and torpedo tubes removed and replaced with a quad 40mm mounting with a radar predictor. The 2 pounder mounting was removed and replaced with a twin 40mm and predictor. Another three twin 40mm would be added with the removal of the 20mm in 1943.
Biber - German mini sub used in the Channel against the D-Day landing forces.
Two more of the class would be lost. One off the beaches of Okinawa when it was hit and sunk by a Japanese kamikaze motor boat (Shinyo). The other by a Biber mini-sub off the D-Day beaches.
Japanese Shinyo suicide boat. Filled with explosive in the nose they could be deadly in the dark.
