From Wiki:
HMS Chester was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, and one of two ships forming the Birkenhead subtype. Along with her sister ship, Birkenhead, she was originally ordered for the Greek Navy in 1914 and was to be named Lambros Katsonis. The order was placed with Cammell Laird and production continued for the Greek account after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. In 1915, however, the two cruisers were purchased by the British government.
The two Greek ships differed from standard British practice in several ways: the main armament consisted of the new 5.5 inch (140mm) Coventry Ordnance Works gun. This weapon was significantly lighter than the standard 6 inch gun and fired an 85 pounds (39 kg) shell rather than the 100 pounds (45 kg) shell of the 6 inch weapon. It therefore had a higher rate of fire with little loss in hitting power. Chester adopted oil firing machinery which was novel practice for the Royal Navy at the time.
The ship was laid down on 7 October 1914, launched on 8 December 1915 and entered service in May 1916, three weeks before the Battle of Jutland. At Jutland she fought as part of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron and came under withering fire from German forces. She was hit by 17 150mm shells and suffered casualties of 29 men killed and 49 wounded; many of the wounded lost legs because the open backed gun-shields did not reach the deck and give adequate protection. Amongst the gun crew fatalities was 16 year old John Cornwell who received the Victoria Cross for his dedication to duty though mortally injured. Chester served with the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron until the Armistice and was subsequently placed in reserve. She was offered for re-sale to Greece but the offer was declined and the ship was sold for scrapping on 9 November 1921 to Rees, of Llanelly. The gun served by Cornwell is preserved in the Imperial War Museum in London.
![[ img ]](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ga49u2lu5b8hazc/CL_UK_HMS_Chester-1916.png?dl=1)
Hopefully, I will follow this drawing with the 1917-18 version with the flying off platform. The Chester had a different set-up for the flying off runway and 'hangar'.
If you wonder about the funny things all over the bridge, the Chester had anti-shrapnel mattresses fitted to the bridge structure.
