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The ''York'' class was the second and final class of –gunned heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. They were essentially a reduced version of the preceding , scaled down to enable more cruisers to be built from the limited defence budgets of the late 1920s. It was initially planned to build seven ships of this class, though in the end only two were constructed—, started in 1927, and , started in 1928. ''Exeter'' differed in appearance from ''York'' because of late changes in her design. The remaining ships were delayed due to budget cuts, and then following the London Naval Treaty of 1930 the Royal Navy decided its cruiser needs were best met by building a greater number of yet smaller cruisers with 6–in guns.〔Marriott, p.35〕 While both ships served vigorously in the first few years of World War II, it was ''Exeter'' that had the more lively career. Most famously, ''Exeter'' took part in the Battle of the River Plate against the German raider , and was badly damaged, though later she was repaired and extensively modernized. She escorted a convoy to the Pacific in late 1941, and was again heavily damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea, then caught and overwhelmed a few days later by four Japanese heavy cruisers. ''York'' was sunk in Suda Bay, Crete during the British withdrawal in 1941, and was raised in 1952 and towed away to be scrapped in Italy. ==Design== The Royal Navy had a need for smaller cruisers than the , the largest design possible under the Washington limits, in order that more could be built under the strict defence economies of 1920s Britain. From 1925 the Royal Navy planned a "Class B" cruiser (as against the 10,000-ton cruisers of Class A, such as the Counties.)〔 The new design was to have a displacement of 8,500 tons, as opposed to the 10,000 tons of the County class. This weight saving was mainly to be accomplished by reducing the armament to six 8-in guns (as opposed to the 8 guns on the County class), and also by using a new Mark II mounting for the guns. Otherwise the new ships were to share all the main features of the preceding class.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「York-class cruiser」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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