Editing Fiji-class cruiser (section)

==Design==
They were built to the limitations that the 1936 [[Second London Naval Treaty]] imposed on cruisers, which lowered the limit for a light cruiser set in the 1922 [[Washington Naval Treaty]] from 10,000&nbsp;tons to 8,000&nbsp;tons [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]]. Externally they appeared as smaller derivatives of the 1936 {{sclass2|Town|cruiser|1||1936}}s.

The ''Fiji''-class cruisers however, like the {{sclass|Minotaur|cruiser|4||1943}} that followed in the middle of the war, essentially carried the same armament on a 1,000-tons less displacement. The ''Fiji'' and ''Minotaur'' classes were very tight designs, built largely in war emergency conditions with little margin for any great updating postwar. The {{convert|62|ft|m|adj=on}} [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] imposing crippling limits.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The ''Fiji'' class were distinguishable from the Towns as they had a [[transom (nautical)|transom]] stern and straight [[Funnel (ship)|funnels]] and [[Mast (sailing)|masts]]; those of the Towns being raked. The armour scheme was revised from that of the Towns; the main [[Belt armor|belt]] now protected the ammunition spaces for the {{convert|6|in|adj=on}} guns but the belt itself was reduced to {{convert|3.5|and|3.25|in|mm|abbr=on}} in the machinery spaces. The [[BL 6-inch Mk XXIII naval gun|6-inch Mk XXIII]] [[gun turret]]s and ammunition spaces were laid out as per the [[Town-class cruiser (1936)#Edinburgh|''Edinburgh'']] group of the Town class, except the after turrets were positioned a deck lower as in the ''Southampton'' and ''Gloucester'' groups. The long trunk version of the triple 6-inch turret fitted to the ''Fiji'' class was 25 tons heavier than the 150-ton turret on the Group 1 & 2 Towns and further cramped the design. The supply of ammunition to the {{convert|4|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns was also improved, dispensing with the complicated conveyor system.

Due to the limited size of the ''Fiji'' class, a number of the ships had their [[Gun turret#Turret identification|'X' turret]] removed to fit additional light [[anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] (AA) guns. Ships of the first group were equipped with the [[HACS|High Angle Control System]] (HACS) for secondary armament AA fire while the ''Ceylon'' group used the [[Fuze Keeping Clock]] for AA fire control. Both groups used the [[Admiralty Fire Control Table]] for surface fire control of the main armament and the [[Admiralty Fire Control Clock]] for surface fire control of the secondary armament.<ref>Campbell, John, p. 15</ref> By the late 1940s most of the ''Fiji'' class had the updated [[List of World War II British naval radar#Type 274|Type 274]] 'lock and follow' surface fire control radar, which massively increased the chance of hits from the opening salvoes. In the 1950s (except during the [[Korean War]] and [[Suez crisis]]) no more than one of the MKXIII turrets was ever manned, with 'B' and 'Y' turrets mothballed due to the large number of crew required for their operation. This allowed for more liveable peacetime conditions by operating with a crew of 610–750 rather than the full wartime crew of 1,000–1,100.