1:600 HMS Emerald in 1934, after a minor rebuild. Features to note are the excessively tall & bizarrely positioned funnels ( see below for an explanation ), the great length, the torpedo launchers mounted very far aft and the mast arrangements. There was no way either of the two ships of this class could be confused with any other ships, they were totally unique. � Andrew Arthur

1:600 HMS Enterprise, also in 1934. Note the completely different bridge from Emerald and the twin 6" turret. The 6" gun director was also fairly novel. The fore-mast rig was much lighter than that of Emerald, because unlike the latter, there was no armoured fore-top to support. � Andrew Arthur

1:600 HMS Emerald on June 6, 1944 : D-day. The new tripod mainmast and the foremast support AW type 286 RDF, AR type 282 / 285 have been added to the pom-pom / 4" directors. The amidships searchlight / control positions have been transposed and rebuilt, a new plane ( in D-day colours ) is carried and the side plating has been extended far aft to provide extra accomodation. Notice that the afty tubes too have been lost, and replaced by a rig for life-floats. � Andrew Arthur

Following the "Hawkins" Class were three ships of a new design, known as the "E" Class. There had been some speculation (erroneous as it turned out) that the Germans were planning a type of cruiser that could outpace the "C" and "D" Classes, and consequently in the "E" Class much was sacrificed for speed.
A speed of 32 knots at full load was specified, and to achieve this with an armament & protection roughly comparable to the "D" Class it was necessary to double the horsepower and increase the length of the hull by 100 feet - all this involving an increase of more than 50% in displacement.
To attain the required thrust the ships had four propeller shafts driven from two engine rooms. There were eight boilers in four boiler rooms, but the magazines supplying the beam 6" guns were placed between the first and second boiler rooms, and the magazines for the amidships gun between boiler rooms three and four. This meant that the forward boiler room lead to a small funnel behind the bridge, the two middle boiler rooms were trunked into a large funnel behind the first and about two-thirds of the ship down, a funnel similar to the first was fed from fourth boiler room. With an extra five feet added to the funnels in 1934, this accentuated their appearance and the "E" class were extremelly bizarre in appearance, and were some-what the "mad hatter" ( or rather "boy racer" ) units of the fleet, and were more akin to gigantic destrotyers than cruisers, and were ideal ships for working with and against the former.
The 6" guns were arranged ( originally ) in single mounts. The first two superfired forward, the upper gun being carried on the forward shelter deck. The next pair fired on the beams, just aft of the middle funnel, winged out for maximum fields of fire. The next gun was sqeezed in-between the after funnel and the catapult, with beam only firing arcs. The final pair of guns superfired, the upper on the main deck level and the lower on the quarterdeck. Three single 4" AA guns were carried as secondary armament, winged out on either beam abreast the after control tower, the other strangely positioned directly behind # 5 6" gun at the extreme of the main deck, effectively blocking main guns field of fire 5 degrees either side of aft! Four triple torpedo launchers were fitted quite far aft, one on either side of the after funnel and another pair on either side of the catapult aft.Lastly, a single pom-pom was carried in either bridge wing.
The guns were controlled from the fore-top, an armoured control position being carried on the tripod, and two long-base rangefinders were mounted one on either side of the bridge. A secondary control position ( also carrying the searchlight tower ) was installed just forward of the after funnel, the pole mainmast between them, moved when, during a refit, the installation of a large catapult between # 5 and 6 6" guns meant that the mainmast had to be moved forward of the third funnel. Around the tripod mast, a contemporary tiered bridge was built, and the pole foremast was carried at the head of this, behind the foretop.
In the early 1930's, Enterprise was fitted with a prototype twin 6" turret in place of her two forward single mounts; this was the turret later installed in the " Nelson", "Leander", "Amphion" and "Arethusa" classes. The shelter deck was removed, and the turret installed in place of it. This allowed the bridge to be rebuilt, a more modern box-bridge similar to that on Exeter being built, and farther forward. This allowed a new tripod mast to be stepped aft of the bridge, and this was lighter because it didn't need to support the armoured fore-top. The lack of the latter was due to the novel addition of an armoured, rotating rangefinder-director at the bridge head : a low-angle director-control tower ( LA DCT. )
A minor reconstructtion was undertaken in 1934, during which the catapult was enlarged ( causing the mainmast to be moved forward ), and the after control tower enlarged, to include an early type high-angle director for the 4" guns. The triple torpedoes were replaced by quadruple mounts giving them the heaviest torpedo armament of any RN ship.
Nothwithstanding their age and outlandish appearance these two ships were still the fastest cruisers in the RN at the outbreak of World War II, Emerald exceeding 32 knots in a full-power trial at full load in 1939.
During the war a tripod mainmast was built onto the after funnel, replacing the original pole mast. This was also supported by a new searchlight tower in the original HA director position, the two being transposed - a new director position being installed in a large superstructure right abaft the middle funnel. This position carried an AR type 282 RDF equipped pom-pom director on either side forward and a new AR type 285 RDF equipped HA director at the other end. Other RDF sets carried were AW type 286 at the mast heads, and SW type 273 ( amidships in Enterprise ) / type 271 ( bridge-head in Emerald. ) Enterprise only had SB type 284 on her LA director. The after pair of torpedo tubes were removed and a quad pom-pom was winged out on either beam, between the fore and middle funnel. A twin 20mm Oerlikon gun was added in either bridge wing, and a further four ( Emerald ) / six ( Enterprise ) single 20mm AA were carried aft, around the after funnel and catapult. Finally, the side plating was extended up to the fore funnel ( Enterprise ) / beam 6" guns ( Emerald ), to provide additional accomodation.
They served mainly in the Indian Ocean, although both returned to the UK early in 1944 to take part in the Normandy landings.