Battlecruiser - Background

Background

The battlecruiser was developed by the British Royal Navy in the first years of the 20th century as a dramatic evolution of the armoured cruiser. In the late 1890s, technical developments including the introduction of Krupp face-hardened steel armour meant it was finally possible to build an armoured cruiser which could withstand the fire of 6-inch quick-firing guns. In 1896 and 1897, France and Russia, technically allies, started to build large, fast armoured cruisers which outclassed all others afloat, which could threaten trade routes, work closely with a battleship fleet and in some circumstances could even confront a battleship. Britain, which had concluded in 1892 that it needed twice as many cruisers as any potential enemy to adequately protect its empire's sea lanes, responded to the perceived threat by laying down its own large armoured cruisers. Between 1899 and 1905, it completed or laid down seven classes of this type, a total of 35 ships. This building program, in turn, prompted the French and Russians to up-scale their own construction. Also, the Germans began to build large armoured cruisers for use on its overseas stations, laying down eight of them between 1897 and 1906.

Both the cost and the size of the main guns for these new cruisers were rising. In the period 1889–96, the Royal Navy spent £7.3 million on new large cruisers. From 1897 to 1904, it spent £26.9 million. As for gun calibers, Japan designed its four Tsukuba class cruisers to carry four 12-inch (305 mm) guns, a caliber normally ascribed to battleships, after it had used armored cruisers successfully in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. The United States Navy had already planned its Tennessee class cruisers with four 10-inch (254 mm) guns. The British also considered 10-inch and 12-inch guns for its Minotaur class cruisers, the culmination of its building program, before staying with the 9.2-inch (234 mm) guns of previous classes.

In 1904, Admiral John "Jacky" Fisher became First Sea Lord, the senior officer of the Royal Navy. He had for some time thought about the development of a new fast armoured ship. He was very fond of the "second-class battleship" Renown, a lighter, faster battleship. As early as 1901, there is confusion in Fisher's writing about whether he saw the battleship or the cruiser as the model for future developments. This did not stop him from commissioning designs from W.H. Gard for an armored cruiser with the heaviest possible armament for possible use with the fleet. The design Gard submitted was for a ship between 14,000 and 15,000 tons, capable of 25 knots, armed with four 9.2-inch and twelve 7.5-inch (190 mm) guns in twin turrets and protected with 6 inches (150 mm) of armor along her belt and 9.2-inch turrets, 4 inches (100 mm) on her 7.5-inch turrets, 10-inch (250 mm) on her conning tower and up to 2.5 inches (64 mm) on her decks. However, British mainstream naval thinking between 1902 and 1904 was clearly in favour of heavily armoured battleships, rather than the fast ships that Fisher favoured.

The Battle of Tsushima proved conclusively the effectiveness of heavy guns over intermediate ones and the need for a uniform main caliber on a ship for fire control. Even before this, the Royal Navy had begun to consider a shift away from the mixed-calibre armament of the 1890s pre-dreadnought to an "all-big-gun" design, and preliminary designs circulated for battleships with all 12-inch or all 10-inch guns and armoured cruisers with all 9.2-inch guns. In late 1904, not long after the Royal Navy had decided to use 12-inch guns for its next generation of battleships because of their superior performance at long range, Fisher began to argue that big-gun cruisers could replace battleships altogether. The continuing improvement of the torpedo meant that submarines and destroyers would be able to destroy battleships; this in Fisher's view heralded the end of the battleship or at least compromised the validity of heavy armor protection. Nevertheless, armoured cruisers would remain vital for commerce protection

Of what use is a battle fleet to a country called (A) at war with a country called (B) possessing no battleships, but having fast armoured cruisers and clouds of fast torpedo craft? What damage would (A's) battleships do to (B)? Would (B) wish for a few battleships or for more armoured cruisers? Would not (A) willingly exchange a few battleships for more fast armoured cruisers? In such a case, neither side wanting battleships is presumptive evidence that they are not of much value" – Fisher to Selborne, 20 October 1904

Fisher's views were very controversial within the Royal Navy, and even given his position as First Sea Lord, he was not in a position to insist on his own approach. Thus he assembled a "Committee on Designs", consisting of a mixture of civilian and naval experts, to determine the approach to both battleship and armoured cruiser construction in future. While the stated purpose of the Committee was to investigate and report on future requirements of ships, Fisher and his associates had already made key decisions. The terms of reference for the Committee were for a battleship capable of 21 knots with 12-inch guns and no intermediate calibres, capable of operating from existing docks; and a cruiser capable of 25.5 knots, also with 12-inch guns and no intermediate armament, armoured like Minotaur, the most recent armoured cruiser, and also capable of working from the existing docks.