Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large warships of the first half of the 20th century. They evolved from armored cruisers and in terms of ship classification they occupy a grey area between cruisers and battleships. Different nations built to widely different designs. Some battlecruisers were smaller than heavy cruisers while others were larger than contemporaneous battleships. The chief similarity was the role specification. They were supposed to hunt down and outgun smaller warships (or merchant ships in the case of the pocket battleships), and outrun larger warships that they could not outgun. Originally, to achieve this, they deviated from the standard practice of providing a ship with sufficient armour to protect against its own guns. The weight saving from the reduced armour allowed more powerful engines to be fitted. This idea was mainly conceived by British Admiral Jackie Fisher who believed "speed is the best protection". However, as technology developed design philosophy changed and led to the creation of more heavily armoured ships with less powerful guns. They were given different labels, but essentially performed the same task.

First World War

Battle of the Falklands

The original battlecruiser concept proved successful at the Battle of the Falkland Islands during World War I when the British battlecruisers Inflexible and Invincible did precisely the job they were intended for when they annihilated a German cruiser squadron commanded by Admiral Maximilian Graf Von Spee in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Related Topics:
Battle of the Falkland Islands - World War I - German - Maximilian Graf Von Spee

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Battle of Dogger Bank

The vulnerability of the battlecruiser began to become apparent at the Battle of Dogger Bank, during which the British flagship Lion escaped destruction only by emergency flooding of her magazines. A similar near-disaster occurred on the opposing side, but the Germans learned from the problem and instituted improved protections, while the British did not, to their great misfortune at the Battle of Jutland.

Related Topics:
Battle of Dogger Bank - ''Lion'' - Battle of Jutland

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Battle of Jutland

At the Battle of Jutland 18 months later, however, some of the British battlecruisers were employed as fleet units and engaged German battlecruisers and battleships before the arrival of the battleships of the British Grand Fleet. The result was a disaster for the Royal Navy's battlecruiser squadrons: Invincible, Queen Mary and Indefatigable exploded with the loss of all but a handful of their crews The German battlecruisers were better armoured, although Lützow was damaged and had to be scuttled, and Seydlitz was heavily damaged. No British or German battleship was sunk during the battle apart from the old German pre-dreadnought Pommern.

Related Topics:
Battle of Jutland - ''Invincible'' - ''Queen Mary'' - ''Indefatigable'' - ''Lützow'' - ''Seydlitz''

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