The battlecruiser was the brainchild of Admiral Sir John ("Jacky") Fisher, the man who had sponsored the construction of the world's first "all big gun" warship, . He visualised a new breed of warship with the armament of a battleship, but faster, lighter, and less heavily armoured. The first three battlecruisers, the , were laid down while Dreadnought was being built in 1906.Roberts, pp. 19–25.
This design philosophy was most successful in action when the battlecruisers could use their speed to run down smaller and weaker ships. The best example is the Battle of the Falkland Islands where and sank the German armoured cruisers and almost without damage to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships.Gardiner, pp. 24–25. They were less successful against heavily armoured ships, as was demonstrated by the loss of Invincible, , and during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. All three ships were destroyed by more heavily armoured German battlecruisers,Gardiner, pp. 16–17, 24. with the British failure to prevent fires or explosions in the gun turrets from reaching the magazines also playing a role in the losses.
Of the battlecruisers built before the First World War, the Invincible class and Indefatigable class all had of armour on their waterline, a top speed of , and eight guns. The more advanced battlecruisers—the two Lion-class ships, Queen Mary, and —all had an armour belt of , speeds over , and eight guns.Roberts, pp. 76, 83, 112–113. The Renown and Courageous classes, built during the war, were begun when Admiral Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord for the second time in late 1914. Each of these classes in turn served as the fastest capital ships in the world and were heavily armed with four or six guns, but they paid for their speed and armament by having less armour than battleships.Burt 1986, pp. 291–315. was laid down during the war, but was extensively reworked with more armour based on the experience gained at the Battle of Jutland, and was not completed until after the war.Raven and Roberts, pp. 60–70.
Following the war, the British planned to build the G3 class, which had the same armament and armour as battleships of the time and were rated as battlecruisers only by comparison to the more heavily armoured and slower battleships also planned. They were cancelled as they exceeded the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty.Raven and Roberts, pp. 90–101. Of the first nine battlecruisers, only HMS Tiger survived the Washington Treaty and into the 1930s. The three Courageous-class ships were converted to aircraft carriers during the 1920s and only Repulse, Renown and Hood served in the Second World War as battlecruisers. All three went through substantial refits between the wars. Hood was lost in the battle of the Denmark Strait, Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft at the start of the war in the Pacific, and Renown survived the war to be scrapped in 1948.Campbell, pp. 64, 67–68, 72.
Key Main guns The number and type of the main battery guns Armour Waterline belt thickness Displacement Ship displacement at deep load Propulsion Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed in knots Service The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate Laid down The date the keel began to be assembled Commissioned The date the ship was commissioned
Invincible class
The Invincible-class ships were the first battlecruisersThese ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911, when they were re-designated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including cruiser-battleship, dreadnought cruiser, and battle-cruiser. See Roberts, pp. 24–25. in the world. The design resembled that of HMS Dreadnought, but sacrificed armour protection and one gun turret from the main battery for a speed advantage. During the First World War Inflexible and Indomitable participated in the unsuccessful pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean. Inflexible was recalled home shortly afterwards, but Indomitable remained off the Dardanelles to bottle up the German ships for the rest of 1914 before returning to the UK. Invincible and Inflexible were sent to the South Atlantic in late 1914 to hunt down the German East Asia Squadron and destroyed it at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Indomitable participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank in the North Sea in early 1915 while Inflexible was badly damaged during the opening stages of the Dardanelles Campaign. The ships formed the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron at Jutland where Invincible was destroyed by the explosion of an artillery magazine. The two surviving ships spent the rest of the war conducting patrols of the North Sea, as the High Seas Fleet was forbidden by the Kaiser to risk any more losses. They were put into reserve in early 1919 and sold for scrap on 1 December 1921.Burt 1986, pp. 48, 50–52, 54–58.
Ship Main guns Armour Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 8 × 12-inch (305 mm)Roberts, p. 83. Roberts, p. 112. Roberts, p. 44. Roberts, p. 76.2 April 1906Roberts, p. 41.20 March 1909 Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916Roberts, p. 122. 5 February 1906 20 October 1908 1 December 1921 1 March 1906 20 June 1908
Indefatigable class
The design of the Indefatigable class represented a modest reworking of the preceding s, featuring increased endurance and an improved cross-deck arc of fire for their midships wing turrets achieved by lengthening the hull. Like its predecessor, the design resembled the contemporary dreadnought, but sacrificed armour protection and one turret from the main battery for a 4-knot speed advantage. Originally was the only ship of the class, but and were later built as part of a scheme to improve the defense of the Dominions by having each Dominion purchase a "fleet unit" of one battlecruiser, three light cruisers, and six destroyers. New Zealand agreed to fund one battlecruiser and chose a modified Indefatigable design rather than the then being built for the Royal Navy.Roberts, pp. 28–29, 31.Lambert, pp. 64–67.
They spent most of the war patrolling the North Sea and participated in most of the battles there. Of the two, only New Zealand was in the United Kingdom when the war began. Indefatigable was in the Mediterranean, where she unsuccessfully pursued the German warships and as they sailed towards Turkey. New Zealand participated in some of the early actions in the North Sea, including the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the inconclusive Scarborough Raid. Indefatigable and New Zealand participated in the Battle of Jutland, where the former was destroyed by a magazine explosion after numerous hits from the battlecruiser . New Zealand patrolled uneventfully after Jutland, watching for the next appearance of the High Seas Fleet. She conducted Admiral Jellicoe on his tour of India and the Dominions after the war. New Zealand was sold for scrap in 1922 to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty.Campbell, p. 18.
Ship Main guns Armour Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 8 × 12-inch 6 inches 4 screws, steam turbines, 23 February 1909 24 February 1911 Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916 20 June 1910 19 November 1912 Sold for scrap, 19 December 1922Roberts, p. 123.
Lion class
The Lion class, nicknamed the "Splendid Cats",Preston, p. 29. were a significant improvement over their predecessors of the in speed, armament, and armour. The Lion-class ships were faster, exchanged the guns of the older ships for guns, and had a waterline belt thick versus the of the Indefatigables. These improvements were in response to the German , Germany's second class of battlecruisers, which were larger and more powerful than the first British battlecruisers of the Invincible class.Roberts, pp. 31–33.
HMS Lion served as the flagship of the Grand Fleet's battlecruisers throughout the First World War, except when she was being refitted or under repair.Campbell, p. 29. She sank the German light cruiser during the Battle of Heligoland Bight and served as Vice Admiral Beatty's flagship at the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. She was so badly damaged at the first of these battles that she had to be towed back to port by and was under repair for more than two months. During the Battle of Jutland she suffered a serious propellant fire that destroyed one gun turret, which had to be removed and rebuilt while the ship was under repair for several months.Campbell, pp. 29–32.
Princess Royal served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began and then was sent to the Caribbean to prevent the East Asia Squadron from using the Panama Canal. After the East Asia Squadron was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands by the two Invincible-class battlecruisers, Princess Royal rejoined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. During the Battle of Dogger Bank she scored only a few hits, although one directly crippled the German armoured cruiser , which allowed the enemy vessel to be caught and sunk by the concentrated fire of the British battlecruisers. Shortly afterwards Princess Royal became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Osmond Brock. She was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Both ships spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although they did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917. In 1920 they were both put into reserve and were sold for scrap a few years later under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Ship Main guns Armour Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 8 × 13.5-inch (343 mm) 4 screws, steam turbines, 29 November 1909 4 June 1912 Sold for scrap, 31 January 1924 2 May 1910 14 November 1912 Scrapped beginning 13 August 1923
HMS Queen Mary
HMS Queen Mary was similar to the Lion-class battlecruisers, though she was slightly larger and given more powerful engines to achieve the same speed as the earlier ships. Her secondary guns were better protected and some of her belt armour was redistributed. She was the last battlecruiser completed before the beginning of the war, and she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight shortly after the war began. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she unsuccessfully attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914. She was refitting during the Battle of Dogger Bank in early 1915, but participated in the next major fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Queen Mary hit the German battlecruiser early in the battle and burnt out one of that ship's rear turrets. Seydlitz later knocked out one of Queen Marys main guns. The German battlecruiser , in the meantime, had lost sight of her previous target in the haze and switched to Queen Mary. Within 10 minutes, Queen Mary was hit twice, exploding shortly afterwards.Campbell, p. 34.
Ship Main guns Armour Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned FateHMS Queen Mary 8 × 13.5-inch 9 inches Roberts, p. 45. 4 screws, steam turbines, 6 March 1911 4 September 1913 Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 1916
HMS Tiger