List of cruiser classes of the Royal Navy

This is a list of cruisers of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom from 1877 (when the category was created by amalgamating the two previous categories of frigate and corvette) until the last cruiser was deleted more than a century later. There are no longer any cruisers in the Royal Navy.

First class cruisers

Armoured cruisers were protected by a belt of side armour and an armoured deck. In the Royal Navy this classification was not actually used, the term first class cruiser being used instead for both armoured cruisers and large protected cruisers. Thus, the first class cruisers built between the Orlando class (1886) and the Cressy class (1897) were, strictly speaking, protected cruisers as they lacked an armoured belt. The first class cruiser was succeeded by the Battlecruiser in the Royal Navy.

Protected cruisers

Protected cruisers were so-called because their vital machinery spaces were protected by an armoured deck and the arrangement of coal bunkers. The ships below are all protected cruisers, but were rated as second and third class cruisers by the Royal Navy. The third class cruiser was not expected to operate with the fleet, was substantially smaller than the second class and lacked the watertight double-bottom of the latter. With the advent of turbine machinery, oil firing and better armour plate the protected cruiser became obsolete and was succeeded by the light cruiser.

Scout cruisers

The scout cruiser was a smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured cruiser than the protected cruiser, intended for fleet scouting duties and acting as a flotilla leader. Essentially there were two distinct groups - the eight vessels all ordered under the 1903 Programme, and the seven later vessels ordered under the 1907-1910 Programmes. The advent of better machinery and larger, faster destroyers and light cruisers effectively made them obsolete.

Light cruisers

The light armoured cruiser - light cruiser - succeeded the protected cruiser; improvements in machinery and armour rendering the latter obsolete. The Town class of 1910 were rated as second-class protected cruisers, but were effectively light armoured cruisers with mixed coal and oil firing. The Arethusa class of 1913 were the first oil-only fired class. This meant that the arrangement of coal bunkers in the hull could no longer be relied upon as protection and the adoption of destroyer-type machinery resulted in a higher speed. This makes the Arethusas the first "true example" of the warship that came to be recognised as the light cruiser. In the London Naval Treaty of 1930, light cruisers were officially defined as cruisers having guns of 6.1 inches (155 mm) calibre or less, with a displacement not exceeding 10,000 tons.

Heavy cruisers

The heavy cruiser was defined in the London Naval Treaty of 1930 as a cruiser with a main gun calibre not exceeding 8 inches. The earlier Hawkins class were therefore retrospectively classified as such, although they had been initially built as "improved light cruisers".

Large light cruisers

The "large light cruisers" were a pet project of Admiral Fisher to operate in shallow Baltic Sea waters and they are often classed as a form of battlecruiser.

Minelaying cruisers

These "minelaying cruisers" were the only purpose-built oceangoing minelayers of the Royal Navy.

Through deck cruisers

Although at times called "through deck cruisers", the Invincible class of the 1980s were small aircraft carriers.

See also

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