great sea-keeping power and were superior in all respects to the vessels which caused them to be built. The first set comprised ten vessels of the “Monmouth” class, laid down in 1900 and 1901. Fig. 93 (Plate XXI.) gives a view of the “Cornwall,” which may be taken as typical of the class. They are of 9800 tons displacement, length 440 ft., beam 66 ft., mean draught 24 ft. 6 in. They are armoured with a belt of 6 in. of Krupp steel over the main part of the length, diminishing in thickness towards the extremities; they carry fourteen 6-in. Q.F. guns, of which ten are in 4-in. casemates, and the others mounted in pairs in turrets and gun-houses 4 in. thick, forward and aft; they also carry ten 12-pdr., eleven small and machine guns and two submerged torpedo tubes. Their horse-power is 22,000, giving them a speed of 23 knots.
They were followed by six vessels of the “Devonshire" class, laid down in 1902, which were given greater gun power and better armour protection to meet the corresponding advances in foreign vessels. They were of 10,850 tons displacement, 21,000 I.H.P. and 2314 knots speed; were armed with four 7·5-in. and six 6-in. Q.F. guns protected by 6-in. armour, and the armour belt was increased from 4 in. to 6 in. in thickness. These were the last armoured cruisers designed by Sir William White.
The next armoured cruisers built for the British navy, the six vessels of the “Duke of Edinburgh” type, laid down in 1903–1904, were of much greater power, of 13,550 tons displacement, 23,500 I.H.P. and 23 knots speed, and have a main armament of six 9·2-in. guns, mounted singly in barbettes. The secondary armament consists of ten 6-in. Q.F. guns in the first two vessels of the class, but in the remaining four vessels the ten 6-in. guns are replaced by four 7·5-in. guns. They also carry from twenty-five to twenty-nine 3-pdrs. and machine guns and three torpedo tubes. The guns and ship’s side are protected by 6-in. armour. In 1905 the “Minotaur” class (fig. 94, Plate XXI.) was laid down, consisting of three vessels of 14,600 tons displacement, 27,000 I.H.P. and 23 knots speed, carrying an armament of four 9·2-in. guns mounted in pairs in 7-in. barbettes forward and aft, and ten 7·5-in. guns all on the upper deck in shallow barbettes of 6-in. armour, with 6 in. enclosed shields. The belt armour is 6 in. thick amidships, tapering to 4 in. forward and 3 in. aft. These vessels are 490 ft. long, 7412 and 7512 ft. beam, 25 to 26 ft. mean draught, and are the last large cruisers to be propelled by reciprocating engines, or to be armed with 9·2-in. guns. They carry 1000 tons of coal on the load draught, and can stow 2000 tons of coal besides 700 tons of oil fuel.
Fig. 96.—Arrangement of Guns and Armour of H.M.S. “Invincible.”
The next cruisers to be built were the “Invincibles,” which might have been classed as battleships on account of their heavy armament and substantial armour protection; the former greatly exceeding in power the armament of any battleship before the “Lord Nelson,” and theDreadnought cruisers. latter exceeding that provided in any armoured cruisers. Their most striking feature, however, is their great speed, previously only reached by torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers, in which everything was sacrificed to obtain the highest possible speed. They were named “Invincible” (fig. 95, Plate XXI.), “Indomitable” and “Inflexible,” and were laid down in 1906 at the yards of the Elswick, Fairfield and Clydebank Companies respectively. Their dimensions were:—length 530 ft., breadth 78 ft. 6 in., draught 26 ft., displacement 17,250 tons. They were armed with eight 12-in. guns mounted in pairs in four barbette turrets placed as already stated in describing the development of the “Dreadnought.” design (see Table XIV. and fig. 96). Thus three pairs of guns can fire directly ahead, three directly astern, and the whole armament can fire on either broadside; In the “Invincible,” built at Elswick, all the heavy guns are worked by electric power; in the other vessels they are worked by hydraulic power as usual in H.M. Navy. An anti-torpedo boat armament of sixteen 4-in. guns is provided. The 12-in. guns are protected by 8-in. armour, and a broad belt of side armour is fitted 7 in. thick amidships, and 4 in. forward and aft, associated with thick protective decks. All are fitted with Parsons turbines of 41,000 H.P. and obtained over 27 knots on trial without pressing the boilers. The high steaming power of these ships was shown by the “Indomitable,” which conveyed King George V. and Queen Mary (then prince and princess of Wales) to Canada and back in 1908, and steamed. on her return journey across the Atlantic—from Belleisle to the Fastnet—at an average speed of 25·13 knots, a record speed at the time for a transatlantic voyage.
It is interesting to compare the “Indomitable’s” performance on the voyage referred to above with that of the “Hero”—a screw line-of-battle ship of 91 guns and 600 nominal horse-power, when employed on a similar errand. This ship was considered a crack ship of her class in 1860, and in that year was selected to convey King Edward VII. (then prince of Wales) on a visit to Canada; she made the passage from Plymouth to St John’s in 13 days under steam and sail, and this was considered an exceedingly good performance for a line-of-battle ship in those days.
In 1909 the “Indefatigable” of 18,750 tons displacement was laid down at Devonport; she is very similar to the “Invincible,” with the same armament and certain minor improvements. She was followed in 1910 by the “Lion” at Devonport and “Princess Royal” at Barrow, each 660 ft. long, 88 ft. 6 in. beam, and of 26,350 tons displacement on a draught of 28 ft. Parsons turbines of 70,000 H.P. are provided to give a sea speed of 28 knots. Table XVII. contains further particulars of the British “Invincibles,” from which it may be seen that the Australian cruisers “Australia” and “New Zealand” are similar to the “Indefatigable.”
With regard to cruisers of other navies than the British, it may be said that the vessels constructed at Elswick exercised considerable influence in their development as well as of those of the British navy. The “Esmeralda” (fig. 82, Plate XXIII.) of 1883, built for the Chilean government, but bought by Japan in 1895 and re-named “Idzumi,” was of 2950 tons displacement, had 6000 H.P. and 18·3 knots speed, was protected by a complete 1-in. steel deck, and carried the very heavy armament of two 10-in. B.L. guns, six 6-in. Q.F., two 6-pdrs., seven smaller guns and three torpedo tubes. The “Piemonte” (fig. 97. Plate XXIV.), built for the Italian navy in 1888, had a displacement of only 2640 tons, but was of 13,000 H.P. and had a speed of nearly 2212 knots. She was protected by a steel deck of 3 in. maximum thickness, and carried six 6-in. Q.F., six 4·7-in. Q.F., ten 6-pdrs., eleven smaller guns and three torpedo tubes, an armament which, as pointed out by Lord Armstrong, was capable of discharging in a given time twice the weight of shot and shell that could be fired by the largest war vessel then afloat. The “Buenos
