Armoured Cruiser

Armoured Cruiser (formerly "cruiser" and then "1st class cruiser" or "1st class armoured cruiser") is a generic term for a fast ship that gained its speed at the expense of protection and armament relative to a battleship.

The name was a contemporary one, and explicitly demonstrates that the diversity of missions and demands for ships of various types had created roles for cruisers that required a substantial degree of protection as well as those that did not. The ones that did, and which would screen the battlefleet most closely in a fleet action were dubbed "Armoured Cruisers".

Obsolescence of the Term

In January 1913, the Royal Navy decreed that "Armoured Cruisers" and "Protected Cruisers First Class" should be collectively termed "Cruisers". The new naming scheme was to apply in the February Navy List.

See Also

• List of armoured cruisers
• Battlecruiser
• Light Cruiser
• First Class Protected Cruiser

Bibliography

• The National Archives. ADM 1/7377.
• The National Archives. ADM 1/8724/93.
• The National Archives. ADM 116/878.