CRUISERS AND BATTLE CRUISERS Other Titles in ABC-CLIO’s WEAPONS AND WARFARE SERIES Spencer C. Tucker, Series Editor Air Defense, Shannon A. Brown Aircraft Carriers, Hedley Paul Wilmott Ancient Weapons, James T. Chambers Artillery, Jeff Kinard Ballistic Missiles, Kev Darling Battleships, Stanley Sandler Destroyers, Eric W. Osborne Helicopters, Stanley S. McGowen Machine Guns, James H. Willbanks Medieval Weapons, James T. Chambers Military Aircraft in the Jet Age, Justin D. Murphy Military Aircraft, 1919–1945, Justin D. Murphy Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918, Justin D. Murphy Pistols, Jeff Kinard Rifles, David Westwood Submarines, Hedley Paul Wilmott Tanks, Spencer C. Tucker CRUISERS AND BATTLE CRUISERS AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THEIR IMPACT Eric W. Osborne Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England Copyright 2004 by Eric W. Osborne All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Osborne, Eric W. Cruisers and battle cruisers : an illustrated history of their impact / Eric W. Osborne. p. cm. — (Weapons and warfare series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-85109-369-9 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-85109-370-2 (e-book) 1. Cruisers (Warships)—History. 2. Battle cruisers—History. I. Title. II. Series. V820.O83 2004 359.8’353—dc22 2004020200 07 06 05 04 03 02 10 987654321 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, Inc. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America. CONTENTS Introduction to Weapons and Warfare Series, Spencer C. Tucker vii Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii chapter one The Precedents to the Cruiser 1 chapter two The Development of the Cruiser, 1860–1905 25 chapter three Cruisers, 1905–1939 71 chapter four Cruisers, 1939–2004 121 Individual Cruiser and Battle Cruiser Models 167 Glossary 251 Selected Bibliography 255 Index 271 v INTRODUCTION TO WEAPONS AND WARFARE SERIES Weapons both fascinate and repel. They are used to kill and maim individuals and to destroy states and societies, and occasion- ally whole civilizations, and with these the greatest of man’s cultural and artistic accomplishments. Throughout history tools of war have been the instruments of conquest, invasion, and enslavement, but they have also been used to check evil and to maintain peace. Weapons have evolved over time to become both more lethal and more complex. For the greater part of man’s existence, combat was fought at the length of an arm or at such short range as to represent no real difference; battle was fought within line of sight and seldom lasted more than the hours of daylight of a single day. Thus individ- ual weapons that began with the rock and the club proceeded through the sling and boomerang, bow and arrow, sword and axe, to gunpowder weapons of the rifle and machine gun of the late nine- teenth century. Study of the evolution of these weapons tells us much about human ingenuity, the technology of the time, and the societies that produced them. The greater part of technological de- velopment of weaponry has taken part in the last two centuries, es- pecially the twentieth century. In this process, plowshares have been beaten into swords; the tank, for example, evolved from the agricultural caterpillar tractor. Occasionally, the process is reversed and military technology has impacted society in a positive way. Thus modern civilian medicine has greatly benefitted from advances to save soldiers’ lives, and weapons technology has impacted such ar- eas as civilian transportation or atomic power. vii viii SERIES INTRODUCTION Weapons can have a profound impact on society. Gunpowder weapons, for example, were an important factor in ending the era of the armed knight and the Feudal Age. They installed a kind of rough democracy on the battlefield, making “all men alike tall.” We can only wonder what effect weapons of mass destruction (WMD) might have on our own time and civilization. This series will trace the evolution of a variety of key weapons sys- tems, describe the major changes that occurred in each, and illus- trate and identify the key types. Each volume begins with a descrip- tion of the particular weapons system and traces its evolution, while discussing its historical, social, and political contexts. This is fol- lowed by a heavily illustrated section that is arranged more or less along chronological lines that provides more precise information on at least 80 key variants of that particular weapons system. Each vol- ume contains a glossary of terms, a bibliography of leading books on that particular subject, and an index. We hope that this series will be of wide interest to specialists, re- searchers, and even general readers. Spencer C. Tucker Series Editor PREFACE Cruisers have the most lengthy stories of any class of war- ship in maritime history; only battleships have been around for a longer period. This book is comprehensive and examines the devel- opment of cruisers from the eighteenth century to modern times. Not only is it a study of the technological development of these ves- sels; it also examines the impact of innovation on their use in both war and peace. The latter state of world affairs is just as important as the story of cruisers in combat because they serve in critical roles more often in peacetime than in periods of conflict. Finally, this book goes beyond the technological and operational history of cruis- ers to include the experiences of the human beings who crew the vessels. Despite great advances in technology, the cruiser is still a tool at the command of those that created it. The shipboard life of individuals, therefore, is a vital element of the history of cruisers. These elements collectively form a history of the cruiser that re- veals how its importance cannot be overestimated. During times of conflict from the eighteenth to the mid–nineteenth centuries, cruis- ers acted as reconnaissance vessels charged with locating an en- emy’s battle fleet and reporting its presence to its own force in order to initiate battle. Cruisers were also employed to protect trade routes and to attack enemy maritime commerce. Upon the introduc- tion of steam propulsion, iron (and later steel) as building materials, armor, and the torpedo during the second half of the nineteenth century, cruisers became larger, more expensive, and were charged with a greater number of duties. These new tasks included protect- ing the battle fleet against torpedo attack and eventually, with the advent of the battle cruiser, serving as part of the line of battle itself. Technological developments in the mid–twentieth century led to their also being used to protect aircraft carriers from air assaults and providing shore bombardment. Today, cruisers are among the ix x PREFACE largest, most powerful, most expensive, and most versatile surface warships in the navies of the major maritime powers. Cruisers are equally important through their roles in peace. In the absence of a state of hostility between nations, cruisers patrolled major trade routes on the oceans. In many cases in history, the maintenance of commercial lanes has been vital to a country’s eco- nomic well-being. Cruisers also serve as tools of global diplomacy through their ability to project the power of major maritime nations around the world. This book relies on a wealth of resources to detail the duties and development of cruisers. Among those are works dealing with naval technology, warfare, and foreign policies of the major maritime pow- ers. Technical manuals and books that examine design specifica- tions for cruisers are important and numerous. They are, however, not always accurate and must be cross-checked extensively with other works in order to obtain the most accurate data. Books on naval history are, of course, an absolute necessity. These include three specific types of works: those that examine the value of cruis- ers in grand strategy in war and peace, others that detail the use of cruisers in battle, and works that include information on life aboard the vessels. Information on this last topic includes not only general histories of shipboard life but also compilations of personal experi- ences of sailors. These resources are employed throughout this book in four chap- ters and a reference section. Chapter 1 is a history of the an- tecedents of cruisers. It examines the Age of Fighting Sail and the early steam era and focuses on the early eighteenth century to the mid–nineteenth century. Although cruising duties were attached to many warships during this period, the focus is on the frigate, the most commonly used vessel for cruising. Here the book details the duties of frigates in war and provides examples of how they fought. It also treats peacetime duties and describes the lives of the sailors that manned the vessels. This general history of the duties of frigates includes information on the impact of technological devel- opment. By 1800, the frigate had been altered by innovations in propulsion, weaponry, and hull construction. These improvements were the first steps toward the production of the first purpose-built cruiser by the United States in the mid–nineteenth century. Chapters 2–4 are devoted to a more detailed discussion of the de- velopment of the cruiser as a weapons system. Each chapter focuses on major technological developments that affected the design of cruisers and their operational roles.