The Battlecruiser - Fisher's Folly Quiz

Answer: HMS Indefatigable

The battlecruiser was the brainchild of Admiral Sir John Fisher, the First Sea Lord, who envisaged a new type of ship intended to have the armament of a battleship, but the speed of an armoured cruiser. The purpose of these new ships would be to hunt down and destroy enemy cruiser squadrons, while having the pace to outrun any opposing battleship formations they may encounter.

The three ships of the 'Invincible'-class were laid down between February and April 1906, with 'Indomitable' entering service first in June 1908, 'Inflexible' in October 1908, and finally 'Invincible' in March 1909.

Answer: SMS Von der Tann

In 1906, Germany received intelligence regarding the specifications of Britain's brand new class of 'armoured cruisers' that had begun construction. Believing that they were fitted with 9.2 inch guns, as was the standard for British armoured cruisers of the period, the Imperial German Navy ordered 'Blücher'.

However, just before that ship was laid down, the true specifications of the 'Invincible'-class became known, and the new German cruiser was found to be outmatched even before construction had started.

As a consequence, Germany was forced to design yet another new ship, which it based on the British vessels. 'Von der Tann' was fitted with 11 inch guns, and was capable of up to 28 knots. Laid down in March 1908, the ship was commissioned in September 1910.

Answer: Australia

In 1909, the British Admiralty suggested that a series of "fleet units", mini squadrons consisting of a battlecruiser, three light cruisers and six destroyers, be set up by the dominions to aid in the defence of the Empire, and to serve as the core of their own national navies.

In December 1909, the Governor-General of Australia indicated to the British government that construction of the ships to make up such a fleet unit for Australia begin as soon as possible. To this end, an order was placed with the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank for the construction of an 'Indefatigable'-class battlecruiser to serve as the new fleet unit's flagship. HMAS 'Australia' was commissioned in June 1913 and, on 4 October the same year, led six ships of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy into Sydney Harbour for the first time.

However, although New Zealand also procured a battlecruiser, with HMS 'New Zealand' commissioned into the Royal Navy in November 1912, none of the other dominions procured warships under the fleet unit proposal.

Answer: SMS Goeben

In October 1912, Germany determined that it needed a means of projecting power in the Mediterranean region, and ordered the Imperial German Navy to establish a new Mediterranean Division. At the beginning of November of the same year, two ships, the battlecruiser 'Goeben' and light cruiser 'Breslau', sailed from Kiel for Constantinople to serve as the initial formation of the new unit.

The two ships undertook a number of flag-waving exercises in foreign ports during the period before the start of the First World War. Upon the start of the war, the two ships broke out of the neutral Italian port of Messina and, despite pursuit by the bulk of the British Mediterranean Fleet, were able to reach Constantinople. To prevent the ships then being interned by neutral Turkey, they were instead transferred to the Ottoman Navy, with 'Goeben' renamed as 'Yavuz Sultan Selim'.

Answer: Kongō

The 'Kongō' was ordered under Japan's 1910 Naval Expansion Bill to match the battlecruiser construction of other navies (primarily Britain and Germany) at the time. Although originally classed as battlecruisers, the four ships if the 'Kongō'-class were superior to other ships of the same type, particularly in terms of armour protection, which was close to battleship standards of the time. All four ships were classified as battlecruisers up to the end of the 1920s when, following major reconstructions, all four were reclassified as battleships. Each underwent a second major reconstruction in the mid-1930s, and all four saw service during the Second World War.

Answer: HMS Tiger

HMS 'Tiger' was originally ordered as a modified 'Lion'-class battlecruiser but, in 1911, when the Japanese Navy ordered the 'Kongō'-class, which proved to be superior to the Royal Navy's new ships, work on 'Tiger' was halted so that elements of the Japanese design could be incorporated into the design.

The original 'Tiger' was cancelled and a new ship ordered, which was laid down in June 1912, the first and, as it turned out, only ship of her design. 'Tiger' was eventually commissioned in October 1914, two months after the start of the First World War, and saw service at the Battle of the Dogger Bank and the Battle of Jutland. 'Tiger' was one of only four of the Royal Navy's battlecruisers to see extensive post-war service, after the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty cut numbers of capital ships. 'Tiger' was eventually paid off and sold for scrapping in 1931.

Answer: HMS Princess Royal

During the First World War, there was an expectation from both Britain and Germany that, at some point, a major fleet action between their two navies would take place. This occurred at the end of May 1916, when the British Grand Fleet and German High Seas Fleet faced each other in what came to be known as the Battle of Jutland (or Battle of the Skagerrak in Germany).

Although the fleet action is what the battle is perhaps best known for, the fiercest action was between the two opposing battlecruiser forces, which was the first to take place that day.

Although battlecruisers were known for their flimsy armour, which made them vulnerable to plunging shell fire, the loss of the three British ships is usually attributed more to the lax handling methods of ammunition and powder charges - all three suffered catastrophic explosions after being hit in their gun turrets.

While the German ships suffered significantly worse damage than the surviving British battlecruisers, all but one of them were able to regain their home port.

Answer: USS Saratoga

Although the loss of three British battlecruisers at Jutland indicated that the concept of the battlecruiser was potentially flawed, this did not stop countries continuing to order vessels of the type, even after the end of the First World War. In the Naval Act of 1916, intended to greatly expand the US Navy, a class of six battlecruisers was requested intended to act as fast escorts for the battle fleet. Construction of the new 'Lexington'-class finally began in 1920, incorporating elements from the design of the most recent British battlecruiser, HMS 'Hood'.

However, the expense of the new class, added to other projects being undertaken by the US Navy, saw a reluctance to continue the new ships to completion. Following the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, which imposed limits on the size of national battle fleets, the 'Lexington'-class was cancelled. But, the Treaty did permit each of the signatories to convert the two ships under construction and closest to completion into aircraft carriers.

As a result, 'Lexington' and 'Saratoga' were selected for conversion, with both commissioned in 1927.

Answer: USS Alaska

The initial impetus for what eventually became the 'Alaska'-class was the appearance in the early 1930s of a new German cruiser type - the 'Deutschland'-class (which were dubbed 'pocket battleships') mounted 11 inch guns and were capable of more than 25 knots, making them more powerful than other cruisers, and faster than most capital ships.

When Japan seemingly began work on a class of 'super cruisers' in the late 1930s that would outmatch anything the US Navy had on the drawing board, the United States began looking at the provision of new ships of a size between the traditional cruiser and battleship.

This eventually evolved into the 'Alaska'-class, which would be armed with 12 inch guns and capable of up to 33 knots, which would be used not just in the old battlecruiser role of destroying enemy cruisers, but also as large, fast escorts for aircraft carriers.

The first two ships, 'Alaska' and 'Guam', were commissioned in 1944 and saw service during the last year of the Second World War around the Pacific.

However, by the time they entered service, there was little use for them in the intended "cruiser-killer" role for which they had been designed. As a result, although the third ship, 'Hawaii', was launched, it was not completed, while the remaining three were cancelled. 'Alaska' and 'Guam' were decommissioned in 1947, and were sold for scrapping in 1961.

Answer: Kirov

In the late 1960s, the Soviet Navy saw a need to create a brand new type of warship that brought a range of capabilities, including anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-submarine, into a single hull as a counter to the increasing capabilities of the modern US Navy.

In December 1977, the first of these new ships, 'Kirov', which the Soviets classed as a "heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser", was launched, eventually being commissioned in 1980. The size of the new ship (displacing as much as a First World War battleship), led to Western commentators describing it as a "battlecruiser".

Its appearance was a significant impetus for the US Navy, which had nothing immediately comparable, to reactivate its four surviving 'Iowa'-class battleships. Two further 'Kirov'-class ships were commissioned prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with a fourth launched in 1989, and eventually commissioned in 1998.