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Pictures:
Invincible
Indomitable
Inflexible
The first true battlecruisers ever built, these ships were the most controversial ships of their time.
Pictures:
Indefatigable
New Zealand
Australia
To save time, these ships were a virtual repeat of the Invincible Class, but with a slightly stretched hull.
Pictures:
Lion
Princess Royal
Queen Mary
With an increase to 13.5" guns and a speed requirement of 27-knots, these ships were far larger than previous battlecruisers.
Pictures:
Tiger
No pictures available- ship cancelled
Leopard
Originally intended as a fourth ship of the
Lion Class, Tiger was radically redesigned
to be similar to the Japanese Kongo Class.
A sister ship was proposed but never ordered.
Fisher returned as First Sea Lord, and the
design of these ship was a reversion to the
original battlecruiser type.
Speed was tremendous, but protection was
completely inadequate.
Pictures:
Courageous
Glorious
Amoung the worst designs ever drawn up by
the British, they mounted four 15" guns
on an overgrown light-cruiser hull.
Both were converted to carriers in 1924-28.
Pictures:
Furious
If there was ever a worst design than the Courageous Class, this was it. Converted to a carrier before completion.
Pictures:
Incomparable Project
Designed along the same lines as the Renown and Courageous, this 1914 Fisher design
would have had 20-inch guns, 35-knot speed,
and little armor.
*** NEW JANUARY 2004 ***
Pictures:
Armstrong Design Number 811
Armstrong Design Number 813
Design studies for the next generation of British battlecruisers
Pictures:
Hood
No pictures available- ships cancelled
Anson
Howe
Rodney
Perhaps the most famous battlecruiser ever,
it was planned that HMS Hood would have three
sister ships.
She was the largest warship in the world
for nearly 20 years.
Pictures:
1921 Battlecruiser Design G3
Usually known by their design designation of G3, these revolutionary vessels were cancelled at the Washington Conference.
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