World War I , one of the Town class, in 1917 By
World War I,
British light cruisers often had either two and perhaps eight
guns, or a uniform armament of 6-inch guns on a ship of around 5,000 tons, while German light cruisers progressed during the war from to guns. Cruiser construction in Britain continued uninterrupted until Admiral
"Jacky" Fisher's appointment as
First Sea Lord in 1904. Due in part to the desire to curtail excess expenditures in light of the increasing cost of keeping up with German naval production and in part because he felt the type to be outdated, Fisher authorized few new cruisers and scrapped 70 older ones. Fisher's belief that
battlecruisers would take the place of light cruisers to protect
commercial shipping soon proved impractical, as their high construction cost precluded their availability in sufficient numbers to do so, and destroyers were too small for scouting duties. The group of 21 cruisers begun in 1910 proved excellent in scouting in all types of weather and could carry enough fuel and ammunition to guard the
shipping lanes. The , launched three years later, was also successful. British designers continued enlarging and refining subsequent cruiser designs throughout the war. The
C class ships were started in 1913, and of these,
HMS Caroline remains - the only extant survivor of the
Battle of Jutland. The
Germans built a number of light cruisers in the belief that they were good multi-purpose vessels. Unlike the British, who built both long-range cruisers like the Town class for commerce protection and short-range "scout" cruisers for fleet support, the Germans built a single series of light cruisers for both functions. Compared to the British "scout" type the German ships were bigger, slower and less manoeuvrable but, through a successive series of classes, improved consistently in seagoing qualities. However, the Germans were very late in adapting 5.9-inch guns (not doing so until the of 1913);
Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz's recalcitrance over the issue overrode the desires of others in the
German Navy. For about a three-year period after the British
Weymouth class of the Town series, completed with a uniform armament of 6-inch guns, and before the German
Pillau class, German light cruisers (such as the and s) were faster but maintained a lighter 104 mm main armament compared to their British Town-class counterparts. With the
Pillau and cruisers the Germans followed the British example of heavier guns. Earlier German light cruisers were in competition with a series of British
scout cruisers which had a higher speed of 25 knots, but smaller 3-inch
12 pounder guns or 4-inch guns. The Germans completed the last two of their cruisers in 1906 and 1907 and followed them up with four and two s between 1905 and 1908. These last two classes, larger and faster than the
Bremens, were armed the same (ten 4.1-inch guns) and carried less deck armor. Other major powers concentrated on
battleship construction and built few cruisers. The
United States,
Italy, and
Austria-Hungary each built only a handful of scout cruisers while
Japan and
Spain added a few examples based on British designs;
France built none at all. During World War I, the Germans
continued building larger cruisers with 150 mm guns while the British
Arethusa class and early s reverted to an emphasis on superior speed with a more lightly armed design for fleet support.
Between the wars The United States resumed building light cruisers in 1918, largely because the ships it then had in service had become obsolete. The first of these, the ten ships, displaced 7,050 tons and were armed with twelve guns. Eight of these guns were mounted in double-story
casemates at the bow and stern, a reflection of the US prewar preference for heavy end-on fire. Fast and maneuverable, they were well-liked as seaboats despite being very wet in rough weather. The term light cruiser was given a new definition by the
London Naval Treaty of 1930. Light cruisers were defined as cruisers having guns of 6.1-inch (155 mm) or smaller, with
heavy cruisers defined as cruisers having guns of up to 8-inch (203 mm). In both cases, the ships could not be greater than 10,000 tons. of her
class After 1930, most naval powers concentrated on building light cruisers since they had already built up to the maximum limitations for heavy cruisers allowed under the Washington treaty. Japan laid down its four s between 1931 and 1934. The political climate from 1936 to 1939 gave the renewed building of light cruisers an added urgency. The British built 11 during this period, which culminated in the two ships, armed with 12 guns. The new ships were larger and better armored than other British treaty cruisers, with a belt in the Towns and were capable of 32.5 knots, but for the most part tried to stay within past treaty limitations. The US also attempted to follow treaty limitations as it completed seven of its nine s between 1938 and September 1939. These ships were an answer to Japan's
Mogamis and were an indication of rising tensions in the Pacific theater. Japan, now considering itself under no restrictions, began rearming its
Mogamis with 10 guns. They were thus converted into heavy cruisers.
World War II In
World War II light cruisers had guns ranging from the 5 inch (127 mm) of the US and 5.25 inch of the British anti-aircraft cruisers, up to 6.1 inch, though the most common size was 6 inch, the maximum size allowed by the London Naval Treaty for a ship to be considered a light cruiser. Most Japanese light cruisers had 5.5-inch guns and could hardly be considered to be in the same class as a U.S. Navy light cruiser twice the size and carrying more than two times as much firepower. The
Atlantas and
Didos were born out of the tactical need for vessels to protect aircraft carriers, battleships and convoys from air attack. The United States would move into full wartime production of the light cruisers of the
Cleveland-class of which 27 would be produced. Not willing to allow changes to slow production, the United States allowed ships of the class to be built seriously overweight. They provided AA screening for the fast carriers, shore bombardment, and anti-destroyer screening for the US fleet. They traded a main gun turret for additional AA, fire control, and radar installations, over the
Brooklyn class. ==Light cruisers today==