Machinery, speed, and the scout-cruiser label

The class displaced about 3,350 long tons and used twelve Yarrow boilers and Parsons turbines to produce 18,000 shaft horsepower across four shafts. Despite turbine propulsion, the ships were slightly slower than earlier scout cruisers, which weakens the literal case for calling them scouts. They carried both coal and fuel oil, with a stated endurance of about 4,100 nautical miles at ten knots. That combination of modest speed and useful range fits battle-squadron communications, flotilla support, and counter-destroyer protection.