Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:02:34-1:03:53

A British cruiser at Graf Spee's true displacement

At roughly Graf Spee's full-load displacement, Britain could build a much heavier-gunned County derivative with 9.2-inch weapons.

9.2-inch GunsCounty Class CruisersDeutschland Class CruisersHeavy CruisersKriegsmarineRoyal NavyWarship Design
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Question

What would a Royal Navy cruiser look like if it could use the same tonnage as Graf Spee?

Short answer

It could resemble a larger County-class cruiser carrying perhaps nine to twelve 9.2-inch guns.

Notes

Graf Spee reached about 16,000 tons fully loaded, while a County-class cruiser was closer to 14,000. The additional displacement and freedom from treaty limits could support nine to twelve 9.2-inch guns. A twelve-gun battery would throw far more shells than Graf Spee's six 11-inch weapons and make a direct cruiser fight deeply unfavorable. The working comparison gives the British design roughly 2,000 more tons than a County.