Centurion class protected distant imperial trade nodes

The class was not primarily intended to stand in the main battle line. Its job was to place affordable but powerful ships at the maritime nodes through which commerce raiders and protected trade would pass. Their armament and protection let them overmatch armored cruisers without imposing the operating cost of a first-class battleship. This cruiser-hunting role resembled that of earlier razee frigates and anticipated the later battlecruiser idea, although the Centurions lacked battlecruiser speed. Before radio, radar, or aerial reconnaissance, controlling chokepoints let these ships serve as cruiser hunters and distant-station flagships.