Commerce protection shaped the Leander programme

W. H. Smith, Astley Cooper Key, and Lord Northbrook differed over whether new cruisers should follow the Comus or Iris pattern. Northbrook's board nevertheless continued a programme already shaped around merchant protection, beginning with four Leanders before the Mersey and Marathon types. The requirement reflected pressure from commercial and middle-class interests worried that hostile armoured cruisers might prey on British trade. The resulting ships could overwhelm unprotected cruisers and use torpedoes to threaten stronger armoured raiders even when a gun duel offered little hope of victory.