Selecting an armored cruiser as a flagship showed the type's rising status after the age of sail. Even a major global power found it difficult and expensive to deploy and sustain a first- or second-class battleship on a distant station for years. Nelson offered a more sustainable balance of command capacity, endurance, and combat power for prolonged complex missions. She was not the fleet's strongest ship, but with her squadron she could resist a stronger opponent long enough for the wider force to respond.
Notable Point · 19:09-21:02
Cruisers became the sustainable choice for overseas flagships
Nelson marks the cruiser replacing the ship-of-the-line or battleship as the more affordable and sustainable flagship for complex global missions.