Q&A · 2:50:44

How fast battleships made battlecruisers less persuasive

The battlecruiser's speed-for-protection bargain weakens once battleships can approach its speed with far greater armour.

Question

Was Fisher's reasoning behind Invincible wrong, and should the armoured cruiser have developed differently?

Short answer

The original logic suited its time, but fast oil-fired battleships largely removed the battlecruiser's distinctive advantage.

Notes

Fisher's decision is regarded as understandable in its original setting. The difficulty comes when oil-fired battleships such as the Queen Elizabeth class offer nearly the same speed with much more armour. That combination reduces the value of accepting weaker protection for a battlecruiser's speed. In this interpretation, the fast battleship undermines the case for the type.