The design combined speed, substantial light armament, short range, and suitability for confined waters. Those traits served hit-and-run attacks and threats to communications and convoy routes. Yet the requirement to break outward from the Adriatic demanded the ability to fight heavier opponents, making the ships punch above the normal scout-cruiser role. Meanwhile, the 20-knot Tegetthoff-class dreadnoughts could not supply the fast heavy support that the cruisers lacked.
Notable Point · 18:36-20:22
Fast cruisers and the problem of punching up
The cruisers could raid communications and convoys, but their mission also implied encounters beyond the strength of a normal scout cruiser.