General-Admiral(1873): 19th Century Cruisers p3

See why the General-Admiral class can claim to be the first armoured cruisers even though Russia did not begin with that concept.

The machinery arrangement shows a transitional cruiser combining compound steam power with a full sailing rig.

Compare protected and armoured cruisers through the class's defining waterline belt and central battery.

Review the class's displacement, speed, range, gun battery, and five-to-six-inch belt armour.

British observers read the novel Russian warship as an armoured commerce-raider threat and began considering a response.

Meet the General-Admiral's namesake and his place in the reforming politics of Alexander II's Russia.

The uncertain history of General-Admiral's Saint Petersburg builder illustrates the difficulty of tracing Imperial Russian industry.

Follow the sister ship from Far Eastern and Mediterranean deployments through training, minelaying, and depot service.

Learn why a Russian cruiser was named for a British prince with a substantial professional naval career.

Alfred's marriage to Alexander II's daughter explains the Russian connection commemorated in the cruiser's name.

See how the Baltic Shipyard's international industrial roots supported construction of the class's second cruiser.

Gerzog Edinburgski joins a multinational force intended to contain rebellion, war, and Russian expansion around Crete.

A multinational naval command evolved into an improvised governing council for Crete.

Watch the Royal Navy preserve freedom of action while modulating its support for multinational operations.

Assess the class's disputed claim to priority and its influence on later armoured cruisers, battlecruisers, and heavy cruisers.

A closing design exercise asks how late-1870s navies should answer Russia's new cruiser with the technology then available.