Protected cruisers were a type of naval
cruiserA cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
of the late 19th century, so known because their deck armour offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above. They were less well protected than armoured cruisers which also had a belt of armour along the sides.
While the armoured cruiser evolved into the
battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
(and while
pre-dreadnoughtPre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleships were replaced by
dreadnoughtThe dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that battleships built after her were referred to as 'dreadnoughts', and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts. Her design had two...
s), the protected cruiser is considered the forerunner of the
light cruiserA light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
and
heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
types.
After the introduction of the
explosive shellA shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large solid projectiles previously termed shot...
, warships needed additional protection, and protected cruisers were constructed from about 1880.
In a protected cruiser, the armour was arranged on their decks inside the vessel, protecting the boilers and steam engines.
Typically protected cruisers displaced from 2,500 to 7,000 tons, and were armed with up to a dozen single guns of between 3.9 and 6 inches (100 to 152 mm) in calibre.
Protected cruisers were a type of naval
cruiserA cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
of the late 19th century, so known because their deck armour offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above. They were less well protected than armoured cruisers which also had a belt of armour along the sides.
While the armoured cruiser evolved into the
battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
(and while
pre-dreadnoughtPre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleships were replaced by
dreadnoughtThe dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that battleships built after her were referred to as 'dreadnoughts', and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts. Her design had two...
s), the protected cruiser is considered the forerunner of the
light cruiserA light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
and
heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
types.
Design features
After the introduction of the
explosive shellA shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large solid projectiles previously termed shot...
, warships needed additional protection, and protected cruisers were constructed from about 1880.
In a protected cruiser, the armour was arranged on their decks inside the vessel, protecting the boilers and steam engines.
Typically protected cruisers displaced from 2,500 to 7,000 tons, and were armed with up to a dozen single guns of between 3.9 and 6 inches (100 to 152 mm) in calibre. They were capable of speeds of 18–23 knots.
The first protected cruiser was the groundbreaking
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an ship
Esmeralda. Produced by a shipyard at
ElswickElswick is a ward of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in the western part of the borough, bordering the river Tyne. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove,...
, in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, owned by
ArmstrongSir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
, she inspired a group of protected cruisers produced in the same yard and known as the
Elswick cruisers. Her
forecastleForecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast.The syncope of the word, fo'c'sle , is common among nautical terms due to the nature of their pronunciation during the age of sail by sailors with strong accents and varying language skills.Among defensive troops on...
,
poop deckIn naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a cabin built in the aft part of the superstructure of a ship....
and the wooden board deck had been removed, replaced with an armoured deck.
Esmeralda 's armament consisted of fore and aft 10-inch (25.4 cm) guns and 6-inch (15.2 cm) guns in the midships positions. She could reach a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h), and was propelled by steam alone. Her displacement was less than 3,000 tons. During the two following decades, this cruiser type came to be the inspiration for combining heavy artillery, high speed and low displacement. (Perhaps surprisingly, the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
itself did not possess any Elswick cruisers, preferring either very large and heavily-armed "first-class" cruisers, or lightly-armed "second-" or "third-class" cruisers designed for trade protection duties.)
Around 1910, armour plate began to increase in quality and
steam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
engines, lighter and more powerful than previous
reciprocating engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2000 years...
s, came into use. Existing protected cruisers became obsolescent as they were slower and less well protected than new ships.
Oil firedFuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
boilers were introduced, making side bunkers of coal unnecessary and losing the protection they afforded. Protected cruisers were replaced by "light armoured cruisers" with a side armoured belt and armoured decks instead of the single deck, later developed into
heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s.
Protected cruisers in the United States Navy
The first protected cruiser of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
"New Navy" was the
USS AtlantaThe second USS Atlanta was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s.Atlanta was laid down on 8 November 1883 at Chester, Pennsylvania by John Roach & Sons; launched on 9 October 1884; sponsored by Miss Jessie Lincoln, the daughter of Secretary of War...
, launched in October 1884, soon followed by the
BostonThe fifth USS Boston, a protected cruiser, was launched 4 December 1884 by John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania, and commissioned 2 May 1887, Captain Francis M. Ramsay in command....
in December, and
ChicagoThe first USS Chicago was a protected cruiser of the United States Navy, the largest of the original three authorized by Congress for the "New Navy"....
a year later. A numbered series of cruisers began with
Newark (Cruiser No. 1)The first USS Newark was a United States Navy protected cruiser, the first modern cruiser in the US fleet.She was laid down by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 12 June 1888, launched on 19 March 1890, sponsored by Miss Annie Boutelle, the daughter of Congressman Charles A...
, although
Charleston (Cruiser No. 2)The second USS Charleston was a United States Navy protected cruiser — the first US protected cruiser to be built. Lacking experience in building steel cruisers, the design was commissioned from the British company W. Armstrong, Mitchell and Co...
was the first to be launched, in July 1888, and ending with another
Charleston,
Cruiser No. 22The third USS Charleston was a United States Navy St. Louis-class protected cruiser. She was launched 23 January 1904 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Miss H. Rhett, and commissioned 17 October 1905, Captain Cameron McRae Winslow in command...
, launched in 1904. The last survivor of this series is the
USS Olympia (C-6)USS Olympia was a protected cruiser in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War. She is most notable for being the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay. The cruiser continued in service throughout World War I and was decommissioned in 1922...
, preserved as a museum ship in Philadelphia.
The reclassification of 17 July 1920 put an end to the U.S. usage of the term "protected cruiser", the existing ships designated as plain "cruisers" with new numbers (so that the armored cruisers could retain their numbers unchanged).
Protected cruisers in the Royal Navy
The
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
rated cruisers as first, second and third class between the late 1880s and 1905, and built large numbers of them for that navy's trade protection requirements. For the majority of this time, such cruisers were built with a "protected", rather than armoured scheme of protection for their hulls. First class protected cruisers were as large and as well-armed as armoured cruisers, and were built as an alternative to the large first class armoured cruiser from the late 1880s till 1898. Second class protected cruisers were smaller, displacing 3,000–5,500 tons and were of value both in trade protection duties and scouting for the fleet. Third class cruisers were smaller, lacked a watertight double bottom, and were intended primarily for trade protection duties, though a few small cruisers were built for fleet scout roles or as "torpedo" cruisers during the "protected" era.
The introduction of
Krupp armourKrupp armour was a type of steel armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the 19th century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armor as the primary method of protecting naval ships.The initial manufacturing...
in six inch thickness rendered the "armoured" protection scheme more effective for the largest first class cruisers, and no large first class protected cruisers were built after 1898. The smaller cruisers, unable to bear the weight of heavy armoured belts retained the "protected" scheme up to 1905, when the last units of the
Challenger and
Highflyer class were completed. There was a general hiatus in British cruiser production after this time, apart from a few classes of small, fast scout cruisers for fleet duties. When the Royal Navy began building larger cruisers (>4,000 tons) again around 1910, they used a mix of armoured decks and/or armoured belts for protection, depending on class. These modern, turbine powered cruisers are properly classified as
light cruiserA light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s.
Surviving examples
A few protected cruisers have survived as
museum shipA museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
s:
- Aurora—St Petersburg
- HNLMS Bonaire
HNLMS Bonaire was a 4th class screw steamship of the Royal Netherlands Navy, now under restoration as a museum ship.Bonaire was built for the Royal Netherlands Navy as a steam frigate with barquentine rig and a retractable screw, and was launched at Rotterdam on 12 May 1877.From 1924 she served at...
—DelfzijlDelfzijl is a municipality and city in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is situated on the left bank of the river Ems estuary, which forms the border with Germany.- Population centres :...
, Netherlands
- USS Olympia
USS Olympia was a protected cruiser in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War. She is most notable for being the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay. The cruiser continued in service throughout World War I and was decommissioned in 1922...
—Philadelphia
- Bow section and bridge of Puglia—La Spezia
La Spezia is a city in the Liguria region of northern Italy, at the head of La Spezia Gulf, and capital city of the province of La Spezia. It is one of the major Italian military and commercial harbours, located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea...
See also
- Commerce raiding
Commerce raiding use naval forces to destroy the logistics of an enemy on the open sea, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them....
- Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser, or armoured cruiser , is a type of cruiser, a naval warship. The armored cruiser is protected by a belt of side armor, in addition to the armored deck and protective coal bunkers that define the protected cruiser.Armored cruisers were the chief combatants in two naval...
- Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
- Cruiser
A cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
- Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
- Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...