During the first half of the 20th century, many navies constructed or planned to build battlecruisers: large capital ships with greater speed but less armor than dreadnought battleships. The first battlecruisers, the, were championed by the British First Sea Lord John Fisher and appeared in 1908, two years after the revolutionary battleship .[1] In the same year, Germany responded with its own battlecruiser, .[2] Over the next decade, Britain and Germany built an additional twelve and six battlecruisers, respectively.[3] Other nations joined them: entered service for the Royal Australian Navy in 1913,[4] Japan constructed four ships of the from 1911 through 1915, and in late 1912 Russia laid down the four s, though they were never completed.[5] Two countries considered acquiring battlecruisers in this time, but chose not to: France looked at several battlecruiser design studies in 1913 and 1914,[6] and the United States ordered six s in 1916 that were never built.
The British and German battlecruisers were used extensively during World War I between 1914 and 1918, including in the Battles of Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank, and most famously in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916, where one German and three British battlecruisers were sunk.[7] The Japanese battlecruisers did not see action during the war, as the German naval presence in the Pacific was destroyed by the British in the early months of the war. Britain and Germany attempted to build additional battlecruisers during the war—the for the former, and the and es for the latter—but changing priorities in favor of smaller warships prevented their completion.[8] At the end of the war, the German High Seas Fleet was interned and subsequently scuttled in Scapa Flow.[9]
In the immediate aftermath of World War I, Britain, Japan, and the United States all considered new battlecruiser construction, including the British G3 class, the Japanese, and a revised version of the American Lexingtons. In the interest of avoiding another crippling naval arms race, the three countries, along with France and Italy, signed the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, which included a moratorium on new capital ship construction. A clause in the treaty, however, gave the British, Japanese, and Americans a chance to convert several of their battlecruisers into aircraft carriers.[10] [11] Only a handful of battlecruisers survived the arms limitation regime. In the 1930s, several navies considered new "cruiser killer" battlecruisers, including Germany's, the Dutch Design 1047, and the Soviet . The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 put a halt to all these plans.[12]
During the war, the surviving battlecruisers saw extensive action, and many were sunk. The four Japanese Kongō-class ships had been rebuilt as fast battleships in the 1930s, but all were sunk during the conflict.[13] Of the three British battlecruisers still in service, and were sunk, but survived the war.[14] [15] The only other battlecruiser in existence at the end of the Second World War was the ex-German, which had been transferred to Turkey during the First World War and served as Yavuz Sultan Selim.[16]
Several new wartime classes were proposed, including the Japanese Design B-65 class, and the American, two of which were built before the end of the war.[17] The Alaskas were officially classified as "large cruisers", but many naval historians refer to them as battlecruisers. In the postwar drawdown of forces, Renown and the two Alaskas were withdrawn from service and eventually scrapped;[18] Only Yavuz Sultan Selim, the last surviving battlecruiser in the world, lingered on until the early 1970s, when she too was sent to the shipbreakers. Only one country, the Soviet Union, considered building battlecruisers after the war. The three ships, championed by Joseph Stalin, were laid down in the early 1950s, but were cancelled after his death in 1953.[19] However, in the 1970s, the Soviet Union began the construction of a class of very large guided missile cruisers, much larger than any other surface combatant[20] built since the Second World War. This new type, the, although designated as a "heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser" by the Soviet Navy, was generally referred to in the West as a "battlecruiser".[21] [22]
The list of battlecruiser classes includes all battlecruisers listed in chronological order by commission. Classes which did not enter service are listed by the date of cancellation or last work on the project.
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery guns | |
| Armor | The maximum thickness of the belt armor | |
| Displacement | Ship displacement at full combat load | |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated | |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate | |
| Laid down | The date the keel began to be assembled | |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned[23] |
See main article: List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| 8 × 12-inch (305 mm)[24] | 6inches[25] | 20420LT[26] | 4 screws, steam turbines, 25knots[27] | 2 April 1906[28] | 20 March 1909 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916[29] | ||
| 5 February 1906 | 20 October 1908 | Sold for scrap, 1 December 1921 | ||||||
| 1 March 1906 | 20 June 1908 | |||||||
| 8 × 12-inch | 6 inches | 22430LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 25knots | 23 February 1909 | 24 February 1911 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916 | ||
| 20 June 1910 | 19 November 1912 | Sold for scrap, 19 December 1922[30] | ||||||
| 8 × 13.5-inch (343 mm) | 9inches | 30820LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28knots | 29 November 1909 | 4 June 1912 | Sold for scrap, 31 January 1924 | ||
| 2 May 1910 | 14 November 1912 | Scrapped, beginning 13 August 1923 | ||||||
| 8 × 13.5-inch | 9 inches | 31844LT[31] | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28knots | 6 March 1911 | 4 September 1913 | Exploded at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916 | ||
| 8 × 13.5-inch | 9 inches | 33260LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28knots | 6 June 1912 | 3 October 1914 | Sold for scrap, February 1932 | ||
| 6 × 15-inch (381 mm) | 6 inches[32] | 32220LT[33] | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31.5knots | 25 January 1915[34] | 20 September 1916 | Sold for scrap, August 1948 | ||
| 25 January 1915 | 14 November 1916 | Sunk by Japanese air attack, 10 December 1941 | ||||||
| 4 × 15-inch | 22560LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 32knots | 28 March 1915 | 28 October 1916 | Sunk by, 17 September 1939 | |||
| 1 May 1915 | 14 October 1916 | Sunk by the German battleships and, 8 June 1940 | ||||||
| 2 × 18-inch (457 mm) | 22890LT | 8 June 1915 | 26 June 1917 | Sold for scrap, 15 March 1948 | ||||
| 8 × 15-inch | 12 inches | 46680LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31knots | 1 September 1916 | 15 May 1920 | Sunk by the, 24 May 1941 | ||
| HMS Anson | 9 November 1916 | Suspended, March 1917[35] | Cancelled, 27 February 1919[36] | |||||
| HMS Howe | 16 October 1916 | |||||||
| HMS Rodney | 9 October 1916 | |||||||
| G3 battlecruiser | 9 × 16-inch (406 mm)[37] | 14inches | 53909LT | 4 screws, steam turbines, 31knots | Ordered 26 October 1921[38] | — | Cancelled, February 1922[39] | |
See main article: List of battlecruisers of Germany.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | |||||||||||
| 8 × 28cm (11inches) | 25cm (10inches) | 21300MT[40] | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 27.75 knots (51 km/h) | 21 March 1908[41] | 1 September 1910 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1930s and scrapped at Rosyth | |||||||
| 10 × 28 cm[42] | 28 cm | 25400MT | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28.4kn | 7 December 1908[43] | 30 August 1911 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth[44] | |||||||
| 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28kn | 28 August 1909 | 2 July 1912 | Transferred to the Ottoman Empire on 16 August 1914, scrapped, 1973 | ||||||||||
| 10 × 28 cm[45] | 30.5 cm | 28550MT | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28.1 knots (51 km/h) | 4 February 1911[46] | 22 May 1913 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1928 and scrapped at Rosyth | |||||||
| 8 × 30.5cm (12inches)[47] | 31200MT | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 25.5kn | 30 March 1912[48] | 1 September 1914 | Scuttled in Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1939, broken up after 1946 | ||||||||
| 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 26.4kn | May 1912 | 8 August 1915 | Scuttled after severe damage at the Battle of Jutland, 1 June 1916 | ||||||||||
| 31500MT | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 26.6kn | 1 October 1913 | 10 May 1917 | Scuttled in Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1930, scrapped 1930–1932 | |||||||||
| SMS Mackensen | 8 × 35abbr=onNaNabbr=on[49] | 35300MT | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28kn | 1914 | — | Struck, 17 November 1919, broken up, 1922 | |||||||
| SMS Graf Spee | 1915 | Struck, 17 November 1919, broken up, 1921–22 | |||||||||||
| SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich | Broken up, 1921 | ||||||||||||
| SMS Fürst Bismarck | Struck, 17 November 1919, broken up, 1922 | ||||||||||||
| Ersatz Yorck | 8 × 38cm (15inches)[50] | 38000abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 27.3kn | 1916 | — | Scrapped 26 months before completion | |||||||
| Ersatz Gneisenau | 1916 | ||||||||||||
| Ersatz Scharnhorst | Scrapped 26 months before completion | _ | |||||||||||
| align= left | O | align= center rowspan="3" | 6 × 38.1cm (15inches)[51] | align= center rowspan="3" | 19cm (07inches) | align= center rowspan="3" | 35400LT[52] | align= left rowspan="3" | 3 screws, 8 × 24 cylinder diesel engines, 1 steam turbine, 35kn | — | align= left rowspan="3" | Canceled after the outbreak of World War II | |
| align= left | P | ||||||||||||
| align= left | Q | ||||||||||||
See main article: List of battlecruisers of Japan.
| - valign="center" | Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| 8 × 140NaN0[53] | 8inches[54] | 275000NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 27.5knots (later 30.5knots)[55] | 17 January 1911 | 16 August 1913 | Torpedoed in Formosa Strait, 21 November 1944[56] | ||
| 4 November 1911 | 4 August 1914 | Scuttled following Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942[57] | ||||||
| 17 March 1912 | 19 April 1915 | Sank following Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 15 November 1942[58] | ||||||
| 16 March 1912 | 19 April 1915 | Sunk by air attack, Kure Naval Base, 28 July 1945 | ||||||
| 10 × 16.10NaN0[59] | 10inches | 460000NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30knots | 16 December 1920 | — | Reordered as aircraft carrier; damaged in earthquake; canceled and scrapped | ||
| 6 December 1920 | December 1923 | Reordered and completed as aircraft carrier Scuttled at Midway | ||||||
| Atago | 22 November 1921 | — | Canceled and scrapped | |||||
| Takao | 19 December 1921 | |||||||
| Yard number 795 (not named) | 9 × 12.20NaN0[60] | 7.5inches | 34000LT | 4 screws, geared turbines, eight boilers, 34knots | — | 1945 (projected) | Not ordered due to war | |
| Yard number 796 (not named) | — | 1946 (projected) | ||||||
See main article: List of battlecruisers of Russia.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Launched | Fate | ||||||||
| Izmail (Russian: Измаил|italic=yes) | 8 × 14 in[61] | 237.5mm[62] | 366460NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 26.5knots | 19 December 1912[63] | 22 June 1915 | Scrapped, 1931[64] | |||
| (Russian: Бородино|italic=yes|links=no) | 31 July 1915 | Sold for scrap, 21 August 1923[65] | ||||||||
| Kinburn (Russian: Кинбурн|italic=yes|links=no) | 30 October 1915 | |||||||||
| Navarin (Russian: Наварин|italic=yes|links=no) | 9 November 1916 | |||||||||
| (Russian: Кронштадт|italic=yes|links=no) | 6 × 38 cm[66] | 230mm | 428310NaN0[67] | 3 screws, steam turbines, 32knots[68] | 30 November 1939 | — | Ordered scrapped, 24 March 1947[69] | |||
| Sevastopol (Russian: Севастополь|italic=yes|links=no) | 5 November 1939 | — | ||||||||
| (Russian: Сталинград|italic=yes|links=no) | 9 × 30.5 cm[70] | 180mm[71] | 42300abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 4 screws, steam turbines, 35.5knots[72] | November 1951[73] | 16 March 1954[74] | Hulk used as target and later scrapped[75] | |||
| Moscow (Russian: Москва|italic=yes|links=no) | September, 1952 | — | Scrapped, 1953 | |||||||
| Kronshtadt? (Russian: Кронштадт|italic=yes|links=no) | October 1952 | — | ||||||||
| - valign="top" | width=15%; align= center rowspan=2 | Ship | width=10%; align= center colspan=2 | Main armament | width=10%; align= center rowspan=2 | Displacement | width=15%; align= center rowspan=2 | Propulsion | width=35%; align= center colspan=4 | Service |
| width=8%; align=center | Anti-ship missiles | width=8%; align=center | Guns | width=8%; align= center | Laid down | width=8%; align= center | Commissioned | width=12%; align= center | Fate | |
| (Russian: Адмирал Ушаков|italic=yes|links=no) | 20 x P-700 Granit[76] | 2 x AK-100 100mm | 28000abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2 shaft CONAS; 2 x KN-3 nuclear reactor and 2 x GT3A-688 steam turbine, 32knots | 27 March 1974 | 30 December 1980 | Laid up | |||
| (Russian: Адмирал Лазарев|italic=yes|links=no) | 1 x twin AK-130 130mm | 27 July 1978 | 31 October 1984 | |||||||
| (Russian: Адмирал Нахимов|italic=yes|links=no) | 17 May 1983 | 30 December 1988 | In refit | |||||||
| (Russian: Пётр Великий|italic=yes|links=no) | 11 March 1986 | 9 April 1998 | Active in service | |||||||
| Admiral Kuznetsov (Russian: Адмирал Кузнецо́в|italic=yes|links=no) | Cancelled 3 October 1990 | |||||||||
See main article: List of battlecruisers of the United States.
| Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate | |||||
| (CV-2, ex-CC-1) | 8 × 16 in[77] | 7inches | 44,638 long tons (45,354 t)[78] | 4 screws, turbo-electric, 33knots | 8 January 1921 | 3 October 1925[79] | 14 December 1927 | Sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942 |
| 8 August 1920 | Cancelled, 17 August 1923 and sold for scrap[80] | |||||||
| (CV-3, ex-CC-3) | 25 September 1920 | 7 April 1925[81] | 16 November 1927 | Sunk as a target ship, 25 July 1946 | ||||
| 23 June 1921 | Cancelled, 17 August 1923 and sold for scrap, November 1923 [82] | |||||||
| 25 September 1920 | ||||||||
| 25 September 1920 | ||||||||
| 9 × 12 in | 9 in | 34,253 long tons (34,803 t) | 4 screws, steam turbines 33knots | 17 December 1941[83] | 15 August 1943 | 17 June 1944 | Sold for scrap, 30 June 1961[84] | |
| 2 February 1942 | 12 November 1943 | 17 September 1944 | Sold for scrap, 24 May 1961 | |||||
| 20 December 1943[85] | 3 November 1945 | N/A | Sold for scrap, 15 April 1959[86] | |||||
| Cancelled, 24 June 1943[87] | ||||||||
See main article: HMAS Australia (1911).
| - valign="center" | Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| 8 × 12 in[88] | 9.0 in | 185000NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 25knots | 23 June 1910 | June 1913 | Scuttled, 12 April 1924 | ||
See main article: French battlecruiser proposals.
| - valign="center" | Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| Gille's design | 12 × 3401NaN1 | 11inches | 282470NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 28knots | — | Design study only | ||
| Durand-Viel's design A | 8 × 340 mm | 275000NaN0 | ||||||
| Durand-Viel's design B | 12 × 370abbr=onNaNabbr=on | |||||||
See main article: Design 1047 battlecruiser.
| - valign="center" | Ship | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| Design 1047 | 9 × 28 cm[89] | 9.0 in[90] | 279880NaN0 | 4 screws, steam turbines, 34knots[91] | — | Cancelled after the German invasion in May 1940[92] | ||
| - valign="center" | Ship [93] | Main guns | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| Project I | 8 x 350 mm, 9 x 350 (design Ia) | 225 mm (8,85 in) | 34.000 t | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30knots | — | Seven design studies, with different main armament lay outs in 1915 and 1916. | ||
| Project II | 6 x 380 mm | 225 mm (8,85 in) | 34.000 t | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30knots | A single design study in 1917. | |||
| Project IV | 6 x 380 mm | 225 mm (8,85 in) | 36.000 t | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30knots | ||||
| Project VI | 4 x 420 mm | 225 mm (8,85 in) | 36.000 t | 4 screws, steam turbines, 30knots | ||||