Design
The ships of the class were 96.62 metres (317 ft 0 in) long, had a beam of 15.24 metres (50 ft 0 in), a draught of 6.21 metres (20 ft 4 in), and had a displacement of 4,725 ton. The ships were equipped with 2 shaft reciprocating engines, which were rated at 11,500 ihp (8,600 kW) and produced a top speed of 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h).
The ships had deck armour of 3.13 in (8.0 cm), turret armour of 3 in (7.6 cm) and a complement 440 men. The main armament of the ships were four 20 cm (7.9 in) single turret guns. Secondary armament included six single 12 cm (4.7 in) guns and six 5.7 cm (2.2 in) single guns.
Musashi was one of four planned Yamato-class battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), beginning in the late 1930s. The Yamato-class ships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing almost 72,000 long tons (73,000 t) fully loaded and armed with nine 460-millimetre (18.1 in) main guns. Their secondary armament consisted of four 155-millimetre (6.1 in) triple-gun turrets formerly used by the Mogami-class cruisers. They were equipped with six or seven floatplanes to conduct reconnaissance.
The Town class consisted of 10 light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. The Towns were designed within the constraints of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The ships were built in the sub-classes, Southampton, Gloucester and Edinburgh, each sub-class adding more weaponry.
The Courageous class consisted of three battlecruisers known as "large light cruisers" built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. The class was nominally designed to support the Baltic Project, a plan by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher that was intended to land troops on the German Baltic Coast. Ships of this class were fast but very lightly armoured, with only a few heavy guns. They were given a shallow draught, in part to allow them to operate in the shallow waters of the Baltic but also reflecting experience gained earlier in the war. To maximize their speed, the Courageous-class battlecruisers were the first capital ships of the Royal Navy to use geared steam turbines and small-tube boilers.
The Java class was a class of light cruisers of the Royal Netherlands Navy, with the lead ship named after the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies. Originally, three ships were planned: Java, Sumatra, and Celebes. Celebes was intended to be the flagship of the naval commander in the Dutch East Indies, and therefore she was slightly bigger than the other two ships. However, the contract was cancelled with 30 tons of material already prepared.
The Ise-class battleships were a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War I. Both ships carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. They were modernized in 1934–1937 with improvements to their armour and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Afterwards they played a minor role in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Duke of Edinburgh-class cruiser was a class of two armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first British armoured cruisers designed to work with the battlefleet rather than protect merchant shipping. After commissioning, they were assigned to the Atlantic, Channel and Home Fleets until 1913 when they were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. After the start of World War I in August 1914, the sister ships participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. After the German ships reached their refuge in Ottoman Turkey, the ships were ordered to the Red Sea for convoy escort duties. They captured three German merchant ships before they returned to home at the end of the year.
Algérie was the last treaty cruiser constructed for the French Navy. Designed and built in response to the Italian's Zara class of 8-inch gun cruisers, she was a totally new design and not based on the previous ships. The armoured caisson system used in Foch and Dupleix was abandoned in favour of a full armoured belt enclosing both the magazines and machinery spaces. She abandoned the unit propulsion system used previously and grouped her boilers forward leading to the reduction to a single funnel. She was one of the first vessels to utilize super heating boilers. Welding was used primarily in place of the normal rivetting in previous vessels. She maintained the same main armament but her secondary guns were increased to 100 mm guns. She served in the Mediterranean Sea after entering service then searched for German surface raiders at the beginning of the war. She was at Toulon, France, at the time of the Armistice and remained there until scuttled in November 1942.
The Borodino-class battlecruisers were a group of four battlecruisers ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I. Also referred to as the Izmail class, they were laid down in late 1912 at Saint Petersburg for service with the Baltic Fleet. Construction of the ships was delayed by a lack of capacity among domestic factories and the need to order some components from abroad. The start of World War I slowed their construction still further, as the imported components were often not delivered and domestic production was diverted into areas more immediately useful for the war effort.
The Oden class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Swedish Navy. The class comprised Oden, Niord and Thor.
The Myōkō-class cruisers were a series of four heavy cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1920s. Three were lost during World War II.
The 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 naval gun was an artillery system used on the seven Treaty-class cruisers of the French Navy. They were developed after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, when the French Navy found itself with no 203 mm (8-inch) naval gun for mounting on their designated 10,000-ton cruiser. In order to maintain its position as a major naval power, it decided to develop the Modèle 1924 from scratch. It was also modified for use on the Surcouf, a French submarine built in the 1930s.
The Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893 was a medium-caliber naval gun used as the secondary armament of a number of French pre-dreadnoughts and armoured cruisers during World War I. It was used as railway artillery in both World Wars and as coastal artillery in World War II.
The Holland class was a class of six protected cruisers of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class was built in two groups, each consisting of three ships.
The Koningin Regentes class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class comprised Koningin Regentes, De Ruyter and Hertog Hendrik.
The Svea class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Swedish Royal Navy. The class comprised Svea, Göta and Thule.
The Äran class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Swedish Navy. The class comprised Äran, Wasa, Tapperheten and Manligheten.
The Princesa de Asturias class was a class of armoured cruisers of the Spanish Navy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The class comprised three ships, Princesa de Asturias, Cataluña and Cardenal Cisneros. With construction beginning on the lead ship of the class in 1890, it was considered to be essentially a repeat of the three Infanta Maria Teresa-class cruisers but with more modern and balanced armament. Cardenal Cisneros was wrecked in 1905 but the fate of the other two ships of the Princesa de Asturias class is unknown.
HNLMS Holland was a Holland-class protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Warrior class consisted of four armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. After commissioning, all four sister ships were assigned to the Channel and Home Fleets until 1913 when Warrior was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. After the start of World War I in August 1914, Warrior participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau and her three sisters were assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet. Warrior joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in late 1914. Neither squadron participated in any of the naval battles in the North Sea in 1915. Natal was destroyed by a magazine explosion in late 1915 and only two of the ships participated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Cochrane was not engaged during the battle, but Warrior was heavily damaged and sank the following morning.
Reina Regente was a protected cruiser built for the Spanish Navy in the 1900s, the only member of her class. She had a very lengthy construction period, being laid down in 1899, launched in 1906, and finally completed in 1908. The last cruiser built in Spain for nearly twenty years, she was armed with a battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and was capable of a top speed of 20 knots. Reina Regente's career was uneventful, the result of limited naval budgets and Spain's neutrality during World War I. In the early 1920s, she was employed as a training ship until she was discarded in 1926.
Spanish Navy 