Cressy class cruiser

HMS Euryalus at anchor in Australia
Class overview
Name:	Cressy class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Diadem class
Succeeded by:	Drake class
Built:	1898–1902
In service:	1901–20
Completed:	6
Lost:	3
Scrapped:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Armoured cruiser
Displacement:	12,000 long tons (12,000 t) (normal)
Length:	472 ft (143.9 m) (o/a)
Beam:	69 ft 6 in (21.2 m)
Draught:	26 ft 9 in (8.2 m) (maximum)
Installed power:	21,000 ihp (16,000 kW) 30 Belleville boilers
Propulsion:	2 × Shafts 2 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Complement:	725–760
Armament:	2 × single BL 9.2-inch (234-mm) Mk X guns 12 × single BL 6-inch (152-mm) Mk VII guns 12 × single QF 12-pounder (76-mm) guns 3 × 3-pounder (47-mm) Hotchkiss guns 2 × single 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 2–6 in (51–152 mm) Decks: 1–3 in (25–76 mm) Barbettes: 6 in (152 mm) Turrets: 6 in (150 mm) Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm) Bulkheads: 5 in (127 mm)

The Cressy-class cruiser was a class of six armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Their design's incorporation of a pair of 9.2-inch guns and armoured sides served to address criticism directed against the previous Diadem class — advances made possible by their 1,000 ton increase in displacement over their predecessors. The ships were notably stable, except for a susceptibility to pitching.

Until 1908, the ships served in Home waters, the Mediterranean and the Far East. On the outbreak of the First World War Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue, Bacchante and Euryalus formed the Seventh Cruiser Squadron. Due to the obsolescence of the ships and that they were crewed by inexperienced reservists the squadron was known as the "Live Bait Squadron". This epithet proved prophetic when Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir were sunk in a single action on 22 September 1914 by U-9 near Holland. After the first cruiser had been hit, the following cruisers both came to a dead halt to pick up survivors, making themselves easy targets for torpedoes.

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Cressy class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. The compilers of The Naval Annual revised costs quoted for British ships between the 1905 and 1906 editions.

Right elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret

Rear elevation of 9.2 inch gun turret